Ranking the Top Early Candidates for Fighter of the Year in 2016
It's still far too early to put together anything like a definitive list for 2016's Fighter of the Year. But a number of boxers have already taken the first steps in that direction.
Carl Frampton has unified belts and is already scheduled to challenge for another in a new weight class. Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev have both recorded definitive wins over top-ranked contenders and should meet before the year is over in a bout of historic significance.
To qualify for consideration here, a fighter has to have already won at least one fight and have a high likelihood of at least fighting in another high-profile bout before the end of the year.
10. Danny Garcia
1 of 10
Danny Garcia won the vacant WBC welterweight title in January by defeating Robert Guerrero 116-112 on all three cards. It's hard to give too much credit to Garcia for that win. Guerrero is a smallish welterweight who has seen better years.
But Guerrero is also a former multidivision world champion and Garcia fought a tactically smart battle to defeat him, showcasing a better jab and lateral movement than we've previously seen from him.
It's a better win than most fighters will notch this year.
However, to be considered as Fighter of the Year come December, Garcia will need to be far more daring with his next choice of opponent.
9. Jessie Vargas
2 of 10
In March, Jessie Vargas captured the vacant WBO welterweight title by dispatching Sadam Ali with one of the year's finest performances. Vargas out-worked the undefeated former Olympian, knocking him down in Round 8 and finishing him at two minutes, nine seconds of Round 9.
It's hard to think much of that matchup as a "title" fight. While Vargas was a former champion at 140 pounds and had Timothy Bradley in deep trouble in Round 12 of their fight in June of last year, Sadam Ali's only really significant win was a stoppage of Luis Carlos Abregu in November 2014.
But it was a very solid early-year win by Vargas, delivered in a dominant manner. With the WBO strap around his waist, he should be able to attract more big-time opportunities before the end of the year.
8. Gilberto Ramirez
3 of 10
In April, on the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley undercard, Gilberto Ramirez turned in the breakout performance of his career, shutting out veteran champion Arthur Abraham on all three cards to capture the WBO super middleweight belt.
At 24, the new champion is now 34-0 with 24 KOs. At 6'2" and with a reach of 75", he's got the height and length of a heavyweight. He uses it to generate very dangerous power at 168 pounds.
Ramirez is in the running now to become one the popular Mexican boxing stars of this generation. There are excellent fights out there to make in the super middleweight division right now.
If Top Rank can manage to get a unification bout for Ramirez before the end of the year and he wins it, he'll be on the short list for 2016's Fighter of the Year.
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7. Krzysztof Glowacki
4 of 10
Last year, Krzysztof Glowacki knocked out longtime WBO cruiserweight champion Marco Huck in one of 2015's most thrilling fights. Already this year, he has defeated a tough former champion in Steve Cunningham in another exciting bout.
Cunningham showed tremendous game and was very competitive during moments of the bout, but Glowacki managed to drop him four times. Beating a fighter like Cunningham is a very good resume line at 200 pounds.
Beating him in a relatively one-sided fashion is really a statement.
Glowacki will need to win at least one more big fight before the end of 2016 to get serious consideration for Fighter of the Year honors. Fighting in the overlooked cruiserweight division will not help his cause.
6. Errol Spence Jr.
5 of 10
Beating an opponent like Chris Algieri is not going to be enough all on its own to earn Errol Spence Jr. serious consideration for Fighter of the Year. But it's definitely a good start.
It's an especially good start given the manner in which Spence handled him. Algieri fought Amir Khan on relatively close terms. He went the distance with Manny Pacquiao.
Spence broke Algieri down utterly, punishing his body and then stopping him just 48 seconds into Round 5. It was a dazzling performance, by any standard.
Spence is ready for anybody in the world now at 147 pounds. If he gets the kind of fights he deserves before the year is over, he'll be high on the list for Fighter of the Year.
5. Andre Ward
6 of 10
By the end of 2016, I predict that Andre Ward will be at the top of this list, with little room left for debate. But that prognosis is based on two other events coming to pass: that Ward actually ends up signing to fight light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev and that he beats him.
I do expect both of those things to happen. And moving up to defeat arguably the most dangerous man in the sport should be enough to earn Ward Fighter of the Year honors for the second time in this career.
But for now, those events are in the future. Still, Ward's impressive win over Sullivan Barrera earlier this year and the opportunity he should be able to cash in on later in the year is enough to warrant a top-five ranking today.
4. Leo Santa Cruz
7 of 10
So far in 2016, WBA featherweight champion Leo Santa Cruz has been victorious in one of the year's most exciting fights, a five-round slugfest with former super bantamweight titleholder Kiko Martinez. That was a solid win but hardly the kind of win that would justify Fighter of the Year Consideration.
Santa Cruz's next fight, though, is a different matter. In July, he'll face Carl Frampton, in a battle of undefeated champions.
Frampton is moving up from super bantamweight, but he has emerged in that division as a top star, defeating Scott Quigg last February in a unification bout.
This should be a pretty even fight, but Santa Cruz will have a significant advantage in reach and length. He demonstrated an ability to use that kind of edge last year when he defeated three-division champion Abner Mares.
3. Terence Crawford
8 of 10
Terence Crawford was 2014's Fighter of the Year. So far in 2016, he's positioned himself well to repeat. In February, he defended his WBO super lightweight title by stopping Hank Lundy in five rounds.
While Lundy is not an elite talent, he is a very tough, savvy veteran with solid all-around boxing skills. It was impressive to see Crawford handle him with such ease.
Crawford has the best possible fight he can make at 140 pounds on the schedule for July, when he'll face WBC super lightweight champion Viktor Postol in a unification bout. There's no way anybody should be penciling Crawford in as the automatic winner, but he is the favorite.
If Crawford unifies those titles, he'll still have time to move up to 147 and beat another top fighter before the end of the year. If everything goes according to plan, he'll once again be mentioned in any conversation about the Fighter of the Year.
2. Sergey Kovalev
9 of 10
Even though I personally think Andre Ward will likely win when, or if, he fights Sergey Kovalev later this year, it's definitely not a sure thing. Sergey Kovalev is one of the top pound-for-pound fighters on the planet and arguably the most dangerous puncher.
So there is a very good chance I'll be wrong and Kovalev will hand Ward his first defeat. If that happens, Kovalev will be the obvious choice to win Fighter of the Year.
He's already turned in an outstanding performance in his sadistic stoppage of Jean Pascal. He's also got a fight scheduled with Isaac Chilemba, a top-10 light heavyweight, for over the summer.
1. Carl Frampton
10 of 10
So far in 2016, Carl Frampton has turned in one of the year's best performances. Last February, he beat fellow unbeaten champion Scott Quigg to unify the WBA and IBF belts at 122 pounds.
For his next bout, he's only going tougher. In July, he'll move up to featherweight and challenge undefeated Leo Santa Cruz.
This should be by far the toughest bout of Frampton's career. He'll be giving up a half-foot in reach to Santa Cruz.
But The Jackal has always been very good at closing distance and roughing up opponents on the inside. If Frampton can unify titles at 122 pounds and then win another one at 126, all within the first seven months of the year, he'll be in great shape to become 2016's Fighter of the Year.
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