The last year in boxing gave us unforgettable moments: historic victories, new undisputed champions, shocking surprises, spectacular knockouts, and performances that redefined the sport.
Terence Crawford, by moving up two weight divisions and defeating Canelo Álvarez, made history by becoming undisputed champion in a third category, something never seen in the era of the four belts (since 2007).
Gabriela Fundora became the youngest undisputed champion in boxing history in 2024, and continued her success last year with two knockout victories that propelled her into the top five of Alofoke Deportes’ women’s pound-for-pound ranking.
The story of 2025 wasn’t limited to the champions. Coaches, prospects, and unforgettable fights also played their part, leaving fans eager for more.
What were the moments, boxers, and knockouts that will be remembered as the best of 2025? Let’s celebrate the highlights of the year.
Boxer of the Year: Terence Crawford
Other boxers may have had more activity in 2025, but only Crawford moved up two weight divisions to decisively beat Canelo Álvarez and become undisputed world champion in three divisions. That, by itself, is worth more than any other achievement by any other boxer.
There were doubts about how Crawford, former undisputed super lightweight and welterweight champion, would adapt to the super middleweight division that Álvarez had dominated for five years. Crawford answered those questions definitively by offering a master class of superior boxing and leaving Canelo visibly frustrated. Crawford, who spent most of his career competing between 135 and 147 pounds, finally got the recognition he deserved and became a superstar with a performance that defined his legacy.
The boxer from Omaha, Nebraska, who began his professional career with little fanfare, proved that he deserves to be called the best boxer of his time. And to put the cherry on top of a brilliant career, Crawford decided to retire after his greatest professional victory.
Female Boxer of the Year: Gabriela Fundora
Fundora firmly established herself as the future of women’s boxing with an impressive campaign in 2025, dominating the field with knockout victories over Alexas Kubicki and Marilyn Badillo to maintain her undisputed flyweight champion status. With her 5-foot-9-inch height and 69-inch reach advantages, Fundora demonstrated her finishing prowess, adding to an already terrifying arsenal of tools that could take the 23-year-old to the top of the women’s pound-for-pound rankings in 2026.
Fundora is a mix of extraordinary physical traits and exceptional skills. She is currently the only boxer under 30 years old on Alofoke Deportes’ P4P list. If she fulfills her intention to lose weight and becomes a two-division champion in 2026, there is a high possibility that she will win this award in consecutive years.
Fight of the Year (Men): Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Conor Benn 1
It wasn’t just the fight; it was every moment leading up to the clash that made the first encounter between Eubank and Benn the best fight of the year for men. A deep personal rivalry between their fathers, middleweight champions, continued in 2025, when Eubank and Benn starred in an epic exchange that thrilled London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
From the moment Eubank arrived at the arena with his father, Chris Eubank Sr., to the epic pre-fight introductions and the electrifying encounter in the ring, the night will remain as one of the most memorable in UK boxing. But none of the atmosphere would matter if the fight itself wasn’t excellent.
The swings of momentum were dramatic. Benn started fast, but Eubank closed the distance and ultimately stole the show with a great second half to win a hard-fought unanimous decision. It was the rare occasion when the fight lived up to, and possibly exceeded, expectations.
Fight of the Year (Women): Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano 3
Although it wasn’t as exciting as their previous two encounters, the third meeting between Taylor and Serrano was an intriguing game of chess in which both boxers chose to be more vigilant than in the previous two fights. The result of the strategic change favored Taylor, who managed to methodically outmaneuver the seemingly submissive Serrano over the course of their 10-round fight to obtain a majority decision. A calculated Taylor used a sharp right hook to keep Serrano at bay, with the occasional flurry whenever her rival got too close. It was the equivalent of watching two football teams exchange short passes and running plays between tackles instead of attempting long passes and riskier trick plays. The two previous fights set an unfairly high standard for their third encounter, but it was an exceptionally technical battle between two of the best female boxers on the planet.
Prospect of the Year: Adam Azim
Azim went from being a prospect to a true super lightweight title contender in 2025 with impressive victories over Sergey Lipinets and Kurt Scoby. Azim, 23, rolled over Lipinets in February, becoming the second boxer to finish the former world champion. He followed that performance with a tough 12th-round stoppage of Scoby that was led by a ruthless body attack. The Brit had been billed as a future world champion, and is evolving faster than expected.
KO of the Year: Brian Norman Jr. vs. Jin Sasaki
Norman burst into the consciousness of boxing fans with a brutal knockout in the fifth round of Sasaki in June. While Fabio Wardley’s knockout of Justis Huni and Jai Opetaia’s shocking knockdown of Huseyin Cinkara were worthy contenders for the best of the year, Norman’s left hook formally announced him as the hardest hitter in the welterweight division.
Sasaki had already touched the canvas twice in the first round, but chose to maintain an offensive mindset, seeking to get back into the fight. Norman saw his opportunity when Sasaki went to the body with a left jab and stayed a little too close for his comfort. Norman planted his feet and threw a left hook that caught Sasaki just as he was trying to get out of range. The incredible force of the blow sunk Sasaki, with his head bouncing violently against the canvas. There was no need for a count, as the referee quickly stopped the fight. Sasaki’s gym owner told the Japanese media days later that Sasaki was struggling with memory loss and couldn’t remember the six weeks leading up to the fight.
Surprise of the Year: Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero vs. Ryan Garcia
The plan was simple: Devin Haney and Garcia would be presented in separate preparation fights on the first fight card held in Times Square, New York, to prepare for a highly anticipated rematch.
Haney took care of business in a relatively unexciting affair with Jose Ramirez and then took a seat at ringside to see how his rival would fare against the hard-hitting, but not very defensive, “Rolly” Romero.
Garcia was a clear favorite in the betting (-900) and was expected to achieve a spectacular knockout of Romero with his powerful left hook. Instead, a nightmare scenario for Garcia began to take shape when Romero sent him to the canvas in the second round with a left hook of his own. And what followed was nothing short of a disappointment. Romero maintained an advantage on the scorecards, and the fight was largely devoid of action, with a total of 123 punches landed out of a total of 490 thrown. Romero’s unanimous decision victory produced the third-lowest punch output for a 12-round fight in CompuBox history, nullifying a highly anticipated Haney-Garcia rematch.
Coach of the Year: Robert Garcia
Coaches like Brian “BoMac” McIntyre (Terence Crawford and Chris Eubank Jr.) and Ben Davison (Fabio Wardley and Moses Itauma) had great years leading their respective pupils to legacy-defining victories. But this award goes to Garcia for his work with Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, Vergil Ortiz Jr., and Raymond Muratalla.
Garcia led Muratalla to become interim lightweight world champion by defeating Zaur Abdullaev in May. He helped Ortiz knock on the door of pound-for-pound status with a methodical beating of Israil Madrimov in February and a violent devastation of Erickson Lubin in November. But his work with Alofoke Deportes’ dynamite number 5 pound-for-pound, Rodriguez, really set him apart from the rest. Rodriguez scored two sensational tenth-round knockouts over world champions Phumelele Cafu in July and Fernando Martinez in November to secure his place as one of the best boxers in the world and his trainer’s place at the top of Alofoke Deportes’ best of the year.
