As the first calendar year of Front Page Fight Sports’ existence comes to a close, we look back at boxing in 2022 and choose the best examples of the sport from the past 12 months.
FIGHTER OF THE YEAR: DMITRY BIVOL
At the start of the year, Bivol was an undefeated and long-reigning titleholder, but one who had struggled to capture the wider public’s imagination.
The Kyrgyzstan-born Russian had traded his status as a fearsome prospect with that of a stable champion; his four years as WBA light-heavyweight king offering consistency if not fireworks.
After six consecutive points victories, Bivol was probably seen as a credible but unthreatening option by Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez as he sought to add another 175lb title to his vast collection of world belts, and another solid name a resume that was regarded as the very best in the sport.
But Bivol’s long run of distance fights was less an indication of a power shortage than one that showed he had honed his craft and evolved into a master tactician.
In a May result very few saw coming, he both outboxed and outmuscled the biggest draw in boxing; a man who was well used to doing either or both of those things to his own opponents.
Such was Bivol’s dominance that Alvarez could not even rely on his reputation as a man usually given the benefit of the doubt by the judges. Yes, they still had it absurdly close at 115-113 apiece (a more accurate reading was that Bivol won nine or 10 rounds), but the right man won.
Bivol followed this up with another rout of a Mexican idol, this time Gilberto Ramirez in November.
Another unanimous decision, which this time accurately told the story via wide margins, underlined Bivol’s excellence yet again.
In one year, he had beaten both the biggest name in boxing, and ended the longest undefeated run in the sport (Ramirez was 44-0 going in).
Honourable mention: Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez had the very definition of a breakout year, coming from relative obscurity to beat two of the biggest names at super-flyweight in Carlos Cuadras and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai.
Women: Almost a toss-up between Claressa Shields and Katie Taylor, who both won in truly historic fights, but Shields edged it by winning hers, vs Savannah Marshall, more emphatically, while Taylor’s triumph over Amanda Serrano, as thrilling as it was, could have gone either way.
FIGHT OF THE YEAR: LEIGH WOOD KO 12 MICHAEL CONLAN
This fight had it all – excellent technique, unparalleled fitness, piles of grit, shifts of momentum, and an upset result that came against the run of play in the final round.
Wood was making the first defence of his WBA featherweight title in a hometown appearance in Nottingham, England, in March but was expected to be dethroned by undefeated Irish star Conlan.
It looked as if the script was going to be followed to the letter as Conlan heavily floored the champion in the opening round and then battered him in the second. Conlan’s coronation looked a case of when, not if.
But Wood hung in there and grew increasingly competitive the longer the fight went.
Still, Conlan for the most part remained the boss and it appeared he only needed to see out the final three minutes to collect the belt.
Wood had been coming off second-best for most of the fight, but his constant presence had drained Conlan, who fell apart suddenly and unexpectedly with 95 seconds left in the fight.
A right hand thudded into his temple and short-circuited his consciousness as he slumped against the ropes and then crashed out of the ring entirely.
Wood then endured an emotional rollercoaster as his celebrations turned to desperate worry with Conlan remaining, unmoving, on the arena floor, before being stretchered out.
Thankfully he made a full recovery and scored two good wins later in the year. It is to be hoped this sets up a Wood rematch.
Honourable mention: Jordan Gill also scored a frightening KO that defied the momentum of the fight, with one right hand demolishing Karim Guerfi after three rounds of intense pressure keeping him on the verge of being stopped.
Women: Bell-to-bell action between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano highlighted by Serrano’s breathtaking near-finish in the fifth round and Taylor’s incredible fight-back.
KNOCKOUT OF THE YEAR: NAOYA INOUE TKO 2 NONITO DONAIRE
The ‘Monster’ was expected to repeat his 2019 victory over Donaire, but the ‘Filipino Flash’ had given Inoue by far his toughest fight when they first met, and had scored two excellent world-title wins since.
There was every indication that we’d get another competitive affair when Inoue-Donaire 2 rolled around in June for three bantamweight belts.
It was to be nothing of the sort. Inoue was chomping at the bit to get at an elite competitor after spending the pandemic feasting on a lower grade of opposition.
Truly, the better the foe, the more ferociously Inoue fights. In no mood to once again taste Donaire’s power, which last time had broken his cheekbone, Inoue took Donaire out in short order, a first-round knockdown setting the change of mood and a second-round finish proving the Japanese superstar was back to his ferocious best and arguably placing him at the very top of the pound-for-pound ranks.
Honourable mention: Wood-Conlan, again. It’s hard to top the sight of a boxer being blasted out of the ring.
Women: Savannah’s Marshall’s three-round thrashing of Femke Hermans perfectly stoked the flames of expectation for her looming showdown with Shields.
UPSET OF THE YEAR: JAI OPETAIA W 12 MAIRIS BRIEDIS
Yes. Bivol beat the man previously regarded as the finest fighter at any weight, but for me, Opetaia’s exciting dethroning of Briedis was even more unexpected.
Briedis himself was part of the pound-for-pound conversation, and was certainly the consensus choice for cruiserweight no.1; a world champion since 2019 and a man whose only loss had been in a competitive affair against none other than Oleksandr Usyk.
Opetaia, on the other hand, though unbeaten, was barely known outside the South Pacific, with his best wins being at regional level in a region that doesn’t offer strength in depth.
But just because somebody hasn’t yet won in world class doesn’t necessarily mean they are not world class.
Opetaia proved this with an admirable display of fitness and tenacity, fighting through a broken jaw suffered as early as the second round to grit out a close but unanimous decision to delight his hometown fans in Brisbane.
Honourable mention: Don’t let the benefit of hindsight dictate otherwise – Bivol-Alvarez, when it happened, was a shock of the highest order.
Women: Nina Hughes, at 40 years old and in just her fifth pro contest, scoring a unanimous decision over defending WBA bantamweight queen Jamie Mitchell.
COMEBACK OF THE YEAR: EMMANUEL RODRIGUEZ
A former world champion who a few years ago was seen as an elite level operator, the suspicion was that Rodriguez might have been damaged by his 2019 mauling at the hands of Naoya Inoue.
Whether or not that was the case, it also seemed the fates were conspiring against the Puerto Rican bantamweight.
First there was that controversial decision loss to Reymart Gaballo in 2020, followed by the agonising head-clash no-contest with Gary Antonio Russell eight months later.
This left him entering 2022 not having won a contest in more than three years.
A first-round knockout win in March was a welcome confidence-restorer, but he was still seen as the B-side when he rematched Russell in October.
But Rodriguez was a revelation, dominating the young prospect until another head clash curtailed matters – but this time, with the action halted in the 10th round, it went to the scorecards, where Rodriguez was declared the winner by wide margins.
He’d looked fast, sharp, strong and self-assured – in other words, back to his best.
Honourable mention: Kiko Martinez shrugged off the 11th defeat of his long career to tear through Jordan Gill in October and claim his fifth European championship.
Women: Natasha Jonas, at 38, had one of the best years in the sport, winning three belts in three fights. This followed a draw and a loss in previous title fights in 2020 and 2021 which suggested she’d found her level.
PROSPECT OF THE YEAR: DAVID MORRELL
Don’t let the belt fool you – Morrell’s strap is more the result of the convoluted way the WBA does business than any result which marks him out as the “champion of the world”. He’s absolutely still “prospect” material.
Super-middleweight Morrell has not yet, after all, beaten anyone in the top 10 – but that’s not a criticism. He’s only has eight pro fights.
But in those eight, all bar his debut have featured an opponent with a winning record, five have been scheduled for 12 rounds, and his past six have come against boxers with a combined 119-6-4 record.
The stats alone put Morrell way ahead of most boxers at a similar stage, but the way he’s won those fights – in dominant fashion, usually early, but sometimes late to show he carries his fitness and power to the end – suggest the Minneapolis-based Cuban is, at 24, a highly prodigious talent.
Honourable mention: A perfect 13-0 (13), heavyweight Jared Anderson demolished tricky gatekeeper Jerry Forrest last time out, in doing so bettering the results of Kubrat Pulev, Michael Hunter, Zhilei Zhang, Carlos Takam and Jermaine Franklin against the same foe.
Women: Lightweight Caroline Dubois has made light of the shorter rounds of the women’s division by racking up an 80% knockout ratio in 2022, her first year as a pro. Already, some people are saying the 21-year-old might be better than her heavyweight contender brother, Daniel.
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