Boxing awards 2022: Best fight, KO, upset, fighter and more
Boxing awards 2022: Dmitry Bivol and Claressa Shields feature among the prizes for best fighter, knockout and more… while it was a year to forget for Anthony Joshua and Josh Taylor – and we STILL don’t have an undisputed heavyweight champion
- Another thrilling year inside the squared circle has come to a conclusion
- Dmitry Bivol claimed the win of the year as he beat Canelo Alvarez back in May
- Claressa Shields also finally avenged her 2012 defeat to Savannah Marshall
- But Josh Taylor’s win over Jack Catterall left an unfortunate stain on the sport
- Sportsmail hands out the awards for the best KO, biggest upset and more
Another frantic year of boxing draws to a close, and it’s now time to reflect on the brilliant to the bizarre, from the stunning knockouts to the bitter robberies, ahead of what promises to be a thrilling 2023 ahead.
Indeed, another year without either Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua or Terence Crawford vs Errol Spence Jr ticks by, but there was more than enough drama in 2022 to keep us boxing lovers enthralled.
We head into 2023 with the undisputed showdown between Fury and Oleksandr Usyk now seemingly on the horizon – though how many times have we thought that? – while Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia are scheduled to square off in a huge clash.
Dmitry Bivol announced himself as one of the pound-for-pound best in world boxing this year
Dmitry Bivol, meanwhile, announced himself to the world in 2022 as he claimed one of boxing’s biggest scalps, while Katie Taylor, Claressa Shields, Chantelle Cameron and Natasha Jonas all starred in an historic year for women’s boxing.
But it wasn’t all positive, with one of boxing’s biggest scandals in recent memory coming to fruition this year, while a gut-wrenchingly shocking robbery all the way back in February left many questioning their love for the sport.
Now, it’s time to hand out a number of awards to those who have made the year the spectacle it was, as Sportsmail analyses the best knockouts, fighters and more.
Fight of the year: Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan
Where else to start but the fight of the year – and it wasn’t at all an easy pick; Katie Taylor’s win over Amanda Serrano and Claressa Shields’ win over Savannah Marshall both came close.
But ultimately, it was difficult to look past the all-out war between Leigh Wood and Michael Conlan, in what was a truly stunning featherweight world title affair back in March.
Wood entered the bout marginally the favourite, having shown vast improvement by knocking out Reece Mould to claim the British title and stopping Can Xu to win the WBA belt in 2021. Conlan, unbeaten at 16-0, was the talented but unproven underdog.
Leigh Wood (right) recorded the stoppage of the year as he knocked out Michael Conlan (left)
The Nottingham fighter retained his WBA featherweight title with the stunning victory
A raucous Nottingham crowd came to see Wood make the first defence of his crown, but they were quickly silenced as Conlan floored him in the opening round with a wicked overhand left. Wood was badly hurt and left clinging on in the second.
Conlan continued his onslaught throughout as he exhibited skills that far exceeded any prior expectation, hurting Wood on numerous occasions. But, unfortunately for the Irishman, Wood proved that he is one tough man.
‘Leigh-thal’ rallied late into the fight, scoring a knockdown of his own in the penultimate round. And in the 12th, he finished the job, with one final right hand knocking Conlan unconscious, through the ropes and out of the ring.
Wood dropped to the floor, mostly in relief, while Conlan was stretchered out and taken to hospital. Thankfully, Conlan was fine, and now we can fondly look back to what was one of the best ever fights in a British ring.
Male fighter of the year: Dmitry Bivol
The man who beat the man. What a year it has been for Dmitry Bivol, who has announced himself as one of the pound-for-pound best fighters on the planet.
It was only last year that the Russian was being criticised for a somewhat lackluster win over Britain’s Craig Richards, but even then the ever-measured technician was always in control.
And this year, Bivol put a dent in the man who was by a long way the 2021 fighter of the year in Canelo Alvarez. The Mexican, having made history by becoming undisputed super-middleweight champion, ventured up to light-heavyweight, where he had claimed the WBO belt against Sergey Kovalev in 2019.
This time, Canelo looked to capture the WBA belt and embark on a mission to become undisputed champion at 175lbs.
Dmitry Bivol (left) secured the win of the year as he battered all Canelo Alvarez (right) in May
The ever-measured Russian then breezed to victory against Gilberto Ramirez in Abu Dhabi
He fell at the first hurdle, though, with Bivol easing his way to a unanimous decision win. The fight wasn’t even close. Bivol schooled him -and in Las Vegas.
But not only did he prove to be the better boxer on the night, Bivol – often a backfoot fighter – took it to Canelo, regularly pinning him back and landing with spiteful combinations throughout. It was a masterclass.
After Canelo came Gilberto Ramirez in Abu Dhabi, another tricky fight against Mexican opposition, with his 31-year-old counterpart full of confidence having won all 44 of his prior fights.
But again, even despite a good start, Ramirez was unable to make an impression as Bivol eased to another unanimous decision win. We can only hope a match-up against unified champion Artur Beterbiev – who fights Anthony Yarde in January – can take place next year.
Female fighter of the year: Claressa Shields
This was the hardest category to pick of the lot. It has been a remarkable year for women’s boxing. In a sport where the elite male fighters so rarely fight each other, the women are showing how it should be done.
Of course, we have to give a special mention to Katie Taylor, who once again demonstrated her greatness as she beat Amanda Serrano by split decision in April. It was an historic night, being the first time women had headlined Madison Square Garden.
We also have to credit to the newly-crowned undisputed super-lightweight champion Chantelle Cameron, as well as Natasha Jonas, who has in 2022 alone captured three super-welterweight world titles in three fights.
The award could really have gone to any of them, but after her quite breathtaking display against Savannah Marshall, it goes to Claressa Shields this year.
Claressa Shields (right) claimed her revenge over long-term rival Savannah Marshall (left)
The ‘GWOAT’ became undisputed middleweight champion with a unanimous decision victory
With two Olympic gold medals to her name, and having become the first fighter – male or female – to simultaneously reign as undisputed champion in two weight classes in 2021, Shields is no ordinary fighter.
And in October, Shields once again showed just how good she is. Marshall is the only boxer professional or amateur to beat Shields, coming all the way back in 2012. And coming into the fight, many expected the Hartlepool boxer to be too strong again.
Shields insisted she would show the world how special she is, though, and that’s exactly what she did. The American took Marshall’s best shots and showed he has power of her own to go with her brilliant boxing ability.
The 27-year-old won the fight by unanimous decision, and deservedly so. Earlier in the year, she also beat Ema Kozin via unanimous decision.
KO of the year: Jordan Gill
The knockout of the year is always an essential on any boxing awards list, and this was another difficult one to decide.
Joe Cordina is unfortunate to miss out, having knocked out Kenichi Ogawa in stunning fashion to win the IBF super-featherweight world title.
Terence Crawford and Caleb Plant also both claimed stunning knockout wins over David Avanesyan and Anthony Dirrell respectively. Joe Joyce too stopped Joseph Parker in emphatic fashion. And, of course, we also had Leigh Wood’s win over Michael Conlan.
But the stoppage that stands out above the rest is Jordan Gill’s against Karim Guerfi to win the European featherweight title. Not because of what was at stake, or even the punch itself – but because of how utterly out of nowhere it was.
Jordan Gill could barely stand after claiming an incredible stoppage against Karim Guerfi
Gill struggled throughout the contest and was eventually dropped in the seventh round. Shortly after, he was then wrestled to the floor, smacking his head on the canvas in the process in a move likened to the WWE ‘DDT’.
His eyes visibly rolled back and the fight arguably should have been stopped there and then – and particularly later in the fight with the Englishman continuing to ship punishment aplenty.
But suddenly, Gill burst into life, landing a punch from the gods to end the contest in an instant. Gill, who suffered heavy swelling to the head throughout the fight, staggered onto the ropes after the victory and was quickly sat down in his corner.
How he conjured up the punch in his condition remains a total mystery.
Biggest robbery: Taylor vs Catterall
So far we have focused on the positives, but one negative from 2022 that will live long in the memories of boxing fans is the disgraceful decision to award Josh Taylor a split-decision victory over Jack Catterall back in February.
Taylor, at the time the undisputed super-lightweight champion, was expected to breeze past Catterall, with the plan then to move up to welterweight and challenge the likes of Terrence Crawford.
But, as we’ve seen so many times throughout history, underestimating an opponent is a recipe for disaster. Of course, Catterall may just have been much better than anyone expected.
Regardless, when the final bell rang in Glasgow 10 months ago, after Catterall had knocked Taylor to the canvas and seemingly dominated much of the fight – with both men deducted points – there was only one winner… or so we thought.
The Glasgow crowd, supporting their ‘Tartan Tornado’ hero, had already succumbed to the fact that their man was no longer the undisputed champion.
Josh Taylor (left) defeated Jack Catterall (right) to claim the biggest robbery of the year
Catterall was left outraged as he stormed out of the ring immediately after the decision
Yet, it was Taylor who was given the nod, in an announcement that shocked not only the fighters but those watching on from the stands, with audible gasps clearly heard.
One judge had it 113-112 to Taylor, the other 113-112 Catterall. It was Ian John Lewis – who was later downgraded by the British Boxing Board of Control for his scorecard – who gave the most scandalous score of 114-111 to Taylor.
Catterall stormed out of the ring in disgust, while promoter Ben Shalom – who put on the event – insisted he was ’embarrassed’ to be associated with what was clearly an unjust decision.
‘You know what, there has to be an inquest,’ he said. ‘I’ve seen this on other promoter’s shows and I’ve sort of laid the blame at them or not understood what’s gone on.
‘But this was actually embarrassing. If there’s not an inquest it’s going to harm the sport. We’ll do everything we can because I’m not just embarrassed, I’m really angry.’
The rematch has now been scheduled for March 2023, though Taylor now holds only the WBO belt, which will be on the line.
Biggest disappointment: No undisputed heavyweight fight… or Fury vs AJ!
Not since Lennox Lewis in 1999 have we had an undisputed heavyweight champion, and that title still eludes us after another frustrating year in the land of the giants.
We knew the belts would be largely tied up in the first third of the year, after Oleksandr Usyk ripped away Anthony Joshua’s trio of straps in September 2021. But what we had hoped is that the winner would eventually take on Tyson Fury for all the marbles.
The rematch between Joshua and Usyk ended up taking place much later than expected in August, with the delay caused by Russia’s invasion of Usyk’s home country of Ukraine.
Usyk dazzled once more as he handed Joshua a second-straight defeat, but he quickly quashed any chances of a 2022 undisputed showdown as he insisted he would take the rest of the year off.
Anthony Joshua (right) fell to a second-straight defeat to Oleksandr Usyk (left) in August
Tyson Fury and Usyk are now set to square off next year for the undisputed heavyweight title
But even then there was talk of an all-British mega-fight, with Fury and Joshua entering negotiations to stage Britain’s most high-profile scrap in history.
Typically, they fell through, with Fury instead fighting Derek Chisora in a frankly farcical match-up. Joshua, who was meant to be out in December, instead waits until spring 2023 to make his comeback.
Fury and Usyk are now on the verge of announcing their match-up, which will take place early next year, but there could be twists and turns to come yet.
All we know at this stage is that it was bitterly disappointing not to see Fury against either Joshua or Usyk this year.
Mind you, we did get Floyd Mayweather vs Deji…
Biggest scandal: Conor Benn
There is only one answer here, and it has to be Conor Benn’s two failed drugs tests which eventually enforced the cancellation of his highly anticipated bout against family rival Chris Eubank Jr.
It’s important to note that this is an ongoing issue, with Benn and his team still adamant they are innocent. UK Anti-Doping and the WBC’s Clean Boxing Programme are yet to announce their findings from their respective investigations.
Yet, even if Benn is to be vindicated, the story – which Sportsmail initially broke – was certainly the most shocking of 2022.
Sportsmail exclusively revealed on October 6 that the 26-year-old had tested positive for banned substance clomifene – a women’s fertility drug which is classified under hormone and metabolic regulators and can increase testosterone in men.
Sportsmail’s Riath Al-Samarrai broke the exclusive of Conor Benn’s positive drugs test
Benn’s failed tests led to his grudge match with Chris Eubank Jr being cancelled at late notice
It then transpired that Benn had failed not one but two voluntary tests, being in July and in September. But just as worrying was that both parties – who were informed of the failed test on September 23 – were pushing for the fight to go ahead right up until the last minute.
It was only on Thursday, ahead of the Saturday fight, that it was called off – after the British Boxing Board of Control prohibited it from taking place.
More recently, Benn took to social media, stating: ‘My team has proven my innocence and the truth will soon come out. Until then, I won’t be commenting further due to confidentiality.’
And since then, Benn’s legal team has produced a 270-page document to the World Boxing Council in order to prove his innocence.
The WBC’s verdict was expected at the end of December, but with the mammoth document now submitted, it is unclear whether that decision will come at a later date.
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