Yesterday saw the new and improved Ring Magazine host The Ring Magazine Awards, gathering fighters from all over the globe to discuss both who had a great 2024, and what may lie ahead in 2025.
The Ring Magazine was acquired by Turki Alalsheikh from Oscar De La Hoya in November 2024. It’s X account was formerly owned by TalkSport editor, Michael Benson. Turki has claimed that The Ring Magazine is a more personal venture, and is separate from Riyadh Season.
The Ring Magazine Awards were hosted in London, with a star-studded roster of fighters in attendance. Both Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn indicated their fight may be extremely close to being made, Anthony Joshua faced off with Martin Bakole, and Canelo Alvarez said if the deal is right he wouldn’t turn down Crawford.
Who Won The Ring Magazine Awards?
Knockout of The Year – Daniel Dubois
Daniel Dubois took home the award for knockout of the year, following his dominant display against Anthony Joshua to solidify himself as a world champion. Dubois dropped AJ multiple times before laying the British icon out on the canvas.
Other nominees included Gervonta Davis’ KO of Frank Martin, Bruno Surace’s upset against Munguia, Lucas Bahdi’s perfectly timed stoppage of Ashton Sylve, and Angelo Leo’s win over Luis Alberto Lopez.
Upset of The Year – Bruno Surace
Bruno Surace claimed the win for this award, after the 26-0-2 fighter, with only 5 knockouts on his record, stepped up against Jaime Munguia – who had only lost to Canelo, and stopped him in the sixth round.
Bakhram Murtazaliev, Liam Paro, Angelo Leo, Phumelele Cafu and Pedro Taduran were the other nominees.
Prospect of The Year – Moses Itauma
The nominees for prospect of the year at The Ring Magazine Awards were Moses Itauma, Abdullah Mason, Emiliano Vargas, Yoenli Hernandez, Jhon Orobio and Dainier Pero.
Following his emphatic performance against Demsey McKean, doing in one round what took Filip Hrgovic twelve, it is no wonder that Moses Itauma would win this award.
Comeback of The Year – Billy Dib
Against the likes of Daniel Dubois, Nick Ball, Angelo Leo, Masamichi Yabuki and Pedro Taduran, it is Billy Dib who won this award.
Dib fought once this year against a 12-16 opponent, after a two-year layoff. The real comeback, however, is that Dib had to first defeat a far tougher opponent before stepping in the ring – cancer.
Female Fighter of The Year – Gabriela Fundora
2025 has been a strong year for female boxing – Katie Taylor did the double on Amanda Serrano, Mikaela Myer defeated Sandy Ryan, and Claressa Shields won titles in a new division. Other nominees included Seniesa Estrada, and, the winner, Gabriela Fundora.
Fundora fought three times this year, and in her latest fight won the the WBC and WBO flyweight titles, to go alongside her IBF title.
Fight of The Year – Ford vs Kholmatov
The introduction of Riyadh Season and Saudi investment has made a huge difference to the sport of boxing, and has caused some brilliant fights to be made. These include: Fury vs Usyk 1, Beterbiev vs Bivol, Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs Serhii Bohachuk, Raymond Ford vs Otabek Kholmatov, Fernando Martinez vs Kazuto Ioka and Fabio Wardley vs Frazer Clarke.
The winner of this award was Raymond Ford’s win in the final seconds against Kholmatov, after being behind on the scorecards.
Trainer of The Year – Robert Garcia
For The Ring Magazine Award for trainer of the year, Robert Garcia took the victory, against the likes of Andy Lee, Marc Ramsay, Don Charles, Bob Santos, and Rudy Hernandez.
Robert Garcia notably trains Bam Rodriguez, who has been on an extremely impressive run of form for the last few years.
Event of The Year, Male Fighter of The Year, Round of The Year – Oleksandr Usyk
Oleksandr Usyk collected three awards at the ceremony, following his two wins over Tyson Fury in 2024, and his ninth round against Fury in their first fight, where the Ukrainian almost stopped The Gypsy King.
Usyk was against a host of competitors such as Daniel Dubois and Artur Beterbiev, as well as events such as Inoue vs Nery, Joshua vs Ngannou and Crawford vs Madrimov.
That’s a wrap for The Ring Magazine Awards.
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