By David Martinez / www.dmboxing.com

Annually, at the end of the year, I assemble the top awards in boxing. Here are my personal picks for 2023. Also listed are the winners in each category from the previous five years.

I sincerely respect and welcome the opinions of others – thank you!

2023 / FIGHTER OF THE YEAR

Naoya Inoue (26-0 / 23 by KO)

IBF Super Bantamweight Champion

WBA Super Bantamweight Champion

WBC Super Bantamweight Champion

WBO Super Bantamweight Champion

RUNNER UP’S

Devin Haney

David Benavidez

Terence Crawford

THE PAST WINNERS

Dmitry Bivol (2022)

Canelo Alvarez (2021)

Teofimo Lopez (2020)

Naoya Inoue (2019)

Oleksandr Usyk (2018)

2023 / FIGHT OF THE YEAR

Rafael Espinoza vs. Robeisy Ramirez (12-9-23) MD-12

RUNNER UP’S

Emanuel Navarrete vs. Oscar Valdez (8-12-23) UD-12

Jaime Munguia vs. Sergiy Derevyanchenko (6-10-23) UD-12

Devin Haney vs. Vasiliy Lomachenko (5-20-23) UD-12

THE PAST WINNERS

Jermell Charlo vs. Brian Castano (2022)

Stephen Fulton Jr. vs. Brandon Figueroa (2021)

Jose Zepeda vs. Ivan Baranchyk (2020)

Naoya Inoue vs. Nonito Donaire (2019)

Murat Gassiev vs. Yuniel Dorticos (2018)

2023 / KNOCKOUT OF THE YEAR

Zhilei Zhang vs. Joe Joyce 2 (9-23-23) KO-3

RUNNER UP’S

Brian Mendoza vs. Sebastian Fundora (4-8-23) KO-7

Junto Nakatani vs. Andrew Maloney (5-20-23) KO-12

Ja’ Rico O’Quinn vs. Peter McGrail (12-16-23) KO-5

THE PAST WINNERS

Leigh Wood vs. Michael Colan (2022)

Oscar Valdez vs. Miguel Berchelt (2021)

Gervonta Davis vs. Leo Santa Cruz (2020)

Nonito Donaire vs. Stephon Young  (2019)

Dillian Whyte vs. Lucas Browne (2018)

2023 / UPSET OF THE YEAR

Joseph Parker vs. Deontay Wilder (12-23-23) UD-12

RUNNER UP’S

Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna vs. Karol Itauma (1-28-23) KO-5

Brian Mendoza vs. Sebastian Fundora (4-8-23) KO-7

Jose Felix Jr. vs. Gary Cully (5-20-23) KO-3

THE PAST WINNERS

Dmitry Bivol over Canelos Alvarez (2022)

Mauricio over Josh Warrington (2021)

Robert Helenius over Adam Kownacki (2020)

Andy Ruiz Jr. over Anthony Joshua (2019)

Eleider Alvarez over Sergey Kovalev (2018)

PROSPECT OF THE YEAR

Bakhodir Jalolov (14-0 / 14 by KO) Heavyweight

RUNNER UP’S

Abdullah Mason (11-0 / 9 by KO) Lightweight

Adam Azim (10-0 / 7 by KO) Junior Welterweight

Dalton Smith (15-0 / 11 by KO) Junior Welterweight

Rohan Polanco (11-0 / 7 by KO) Welterweight  

THE PAST WINNERS

Keyshawn Davis (2022)

Xander Zayas (2021)

Edgar Berlanga (2020)

Vergil Ortiz Jr. (2019)

Teofimo Lopez (2018)