Tszyu deserves a shoutout because while he didn’t get ONE great win, he did get TWO solid wins over Harrison and Mendoza, and stayed busy with Ocampo. He’s not my pick, just saying he deserves a mention.
The most impressive wins of the year IN MY OPINION were:
Crawford over Spence (best win) - I thought Spence would win. So this gets #1 in my eyes, my opinion, because I just didn’t think it would happen. Yes, I thought Wilder would beat Parker so it should apply to that one too. But no, Wilder’s age kinda ruins that.
Inoue over Fulton - This was a 50-50 fight IMO, and Inoue doing what he did to Fulton was very impressive. Doesn’t trump Crawford over Spence though.
Haney over Prograis - I expected way more from Prograis and way less from Haney. It gets only 3rd because Haney weighed 165lbs in the ring and couldn’t get or didn’t pursue the KO even though he could hurt Prograis.
Benavidez over Andrade - Admittedly, I never thought Andrade was a good fighter. Still, a TKO win over an undefeated, highly ranked fighter who some fans and journalists labeled a boogeyman, is a good way to impress while showing there’s levels to this.
Espinoza over Ramirez - Just a shocker.
Parker over Wilder - Wilder’s age and it being a decision saps some glory out of it. Still a shocker and a great win for Parker.
The winner: Noaya Inoue.
Reason: Crawford fought only once, you can’t get FOTY by fighting once. Even if you beat God. Next in line by default is Naoya Inoue, who destroyed Stephen Fulton, and while he got a very predictable TKO win over Marlon Tapales, he got the accomplishment of being undisputed champion with that win.
I had Haney losing to Lomachenko.
Benavidez didn’t impress me vs Plant.
Espinoza was an out of nowhere win, no other good wins.
While the Wilder win was Parker’s 4th of the year, the other 3 wins weren’t against very good fighters. In fact, I don’t actually know who those other 3 guys are.
The most impressive wins of the year IN MY OPINION were:
Crawford over Spence (best win) - I thought Spence would win. So this gets #1 in my eyes, my opinion, because I just didn’t think it would happen. Yes, I thought Wilder would beat Parker so it should apply to that one too. But no, Wilder’s age kinda ruins that.
Inoue over Fulton - This was a 50-50 fight IMO, and Inoue doing what he did to Fulton was very impressive. Doesn’t trump Crawford over Spence though.
Haney over Prograis - I expected way more from Prograis and way less from Haney. It gets only 3rd because Haney weighed 165lbs in the ring and couldn’t get or didn’t pursue the KO even though he could hurt Prograis.
Benavidez over Andrade - Admittedly, I never thought Andrade was a good fighter. Still, a TKO win over an undefeated, highly ranked fighter who some fans and journalists labeled a boogeyman, is a good way to impress while showing there’s levels to this.
Espinoza over Ramirez - Just a shocker.
Parker over Wilder - Wilder’s age and it being a decision saps some glory out of it. Still a shocker and a great win for Parker.
The winner: Noaya Inoue.
Reason: Crawford fought only once, you can’t get FOTY by fighting once. Even if you beat God. Next in line by default is Naoya Inoue, who destroyed Stephen Fulton, and while he got a very predictable TKO win over Marlon Tapales, he got the accomplishment of being undisputed champion with that win.
I had Haney losing to Lomachenko.
Benavidez didn’t impress me vs Plant.
Espinoza was an out of nowhere win, no other good wins.
While the Wilder win was Parker’s 4th of the year, the other 3 wins weren’t against very good fighters. In fact, I don’t actually know who those other 3 guys are.
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