Boxing mid-year awards: The best fight, knockout, upset and more through 2025's first 6 months
It’s been a busy first six months in the boxing calendar, filled with unforgettable moments. From Dmitry Bivol’s superb undisputed clash with Artur Beterbiev — and the stacked undercard that came with it — to Gervonta Davis’ now-infamous knee no-call controversy, to Chris Eubank Jr.’s dramatic victory over Conor Benn following his Hall of Fame father's surprise grand entrance, the sport has already given us plenty to talk about in 2025.
With this fight week being quieter than most, the Uncrowned crew decided it was the perfect time to look back and celebrate the best of the year so far — from standout fighters and iconic bouts to brutal knockouts and shocking upsets.
Given how much has happened, several members of our boxing team — Darshan Desai, Alan Dawson, Lewis Watson and Jake Donovan — couldn’t always agree on just one winner per category. So, where debate reigned, we’ve included multiple picks.
Without further ado, here are our mid-year boxing standouts across five key categories.
Fight of the Year: Isaac Cruz vs. Angel Fierro & Kenshiro Teraji vs. Seigo Yuri Akui
Alan Dawson: Hey, kids. Do you like violence?
Mexican warriors Isaac Cruz (27-3-1, 18 KOs) and Angel Fierro (23-3-2, 18 KOs) delivered just that this past February, and will do so again in their July 19 rematch on the Mario Barrios vs. Manny Pacquiao undercard.
Cruz’s promoter Sean Gibbons compared the first installment of the Cruz-Fierro rivalry to Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward, as it was so spectacular. They continually cracked one another with their most powerful punches from the opening bell, from chin-shattering uppercuts to soul-destroying body shots.
Cruz almost dropped Fierro in the fourth round with a right hand he lasered onto his opponent's skull, buckling his legs by the ropes. As the rounds progressed, Fierro responded by throwing more punches in bunches, with both men combining for an absurd 1,410 shots by the end of the fight.
If any of your friends or family were curious about combat sports, Cruz vs. Fierro is precisely the kind of chaos that would either pull them in and ensure they’d never leave, or push them away, never to return.
For us, this is why we watch the fights. It was an edge-of-the-seat thriller — and we get to see it a second time later this month.
Jake Donovan: Kenshiro Teraji realized very early that his showdown with Seigo Yuri Akui would be nothing like his previous unification bout. Then he realized very late that he needed to produce something dramatic to prevail in their WBC/WBA flyweight title showdown on March 13 at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan.
By that point, boxing fans sensed they were watching something special. Teraji (25-1, 16 KOs) upped the ante and provided all viewers with a lasting memory. Trailing on two cards through 11 rounds, Teraji finally got to Akui (21-3-1, 11 KOs) when it mattered most. He was forced to fight off the back foot at points and wade through a swarm of power shots from his determined countryman.
That changed early in the 12th and final round. Teraji shifted from trading with Akui to gunning for the knockout. It came at a point when Akui already went all in and was running on empty at the worst possible time. Teraji landed a combination along the ropes before a final right hand left Akui defenseless in the center of the ring. Referee Katsuhiko Nakamura jumped in to rescue Akui with just 89 seconds to go on the night.
The matchup marked just the third-ever unification bout at the time between reigning titlists from Japan — a select group since joined by Junto Nakatani vs. Ryosuke Nishida. Teraji has now prevailed in each of his two entries on that short list; he previously tore through then-unbeaten Hiroto Kyoguchi to unify the WBC and WBA titles at junior flyweight in perhaps the signature performance of his thrilling career.
His win over Akui produced a memorable 11-plus rounds that boxing fans will cherish for years to come.
Event of the Year: Chris Eubank Jr vs. Conor Benn
Darshan Desai: Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn's British middleweight classic could've easily joined Teraji vs. Akui and Cruz vs. Fierro as a pick for Fight of the Year, but that would've been downplaying it. After all, Eubank vs. Benn was more than just a fight — it was a Hollywood-esque drama.
If you only consumed the 12 terrific rounds between the pair, you'd have been thoroughly entertained, but you would've left without the full experience. To truly admire the action that unfolded on April 26 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, fans would've had to follow the rivalry back to 1990.
This was the year when Chris Eubank Sr. and Nigel Benn crossed paths for the first time for the WBO middleweight title in Birmingham after a fierce buildup that captivated the nation. In a bout still considered by many to be the best in British boxing history, Eubank Sr. stopped Benn to dethrone him of his championship.
Three years later, Benn appeared to have evened the score against Eubank Sr. in their super middleweight unification contest, however a debatable split draw meant the Eubank family still had the edge in this blood feud. Talks for a third fight between the pair took place multiple times in the mid-'90s, but a trilogy never materialized.
That was until their sons, Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn, put pen to paper in August 2022 to renew hostilities in a feud spanning more than 30 years. The fight was billed as "Born Rivals" with their father's famous fights lurking in the background of the artwork — it was a nostalgic moment for British boxing fans.
Fans should've had a memorable night. But instead, we were left with a pair of failed drug tests and two years of muddied waters. The less said about that, the better.
When the fight was finally rescheduled this year, it had a different feel to it. It was a contest stained with the ugly poison of drug scandals that damage the sport on a daily basis.
But with boxing being as fickle as it is, Eubank Jr.'s egg-slap of Benn at their launch press conference propelled the hype train into full swing again. It turned out to be a buildup to remember and a show that had the common man in Britain glued to their television screens. The interest reached an all-time high when a cacophony of noise accompanied Eubank Sr.'s shock arrival at the venue just hours before the main event, despite his claims throughout the lead-up that he wouldn't be present at the fight.
"He's here! And the crowd are going wild — father and son reunited, simply the best," commentator Adam Smith shouted during the iconic moment the Eubank duo arrived at the venue.
Eubank Jr. and Benn had a lot to live up to — and oh boy, did they exceed it. The 60,000-plus fans in Tottenham loved every one of the 36 minutes they watched. That night showed the importance of a raucous, passionate atmosphere at a time when many fights are heading to the Middle East for financial reasons. It simply would not have been the same fight anywhere else but in Britain. The crowd, in many ways, made the night.
Fighter of the Year: Junto Nakatani & Dmitry Bivol
Lewis Watson: Stoppage wins over David Cuellar Contreras and Ryosuke Nishida in the first half of 2025 have propelled Japanese superstar Junto Nakatani up boxing's mythical pound-for-pound standings — and rightly so.
The three-weight world champion is fast becoming a box-office draw outside of his native Japan, and after a five-fight stretch of dominant wins at bantamweight inside the distance, the 27-year-old is setting his sights on 122-pound waters and the awaiting "The Monster," Naoya Inoue.
The southpaw hits hard, controls the distance beautifully, and is intelligent enough to gauge when to instigate his attacks most effectively. And with his best years arguably ahead of him, the sky's the limit for the man they call "Big Bang."
Perhaps there have been bigger individual wins for fighters so far in 2025, but the combined success of Nakatani besting two top-10 bantamweights at a relative canter is more than worthy of this half-year award.
Darshan Desai: Nakatani has two impressive wins in the first half of 2025, but Dmitry Bivol's triumph over Artur Beterbiev makes him the frontrunner for Fighter of the Year.
While Bivol has only competed once compared to Nakatani's two appearances, Bivol's win came as a betting underdog over Uncrowned's No. 4 male boxer pound-for-pound Beterbiev at the time. Nakatani was a heavy favorite in both his contests against divisional top-10 opponents.
Bivol's masterful display against Beterbiev in February saw him avenge his lone career loss and capture boxing's undisputed light heavyweight world titles. He didn't have it all his own way, either.
At one point in the middle rounds, Beterbiev had won four consecutive frames and it looked as if it was going to be his night once again. Bivol wasn't jabbing as fluidly as he was in the first fight, nor was he controlling the distance with his movement. Beterbiev was dictating the pace and pushing Bivol back, as he had done to all of his previous opponents.
But as great champions do, Bivol found a way to come back when the chips were stacked against him. Beterbiev began to tire from the eighth round onward, and Bivol had another gear waiting for him. Bivol's sharp counter-punching, combinations and overall volume guided him to a majority decision win.
Bivol is Uncrowned's No. 4 pound-for-pound active male boxer and looks headed for a trilogy with Beterbiev, Uncrowned's No. 6 best pound-for-pound boxer. Should Bivol make it 2-1 in his rivalry with Beterbiev, expect to find him atop this list once more in December.
KO of the Year: Brian Norman Jr. KO-5 Jin Sasaki
Lewis Watson: Brian Norman Jr.'s explosive one-punch knockout of Jin Sasaki rubber-stamped a perfect night's work for the WBO welterweight champion.
A highlight-reel stoppage was just the tonic for the 24-year-old as he begins stamping his feet a little louder in the 147-pound division, with the whole weight class waking up to that devastating left hand.
Norman left his Japanese opponent out cold on his back in the middle of the canvas, as a silenced home crowd looked on in horror.
Without meaning to trivialize the horrors of the aftermath of this fight, the fact that Sasaki lost memory of the previous six weeks of his life following this knockout says all you need to know about the impact of Norman's brutal attack.
The image of Norman retreating to the neutral corner, looking down at a motionless Sasaki center-ring, will live long in the memory of those inside the Tokyo venue.
Upset of the Year: Rolly Romero UD-12 Ryan Garcia & Jose Armando Resendiz SD-12 Caleb Plant
Alan Dawson: One of the most popular fighters in combat sports, Ryan Garcia, was the -1200 favorite on BetMGM ahead of the Rolly Romero fight on May 2.
Garcia had everything to become a superstar — good looks, his fast fists, and the knockout power he could generate from his left hook.
But then came along Rolly Romero, who had oft been overlooked, to wreak havoc on Turki Alalshikh's plans to pair Garcia against Devin Haney in a mega-rematch later in the year.
Few observers outside of Romero’s coaching staff expected the kind of disciplined performance that Romero pulled off, but the underdog dropped Garcia in shocking fashion in the second round, and then rarely put a foot — or shot — wrong the rest of the way, as the three ringside judges rewarded his work with a lopsided unanimous decision win in a shocking upset.
It’s Rolly’s world right now, and we’re all just living in it.
Jake Donovan: The signs were there if you paid close enough attention.
Fighters always insist that they never look beyond the task in front of them, no matter how alluring are the plans ahead. This matchup was a simple formula for Caleb Plant; defeat Armando Resendiz to secure a grudge match with Jermall Charlo, who did his part with a stoppage win on the May 31 undercard at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas.
The buildup to the event was mild, particularly with the lack of animosity between Plant and Resendiz. That suddenly changed during fight week, though not through any back-and-forth. It was almost as if Plant (23-3, 14 KOs) needed to manifest a rivalry, while Resendiz (16-2, 11 KOs) never took the bait.
That energy spilled over into the ring. Plant was fighting in his adopted hometown, but it was Mexico’s Resendiz who received rabid support from Mexican and Mexican-American fans on hand. A competitive fight through six quickly transitioned into the year’s biggest upset on paper, as Resendiz — a +1100 betting underdog — worked Plant’s body and piled up rounds on the scorecards.
Two of the three judges got it right in the end, even if the outcome was all wrong for those banking on a Plant vs. Charlo showdown later this year. Two fights removed from a knockout loss to then-unbeaten prospect Elijah Garcia, Resendiz was suddenly on top of the world as he left Plant at a career crossroads.
Boxing on Yahoo! Sports – News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games
