Ranking the Top 2016 Fighter of the Year Candidates Heading into Fall
The winner of Andre Ward vs. Sergey Kovalev will almost surely be a consensus pick for 2016's Fighter of the Year. But if the voting happened now, based purely on the year to date, neither man would present an outstanding resume.
Similarly, the winner of Roman Gonzalez vs. Carlos Cuadras will also have a great argument for FOY honors. If Gonzalez wins, he will have moved up in weight to capture a world title from a dominant, undefeated champion.
If Cuadras wins, he will have knocked off the sport's top pound-for-pound fighter.
But all of that remains in the future. The following list is based upon the year to date. A number of fighters have already notched some impressive resume lines during 2016.
8. Rau'shee Warren
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Rau'shee Warren is the only boxer from the United States to qualify for the Olympic Games three times. While that is a singular accomplishment, the Cincinnati native never closed the deal and brought home a medal.
But 2016 will be the year Warren rinsed a lot of the lasting sting from that disappointment. In June, he turned in the greatest performance of his career, capturing the WBA bantamweight belt from previously unbeaten Juan Carlos Payano via majority decision.
The win was made even sweeter by the fact that it avenged Warren's only previous professional loss, by split decision to Payano in August 2015. For hardcore American fans who have been following Warren's ups and downs for over a decade, it was a satisfying moment to watch.
7. Gilberto Ramirez
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Saul Alvarez might currently reign as Mexico's biggest boxing star. But do not be shocked if Gilberto Ramirez starts to challenge him for that spot in the coming years. The WBO super middleweight champion is a legitimate star on the rise.
Ramirez proved he was for real last April, when he became a world champion by shutting out Arthur Abraham on all three judges' cards. Abraham might be a bit long in the tooth, but he is still one of the best middle and super middleweights of this century and a likely Hall of Famer.
For a 25-year-old fighter to beat him is an accomplishment. To beat him in the one-sided fashion Ramirez did was a major statement to the boxing world.
It was particularly impressive by how much improvement Ramirez had made since his 10-round unanimous decision of Gevorg Khatchikian only five months prior. Ramirez looks very much like a young fighter who is still improving.
6. Jermall Charlo
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Jermall Charlo became a world champion in September 2015, when he stopped Cornelius Bundrage in three rounds to capture the IBF belt at 154 pounds. It was an impressive win for a young fighter.
But even Bundrage's biggest fans would concede that K-9 is over the hill at 43 and technically limited.
So Charlo's defense in May against former WBA champion Austin Trout was his first true test. Trout is a slick fighter still in his prime but hungry to return to the top.
Charlo beat him with relative ease. It was a competitive fight, but Charlo was clearly the better fighter.
Charlo will have a chance to burnish his FOY resume in October, when he faces undefeated young lion Julian Williams in one of the fall's biggest fights.
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5. Vasyl Lomachenko
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With two Olympic gold medals and a 396-1 record, Vasyl Lomachenko deserves to be recognized as the greatest amateur fighter of this century, if not of all time. And there is no ceiling in sight for how far he might rise in the professional ranks.
In June, Lomachenko became a two-division world champion in just his seventh professional fight when he stopped WBO super featherweight champion Roman Martinez in just five rounds.
Martinez might not be elite, but he was a veteran champion. Mikey Garcia knocked him out, but Martinez gave him big problems early in that fight. Martinez has been one of the best 130-pound fighters of the past five years.
Lomachenko handled him with shocking ease in one of 2016's most impressive performances.
4. Keith Thurman
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Keith Thurman became the WBA interim welterweight champion when he knocked out Diego Chaves in July 2013. He became the full WBA champion in March 2015, when he beat multidivision world champion Robert Guerrero in a one-sided fight.
Heading into 2016, Thurman was 26-0 with 22 KOs. He had defeated some good fighters but never another top welterweight in his prime. Fans appreciated Thurman's accomplishments but were hungry to see him against somebody with status similar to his own.
In June, we finally got the opportunity, as Thurman faced off with former IBF champion Shawn Porter. Porter, like Thurman, is a top 147-pound fighter at the height of his powers.
In what will possibly prevail as 2016's Fight of the Year, Thurman came away with a unanimous decision, 115-113 on all three cards.
3. Anthony Joshua
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By the time 2016 is over, Anthony Joshua will probably not be on anybody's short list for Fighter of the Year. And let me be clear: I do not recognize Joshua's IBF belt as a legitimate world championship.
Nobody should. The IBF took that title away from Tyson Fury, the man who defeated Wladimir Klitschko, in order to give it to the winner of Vyacheslav Glazkov and Charles Martin. The move was an insult to the intelligence of every boxing fan in the world.
When Glazkov injured his leg in Round 3, Martin was suddenly the least qualified world champion in the history of the heavyweight division.
Joshua demolished Martin in April to lift his meaningless belt. In June, Joshua stopped Dominic Breazeale in Round 7.
Joshua may not be considered a true world champion, but he did record two impressive victories over fellow unbeaten contenders this year and is likely not done yet. He does look very much like the future of the division.
2. Terence Crawford
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In February, Terence Crawford defended his WBO super lightweight title against longtime contender Hank Lundy. Crawford hammered him, stopping Lundy in Round 5.
Once again, Crawford had defeated a good fighter with startling ease.
But if that was all Crawford had done this year, he would not be on this list. Crawford is No. 2 on this list due to what he did in July against Viktor Postol.
Like Crawford, Postol came into the bout undefeated in his professional career. He had claimed his WBC title at 140 pounds by virtue of stopping Lucas Matthysse, one of the top boxing stars of the past few years.
Postol gave Crawford plenty of problems in the opening rounds, but true to his typical form, Crawford adjusted and quickly turned the bout one-sided. Postol lasted the distance, but he was knocked down twice in Round 5 and lost the final nine rounds.
Postol is truly a talented boxer. Only a special fighter could defeat him as easily as Crawford did.
1. Carl Frampton
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If the year ended right now, Carl Frampton would be 2016's Fighter of the Year. Even next January, he will still deserve at least a spot on any short list.
In February, Frampton defeated fellow unbeaten Scott Quigg. The victory gave The Jackal both the WBA and IBF belts at super bantamweight.
That alone would have been a pretty nice year. But Frampton almost immediately made plans to move up to featherweight and take on undefeated Leo Santa Cruz, the WBA champion and one of the sport's rising stars.
In July, Frampton defeated Santa Cruz in one of the year's best fights, via majority decision. It was a competitive bout, but I did not see it nearly as close as Guido Cavalieri's 114-114 draw. I had Frampton winning eight rounds.
Now that he has the belt at 126 pounds, there are some great potential fights for him to make with the likes of Lee Selby or Gary Russell Jr.
It is clear that Frampton is interested in making big fights. So he might just have more left to do in 2016.
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