Boxers of the Year 2024: Oleksandr Usyk made history — and cemented himself as a legend of the ring

Oleksandr Usyk fell to his knees once the final bell sounded Dec. 21 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

It was then that what felt like the weight of the world was lifted from the unified heavyweight champion’s broad shoulders. With the war in his homeland on his mind and Tyson Fury finally off of it, a thankful Usyk realized it was finally time to head home to his wife and two sons.

The 37-year-old Usyk returned to Ukraine with his unblemished record intact and all of boxing’s recognized championships, except the IBF belt he relinquished after he defeated Fury the first time May 18 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.

There is little left for Usyk to accomplish, yet plenty of money to be made against an array of heavyweights for whom Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority will pay to have Usyk fight in 2025. It’ll be difficult for the former undisputed cruiserweight champion to top 2024, however, when his two decision defeats of England’s Fury cemented Uncrowned’s inaugural Male Fighter of the Year as a generational great.

Fury feels he won both bouts, but it appeared clear — certainly to judges Gerardo Martinez, Patrick Morley and Ignacio Robles — that Usyk deserved to win their immediate rematch. All three officials scored eight rounds apiece for Usyk, who won 116-112 on each of their cards.

The result of their first fight seemed more debatable, though Usyk nearly knocked out Fury toward the end of the ninth round.

The knockdown Usyk recorded with less than 10 seconds to go in that round was the most memorable moment from a historic 12-rounder Usyk won on the cards of judges Mike Fitzgerald (114-113) and Manuel Palomo (115-112). Judge Craig Metcalfe credited Fury for a 114-113 win, yet Usyk remains unbeaten (23-0, 14 KOs) and arguably boxing’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter.

Best of the Rest

2. Daniel Dubois

London’s Dubois built off the momentum he established late in December 2023, when he became the first fighter to defeat longtime American contender Jarrell Miller.

Dubois followed his 10th-round technical knockout of Brooklyn’s Miller with a surprising stoppage of Croatian contender Filip Hrgovic five months later. Cuts above both eyes hindered Hrgovic in their 12-round fight for the then-vacant IBF interim heavyweight title June 1 at Kingdom Arena.

Their fight was halted after the eighth round, when doctors advised referee John Latham that Hrgovic (17-1, 14 KOs) shouldn’t continue.

His victory over Hrgovic propelled Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) into the type of high-profile bout British promoter Frank Warren wanted for the emerging knockout artist since he turned pro in April 2017.

Dubois, 27, exploited his huge opportunity by violently knocking out two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in the fifth round Sept. 21 at a sold-out Wembley Stadium in London. The 6-foot-5, 252-pound Dubois dropped Joshua once apiece in the first, third, fourth and fifth rounds.

Dubois is scheduled to face another former champion, New Zealand’s Joseph Parker (35-3, 23 KOs), on Feb. 22 at Kingdom Arena.

3. Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez

The explosive southpaw, who answers to the nickname “Bam,” began 2024 with the most significant win of his career to date.

The San Antonio native had to get up from a flash knockdown very early in the sixth round, but he stopped Mexican legend Juan Fransisco Estrada with a body shot during the seventh round June 29 in Phoenix. Estrada, who rather oddly led on one scorecard through six rounds (57-56, 54-58, 56-56), couldn’t answer referee Chris Flores’ count in time to continue.

The 34-year-old Estrada lost the WBC super flyweight title to Rodriguez and was stopped inside the distance for the first time in 48 professional fights.

Four months later, the heavily favored Rodriguez (21-0, 14 KOs) demolished overmatched Mexican Pedro Guevara.

A hard left by Rodriguez knocked Guevara to his side with 41 seconds to go in the third round November 9 in Philadelphia. Guevara got up, only to have Rodriguez viciously finish him with a right uppercut so stunning that it left Guevara rolling around on the canvas, unable to get up.

4. Artur Beterbiev

The Russian-born, Montreal-based Beterbiev became the first fully unified light heavyweight champion of the four-belt era on Oct. 12.

The 39-year-old knockout artist went the distance for the first time in 11 years as a pro, but he beat Kyrgyzstan native Dmitry Bivol on two scorecards at Kingdom Arena. Judges Glenn Feldman (115-113) and Pawel Kardyni (116-112) scored their highly competitive fight for Beterbiev, whereas Manuel Palomo had it even (114-114).

Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) and Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) are scheduled to square off in an immediate rematch Feb. 22 at Kingdom Arena.

Nine months before Beterbiev beat Bivol, Beterbiev became the first opponent to knock out England’s Callum Smith when he finished off the former WBA/WBC super middleweight champ in the seventh round Jan. 13 at Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Canada.

Beterbiev led on each scorecard through six rounds of action (59-55, 58-56, 58-56). England’s Smith succumbed to Beterbiev’s barrage of punishing punches after a right hand hurt him a little less than a minute into the seventh round.

Smith had lost only a 12-round unanimous decision to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in December 2020 before Beterbiev battered him.

5. Naoya Inoue

What would’ve been the Japanese superstar’s third fight of 2024 was postponed from Dec. 24 to Jan. 24 because Australian underdog Sam Goodman suffered a cut while sparring in early December.

Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) is heavily favored to beat the undefeated Goodman, much in the way he was when he bested Irish southpaw TJ Doheny by seventh-round technical knockout Sept. 3 in Tokyo. The 31-year-old Inoue will square off against Goodman in Tokyo as well.

Mexican southpaw Luis Nery nailed Inoue with a left hand that stunningly caused a first-round knockdown when he encountered Inoue on May 6 at Tokyo Dome. But Inoue quickly recovered from that eye-opening sequence with about 1:20 to go in the first round and annihilated Nery, whom “The Monster” dropped in the second, fifth and sixth rounds, with Inoue’s right hand ending their scheduled 12-rounder.

While Inoue’s level of opposition in 2024 wasn’t what fans anticipate in 2025 after he faces Goodman, the four-division champion maintained his status as one of boxing’s top three pound-for-pound fighters, and a huge draw in his home country.

Here is how Uncrowned’s boxing team voted for 2024’s Male Boxer of the Year.

Honorable mentions:

Gilberto Ramirez
Bakhram Murtazaliev

FEMALE BOXER OF THE YEAR

Sebastian Fundora, the 6-foot-6 “Towering Inferno,” is fond of stating that his little sister is the best boxer in their fighting family.

Gabriela Fundora spent much of 2024 providing proof of the praise heaped upon her by the WBC/WBO 154-pound champion. The pleasant, technically sound southpaw nicknamed “Sweet Poison” went 3-0 this past year, established herself as the best flyweight in women’s boxing and enhanced her standing among the pound-for-pound top 10.

The 22-year-old Fundora, Uncrowned’s 2024 Female Fighter of the Year, punctuated her tremendous 12-month stretch by stopping Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz in the seventh round of their 112-pound championship unification clash Nov. 2 in Las Vegas. Fundora (15-0, 7 KOs) dropped Alaniz twice during the seventh round, before referee Robert Hoyle halted the action with 1:40 remaining in it.

The 5-foot-9 Fundora, who is trained by her father Freddy, left the ring with the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO flyweight titles.

Fundora’s previous performances this year included a 10-round unanimous shutout of Chile’s Daniela Asenjo (16-4-3, 2 KOs) and a 10th-round stoppage of Florida’s Christina Cruz (6-1, 0 KOs). The Coachella, Calif., resident stopped Cruz on Jan. 27 in Phoenix, six months before she outclassed Asenjo on Aug. 10 in Las Vegas.

Best of the Rest

2. Katie Taylor

The undisputed junior welterweight champion competed only once in 2024, but she probably would’ve fought twice if the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight hadn’t been postponed almost four months due to Tyson’s health issues.

Ireland’s Taylor (24-1, 6 KOs) made the most of her one opportunity, however, when she delivered another performance for the ages against Amanda Serrano in their 10-round rematch Nov. 15 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Taylor’s precision punching convinced judges Jeremy Hayes, Nathan Palmer and Jesse Reyes that she won six rounds in their second spectacular slugfest.

Taylor, 38, won by the same score, 95-94, on each of their cards because referee Jon Schorle deducted a point from her in the eighth round for intentionally leading with her head. Brooklyn’s Serrano landed plenty of damaging punches, but she was forced to fight through a nasty cut over her right eye that she suffered during the third round.

Taylor, a 2012 Olympic gold medalist, retained her IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC and WBO 140-pound crowns by winning the most-watched women’s boxing match in the history of the sport. According to a press release, Netflix estimated Taylor-Serrano 2 drew an average audience of 74 million worldwide and 47 million in the United States.

3. Natasha Jonas

This British southpaw started 2024 by edging American Mikaela Mayer by split decision in their 10-round fight for Jonas’ IBF welterweight title on Jan. 20 in Jonas’ hometown of Liverpool, England.

Jonas (16-2-1, 9 KOs) and Mayer were both effective enough to make an argument for winning. Ultimately, however, judges Michael Alexander (96-95) and Frank Lombardi (96-94) overruled Diana Drews Miliani, who scored seven rounds for Mayer (97-93).

The 40-year-old Jonas left the ring with not only her IBF belt, but the most noteworthy win on her record. Mayer is a former IBF junior lightweight champ who defeated one of Jonas’ previously unbeaten British rivals, Sandy Ryan, in her subsequent bout to win the WBO welterweight title.

Jonas, meanwhile, finished 2024 strong by producing an easy 10-round points victory over Croatian contender Ivana Habazin (23-6, 7 KOs) on Dec. 14 in Liverpool.

The ambitious Jonas has accepted another difficult assignment for her first fight of 2025. She is scheduled to partake in a welterweight title unification fight with Wales’ Lauren Price (8-0, 2 KOs) on March 7 at Royal Albert Hall in London.

4. Seniesa Estrada

The undefeated Estrada announced her retirement Oct. 23, in part because she accomplished much of what she felt she could by becoming the fully unified minimumweight champion March 29.

Estrada defeated Costa Rican rival Yokasta Valle by unanimous decision in their 10-round fight for the Los Angeles native’s WBA and WBC 105-pound crowns and Valle’s IBF and WBO belts. All three judges — Steve Morrow, Dennis O’Connell and Robin Taylor — scored seven rounds for Estrada (26-0, 9 KOs), who won 97-93 on each card nine months ago in Glendale, Arizona.

Valle (32-3, 10 KOs) wanted a rematch, but the 32-year-old Estrada walked away from the ring to pursue acting gigs and business interests.

5. Amanda Serrano

The Puerto Rican southpaw stayed busy while Tyson recovered for his rescheduled fight with Paul by stopping Stevie Morgan in the second round on July 20 in Morgan’s hometown of Tampa, Fla.

Morgan took a gigantic step up in class when she opposed Serrano, who later performed admirably against Taylor in their rematch. Serrano (47-3-1, 31 KOs) was compromised physically because she sustained a grotesque gash over her right eye in the third round against Taylor, who withstood many of Serrano’s harder punches and often countered well with right hands that impressed the judges enough to score her a unanimous winner.

Here is how Uncrowned’s boxing team voted for 2024’s Female Boxer of the Year.

Honorable mentions: