By David Martinez / dmboxing.com

I have assembled my personal choices in boxing for the past year, 2021, in six selected categories.

The picks are solely my opinion. I sincerely respect and always welcome the opinions of others – thank you!

*** FIGHTER OF THE YEAR ***

Canelo Alvarez (57-1-2 / 39 by KO)

WBC / WBA / IBF / WBO Super Middleweight Champion

vs. Avni Yikdirim (2-27-21) RTD3

vs. Billy Joe Saunders (5-8-21) RTD8

vs. Caleb Plant (11-6-21) KO11

Runner Up’s:

Oleksandr Usyk (19-0 / 13 by KO)

Josh Taylor (18-0 / 13 by KO)

Nonito Donaire (42-6 / 28 by KO)

Conor Benn (20-0 / 13 by KO)

*** FIGHT OF THE YEAR ***

11-27-21 / Stephen Fulton Jr. vs. Brandon Figueroa / MD12

Runner Up’s:

3-13-21 / Juan Francisco Estrada vs. Roman Gonzalez II / SD12

10-9-21 / Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder III / KO11

5-22-21 / Josh Taylor vs. Jose Carlos Ramirez / UD12

12-5-21 / Gervonta Davis vs. Mario Barrios / KO11

*** KNOCKOUT OF THE YEAR ***

2-20-21 / Oscar Valdez vs. Miguel Berchelt / KO10

Runner Up’s:

3-10-21 / Brandon Lee vs. Samuel Teah / KO3

10-9-21 / Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder III / KO11

6-19-21 / Gabriel Rosado vs. Bektemir / KO3

10-9-21 / Troy Williamson vs. Ted Cheeseman / KO10

*** UPSET OF THE YEAR ***

2-13-21 / Mauricio Lara vs. Josh Warrington / KO9

Runner Up’s:

11-27-2 / George Kambosos Jr. vs. Teofimo Lopez / SD12

10-6-21 / Sandor Martin vs. Mikey Garcia / MD10

9-25-21 / Oleksandr Usyk vs. Anthony Joshua / UD12

11-13-21 / Kiko Martinez vs. Kid Galalad / KO6

*** PROSPECT OF THE YEAR ***

Xander Zayas (12-0 / 9 by KO) Welterweight

Runner Up’s:

Keyshawn Davis (4-0 / 3 by KO) Lightweight

Jared Anderson (11-0 / 11 by KO) Heavyweight

Mark Dickinson (2-0 / 1 by KO) Super Middleweight

Israil Madrimov (8-0 / 6 by KO) Junior Middleweight

*** DREAM FIGHTS FOR 2022***

In not any particular order, here’s the five fights that I would like to see in boxing in the New Year 2022:

Terence Crawford (38-0) vs. Errol Spence Jr. (27-0)

Canelo Alvarez (57-1-2) vs. Gilberto Ramirez (43-0)

Vasiliy Lomachenko (16-2) vs. Gervonta Davis (26-0)

Ryan Garcia (21-0) vs. Devin Haney (27-0)

Juan Francisco Estrada (42-3) vs. Kazuto Ioka (27-2)

Amazing fights, amazing fighters, and if you combined their ring records – it’s astounding – 324 wins, 8 losses and 2 draws … now that’s boxing at its best!

As we enter the New Year 2022, I would like to wish everyone good health, prosperity, and joy.