Elif Nur Turhan arrived as both a contender and a titleholder in 2025, dominating so thoroughly that she was a natural choice for BoxingScene’s Women’s Fighter of the Year award.

Turhan recorded three wins over the past 12 months, all by knockout. The performance was capped by her fifth-round stoppage of IBF lightweight titleholder and two-time Olympian Beatriz Ferreira on December 6.

Turhan started the year knocking out unbeaten Shauna Browne in just 47 seconds. The first meaningful punch Turhan threw sent Browne to the canvas, after which the fight was waved off. Turhan returned in July, going to France to face unbeaten French contender Rima Ayadi. Turhan stopped Ayadi in the sixth round to win the WBA interim junior lightweight title. She closed out the year by stopping Ferreira, dropping her in the first round and then sending her to the canvas again in the fifth, after which the referee called off the bout.

A 30-year-old from Istanbul, Turkey, Turhan wasn’t on the radar before this year. But she is brutal and violent. She punches hard, often throwing jabs only as a second thought. She stopped three unbeaten fighters, all on the road – a feat that is as rare as it sounds.

Turhan, who holds a record of 12-0 (8 KOs), might be limited in terms of the sweet science, but what she lacks in skill she more than makes up for in power and relentlessness.

Honorable mention:

Gabriela Fundora, 17-0 (9 KOs). Two fights, two knockouts. Fundora, 17-0 (9 KOs), is already one of the best women’s fighters in the world at age 23, and she can become a mainstream star if she gets opportunities to headline cards in the future.

Mizuki Hiruta. Hiruta, 10-0 (2 KOs), had a strong year, making four defenses of her WBO junior bantamweight title, making her US debut and establishing herself as a main event fighter in the Los Angeles market. 

Mayelli Flores Rosquero. She had only one fight this year, but Flores Rosquero, 13-1-1 (4 KOs), made it meaningful, defeating then-unbeaten Nazarena Romero via a split decision on a Fight of the Year-level bout on ProBox TV.

Katie Taylor. Taylor, 25-1 (6 KOs), won her lone bout of 2025 against Amanda Serrano, closing the chapter on their rivalry. Taylor won all three fights against Serrano and continues to build on her first-ballot Hall of Fame career.

Mikaela Mayer. Mayer, 22-2 (5 KOs), also advanced her credentials this year as she became a three-division titleholder, defeating Mary Spencer to win the WBC and WBO junior middleweight title. Earlier in the year, Mayer won in dominant fashion against Sandy Ryan in a rematch of a competitive bout from 2024.

Shadasia Green. Green, 16-1 (11 KOs), bounced back from some less-than-stellar performances to beat former titleholder Savannah Marshall. The split decision victory was the biggest win of Green’s career.

Evelin Nazarena Bermudez. Bermudez, 22-1-1 (8 KOs), made two title defenses of her junior flyweight IBF and WBO titles in 2025. Most notable was her knockout of previously unbeaten Sara Bailey in one round in Bailey’s hometown.

Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.