Bleacher Report's Boxing Awards for 2016

There's something special about fighters—men and women who are willing to step into the spotlight and test their will, stamina, courage and skill against each other. It's a grim business that many people inexplicably fantasize about, picturing themselves as stalwarts of the squared circle. But only a precious few dare to step into the ring and test themselves in battle. 

I write that as an apology for what's to come here—because fighters, as much as I love and admire them as a class, let us down in 2016. 

For boxing fans, in America at least, 2016 was a year to forget. Few collectives—perhaps only the Democratic Party came close—had a tougher year than the dwindling cohort of boxing enthusiasts. It was 12 months of demoralizing abuse, seemingly clueless promoters and networks coming together in what almost felt like a concerted effort to prove all those predictions of boxing's imminent demise true.

In the no good, terrible, very bad year of 2016, boxing suffered the following indignities and tragedies.

• Muhammad Ali, the Greatest Of All Time, died at age 74.

• Manny Pacquiao fought a retirement fight, a pointless unwanted rematch against Tim Bradley. Pac-Man stayed retired for about two minutes before emerging to take a second fight in 2016, an even less interesting bout against Jessie Vargas. This earned him a nod for fighter of the year in some circles. Such is the sport of boxing in 2016.

• Premier Boxing Champions, which was everywhere in 2015, ground to a near standstill. Adrien Broner fought once against Ashley Theophane. Adonis Stevenson fought one against Thomas Williams Jr.  Andre Dirrell fought once against Blake Caparello. Devon Alexander never even stepped in the ring. The stars of tomorrow aren't built on social media or on the police blotter. They are constructed in the ring in compelling fights. PBC, it seems, has forgotten this, putting platforms before pugilists. But the former is worthless without the latter.

• The one rematch people seemed interested in—Wladimir Klitschko vs. Tyson Fury—fell apart in dramatic fashion, with Fury effectively retiring in a whirlwind of chaos. The heavyweights, who were seemingly destined to rise from the ashes, instead spent the year on a hamster wheel, waiting for the Fury show to play out before moving forward. 

• Fights being set up in 2015 slowly faded from consciousness and eventually even from discourse. Even the Gennady Golovkin vs. Canelo Alvarez superfight is rarely mentioned anymore, except by partisans as they attempt to drag one or the other through the internet mud. Both men, instead, head toward pay-per-view fights against far less compelling opposition.

• HBO spent much of its energy and no small amount of its resources setting up an Andre Ward vs. Sergey Kovalev superfight before even considering whether there was enough interest to make it work. When the smoke cleared, the bout managed to do numbers that would make UFC executives cry tears of despair. And that was boxing with its very best foot forward. In tandem with an underwhelming Pacquiao cards and Canelo’s creampuff defenses against non-entities, HBO PPV didn’t even clear 2 million combined buys for the year.

Despite boxing's brain trust fiddling in the flames, some stars were too bright not to shine through even the thickest smoke. There were moments of sublime skill and savagery that can only be found in the squared circle and hope for the future in Showtime's partnership with British promoters and HBO's investment in top Eastern European talent. 

As always, boxing was just good enough to keep us coming back for more.

Bleacher Report's Briggs Seekins, Kevin McRae, Lyle Fitzsimmons, Kelsey McCarson and I took in hundreds of fights throughout the year to help curate the best of the best for 2016. Have some additions to our list? Hit us with the old one-two in the comments.

Trainer of the Year: Shane McGuigan

Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

2016 might have been a miserable year for American boxing, but it was a banner year for the Brits. Leading the charge from across the pond was trainer Shane McGuigan. His three top fighters—Carl Frampton, David Haye and George Groves—went a combined 8-0.

It's easy to look good while training Andre Ward or Gennady Golovkin. What makes McGuigan's year so special is that none of his successes were gimmes. Haye and Groves were career revivals, and Frampton was an improbable choice to become the top featherweight in the world.

McGuigan isn't a blustery old wise man of the sort Rocky's Mickey gold mill made famous. Instead, he’s like the disruptive and youthful Emanuel Steward of Kronk fame, pushing a camp of young up-and-comers to the mountaintop and guiding fading vets to new levels of success. 

His success comes the possibility of staying power. We may see him occupy this space for years to come.

Others Receiving Votes: Anatoly Lomachenko, Freddie Roach

Knockout of the Year: Hassan N'Dam, Jermall Charlo (tie)

Recency bias is a real thing—but that doesn't mean these two titanic knockouts don't deserve their spot at the top of the heap.

Jermall Charlo’s starching of Julian “J-Rock” Williams on Showtime came first on Dec. 10. Both men were undefeated prospects who were fighting for a version of the light middleweight title—a rare contest for men of their stature in boxing's declining years.

Charlo established early that he had a decided punching advantage, dropping Williams in the second round. But Williams was game and even seemed to be getting back in the fight when a blasting right uppercut in the fifth totally separated him from his senses. Williams did manage to beat the count but was quickly dropped a second time, which ended the fight.

As Williams crashed face first to the canvas, Charlo ascended to stardom. So it goes in the brutal sport of boxing. 

Perhaps more spectacular still? Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam’s even more recent first-round ethering of former Olympian Alfonso Blanco on Dec. 17. Just a few months prior, N’Dam participated in the 2016 Olympic Games as one of the most decorated professional fighters in what was previously an all-amateur tournament. Much to the surprise of some commentators, N’Dam was totally unprepared for the difference in fight length and wound up losing in the opening round.

Now back in a 12-rounder, N’Dam redeemed himself in huge fashion, landing a strong overhand right that put Blanco down, out and into convulsions. It was everything horrifying and exhilarating in boxing condensed to a single moment.

Others Receiving Votes: Canelo Alvarez over Amir Khan, Oleksandr Gvozdyk over Nadjib Mohammedi, Joe Smith over Bernard Hopkins, Mason Menard over Eudy Bernardo

Upset of the Year: Joe Smith over Andrzej Fonfara

Joe Smith Jr. entered 2016 as a nondescript club fighter with wins over an array of journeymen and low-level gatekeepers. Not only a mystery to casual viewers, he was completely unknown to even the hardest of hardcore fans.

Andrzej Fonfara was supposed to win in June. That's how boxing works. There are haves and have-nots. The haves are there to collect an easy paycheck. The have-nots are there as human cannon fodder. Had things worked as they were supposed to, Smith would be nothing more than a name in agate print on BoxRec.com.

Fonfara had a huge 2015 with victories over a legitimate star (Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.) and a major contender (now titleholder Nathan Cleverly). His success had him on the verge of a rematch with WBC light heavyweight champ Adonis Stevenson, which itself was an exciting action fight in 2014.

All the signs pointed towards one-way traffic, but since you’re reading this in the “Upset of the Year” category, you can guess what happened next.

Instead of being dismantled in a thrown-together event intended to display Fonfara’s skills in front of partisan Polish fans in Chicago, Smith blew Fonfara away. He dropped Fonfara twice and stopped him in the very first round.

Smith Jr. had been underestimated—and continued to be through December. Few fighters can be nominated for any category more than once, but Smith earned that unique honor by year's end. Despite his win over Fonfara, he was seen as an easy mark for Bernard Hopkins in the well-marinated legend's final bout on Dec. 17.

Just as with Fonfara, Smith silenced the crowd with a stunning KO victory. Perhaps next year, someone will take him seriously at last.

Others Receiving Votes: Smith over Hopkins, Jezreel Corrales over Takashi Uchiyama, David Peralta over Robert Guerrero

Promoter of the Year: Matchroom Boxing

Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

American boxing promoters have fallen on hard times. 

Premier Boxing Champions has no front man, except in the court room. 

Bob Arum is an 85-year-old man edging toward retirement, good mostly for ad hominem attacks on, well, just about everyone.

Don King is a spent force relegated to the margins where he desperately hopes to unleash one final roar.

Even Kathy Duva and Tom Loeffler, who exude quiet competence, don't wow like the promoters of yore, the great carnival barker types who defined the role for all to follow. Boxing needs those kinds of promoters, as much as it claims to hate them.

Luckily, one such man remains. His name? Eddie Hearn.

Hearn’s ability to sell not only himself but his fighters is unparalleled in the sport today. Time and time again, he’s been able to sell out large arenas in London and Manchester, and his fighters are arguably the biggest stars in the boxing world.

Whether it was Frampton vs. Scott Quigg, Golovkin vs. Kell Brook or any of Anthony Joshua’s big fights, Hearn was at the center of the boxing universe in 2016. And next year looks to be even bigger.

Hearn not only puts on big fights, but he’s made himself a star in the process. His act includes doing impressions of his own fighters and even competing promoters. He’s not as in your face or brash as UFC front man Dana White; Hearn is more like a good buddy who just happens to be a rich carny boxing promoter. 

For now, until the inevitable heel turn, it all feels like good fun.

Others Receiving Votes: Main Events, K2 Promotions

Biggest Bust: Tyson Fury

Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

At the end of 2015, Tyson Fury was at the forefront of a rejuvenated heavyweight division. His over-the-top persona made him both an instant fan favorite and easy-to-despise villain, depending on your point of view.

Love him or love to hate him, he was the new heavyweight champion of the world, the lynchpin for what looked to be a return to glory for boxing's big men.

Unfortunately, everything fell apart. Fury was a train wreck who pulled out of fights, tested positive for drugs and ultimately retired under the most acrimonious of circumstances—ending dreams of a rematch with Wladimir Klitschko.

By the time 2016 ended, there was no longer love for Fury, at least not from anyone outside of his immediate family or the most partisan of diehard fans. His outrageous performative fight hype was great when there were fights to hype. Now there’s not even the satisfaction of seeing him get in the ring. He’s just an irritating lout burning through money and bridges at an outrageous pace.

Others Receiving Votes: Adrien Broner, Alexander Povetkin, Danny Garcia

Breakout Fighter: Oleksandr Usyk

As boxing has become less lucrative in the United States, local shows have declined at a frightening rate. The result is a corresponding decline in the talent pool and a real problem for the few stalwarts who are still trying to give the boxing racket a go.

To solve this problem, promoters have looked beyond their traditional comfort zones in a desperate search for talent. And they've found it in Eastern Europe—American promoters are signing fighters from Russia and her former satellites at a prodigious rate. Bolstered by the success of Gennady Golovkin and Sergey Kovalev, television executives are increasingly giving these foreign fighters the kinds of opportunities that were long denied them.

Usyk, signed to the Klitschko/Loeffler-run K2, is an example of this increasing international flair. The former Olympic gold medalist fought twice in the second half of the year, impressing both times with his rare combination of skill, power and size.

In September, Krzysztof Glowacki was first, looking totally overmatched and totally foolish in a defense of his world championship. But that bout took place in Poland, away from the bright lights and American television.

It was in Usyk's second major bout that American fans got a glimpse of the man who may be boxing's next big thing. Usyk was brought in to bolster the Hopkins/Smith Jr. undercard, where he once again dominated, this time knocking out the awkward and skilled Thabiso Mchunu.

While these cruiserweight victories are impressive, Usyk looks for far bigger game—Joshua, Wilder, Haye and the heavyweight division are all in his future plans.

Others Receiving Votes: Joe Smith Jr., Gilberto Ramirez, Jarrett Hurd

Fight of the Year: Francisco Vargas vs. Orlando Salido

Few fights can end in a draw and still leave almost the entire audience happy with the end result. It takes a special display by two warriors to leave everyone too wowed to engage in the usual performative debate about bad scorecards and accusations of highway robbery.

Vargas vs. Salido on June 4 was that kind of fight. The bout was designed to be a bloodbath/war, and that’s precisely what it delivered. Both men stood toe-to-toe for 12 full rounds, providing back-and-forth action at a high level. Fights are often either displays of wanton savagery or exhibitions of skillful excellence. This was, amazingly, a bit of both.

As thrilling as the fight was, a rematch couldn't be arranged in the fall of 2016. The potential for a modern-day Mickey Ward/Arturo Gatti was there. But somehow there wasn’t enough money or interest to bring back a low-cost, high-action, beloved affair—though there seemed to be just enough for a 38-year-old “prospect” in Luis Ortiz to sleepwalk through a 12-round snoozer against chronic octopus Malik Scott.

Boxing, as always, has a hard time getting out of its own way.

Others Receiving Votes: Roman Gonzalez vs. Carlos Cuadras, Keith Thurman vs. Shawn Porter, Andre Ward vs. Sergey Kovalev, Shinsuke Yamanaka vs. Anselmo Moreno 2, Jamie Conlan vs. Anthony Nelson

Fighter of the Year: Carl Frampton

Anthony Geathers/Getty Images

Some years make it difficult to pick a fighter of the year because of a bountiful bevy of deserving boxers. Some years, it is tough because of a dearth of qualified candidates.

This year, the previously unknown Joe Smith Jr. was a serious competitor for this award. That tells you all you need to know about 2016.

Carl Frampton was a rare exception—an elite fighter who won fights that mattered. His bouts with Scott Quigg and Leo Santa Cruz, broadcast live in America on Showtime, were not just critical wins. Both were also barnburners, adding impact to import.

Frampton established himself as both the top 127-pound boxer in the world and Bleacher Report's Fighter of the Year.

Others Receiving Votes: Andre Ward, Vasyl Lomachenko, Terence Crawford, Jermall Charlo, Joe Smith Jr.