Candidates for “Boxer of the Year” in 2025: A Detailed Analysis
With four months left in the 2025 boxing calendar, the race for the “Boxer of the Year” title remains open. Despite the outstanding performances, there is still no clear favorite who stands out from the rest.
This year has witnessed great fights, from Oleksandr Usyk’s resounding victory over Daniel Dubois to Dmitry Bivol’s rematch against Artur Beterbiev, which earned him the undisputed light heavyweight championship. However, the definitive performance that separates a boxer from the rest is yet to come.
There are still important scheduled fights that could change the landscape and add contenders to the conversation. The match between Terence Crawford and Canelo Álvarez for the undisputed super middleweight championship stands out. In addition, other boxers have the opportunity to finish the year strong and consolidate their candidacies.
Potential Candidates and Their Opportunities
We analyze some of the already confirmed fights and the boxers who are expected to compete again before the end of the year, and what they will need to secure their place as the boxer of the year.
Terence Crawford
If Crawford manages to defeat Canelo Álvarez, his only fight of the year could be worth more than two or three fights of any other boxer. Moving up two weight classes to beat Canelo, an emblematic figure in boxing, and becoming undisputed champion in three divisions, would be a feat of great magnitude.
Let’s not forget that Crawford will turn 38 in September, almost three years older than Canelo. The way Crawford achieves victory would not only solidify his position as boxer of the year, but could also put his career in the conversation of the greatest boxers in history.
After knockout defeats to Gervonta “Tank” Davis in 2022 and Isaac Cruz in 2024, Romero seemed more like an opponent than a contender for boxer of the year. However, he surprised by defeating Ryan García by unanimous decision in May and is on the list of potential opponents for Manny Pacquiao for his next fight.
Pacquiao’s manager, Sean Gibbons, has mentioned Romero and aims for the Filipino legend to return to the ring before the end of 2025. With the ambition of breaking his own record as the oldest boxer to become a welterweight champion (Pacquiao turns 47 on December 17), a fight with Romero, WBA champion, makes a lot of sense.
Romero still possesses significant punching power and looked imposing against Garcia. Although the fight with Garcia was not spectacular, Romero demonstrated new skills and defended very well against Garcia’s characteristic left hook. If he were to beat Pacquiao, he would have grounds to aim for the prize.
Katie Taylor
After closing the trilogy with Amanda Serrano with a clear victory by decision in July, Taylor can finally move forward and look for another opponent. The fight that makes the most sense for the undisputed super lightweight champion is a third fight with Cameron, the only boxer who has defeated Taylor in her professional career.
Cameron defeated Taylor by majority decision in May 2023 and lost by a close decision in the rematch in November 2023. Given the close nature of the first two encounters, a third fight is the most obvious option. If Taylor achieves an impressive victory, it would be difficult to ignore her in the conversation for boxer of the year.
Naoya Inoue
“The Monster” has had a smashing year with knockouts over Ye Joon Kim and Ramón Cárdenas and will dispute his third fight of 2025 when he faces Akhmadaliev on September 14. While a victory over “MJ” alone might not make Inoue the clear boxer of the year, a fourth fight in 2025 would certainly put him in the conversation.
Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, has announced plans for a fight card in December with Inoue defending his undisputed super bantamweight championship against WBC mandatory challenger David Picasso, who is coming off a majority decision victory against Kyonosuke Kameda on the Pacquiao-Mario Barrios undercard.
If Inoue achieves a 4-0 record with four knockouts this year, he could take the honors.
Moses Itauma
Itauma, at just 20 years old, has gone from prospect to contender in the blink of an eye. His annihilation of Dillian Whyte in the first round on August 16th was a terrifying example of his potential. Between the knockout of Whyte and his two-round victory over Mike Balogun in May, Itauma’s value in the heavyweight division is soaring. He has accumulated less than six minutes of fight time in 2025, and it is very likely that he will return before the end of the year.
Itauma has mentioned a fight with the durable Jermaine Franklin to accumulate rounds. However, given that Franklin will now fight on the Canelo-Crawford card, Itauma will have to look for another opponent, and a fight against a top 10 heavyweight could be the way to go.
Filip Hrgovic, who defeated David Adeleye on the Itauma-Whyte undercard, makes a lot of sense. Or Itauma could seek a fight with former interim champion Zhilei Zhang, who is coming off a knockout loss to Agit Kabayel in February. If Itauma manages a fight with any top-level heavyweight and wins, it will be difficult to exclude him from the conversation.
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez
Rodriguez added to his collection of belts in the smaller weight categories in 2025 with an impressive technical knockout victory in the tenth round over Phumelele Cafu in July to become WBO super flyweight champion. He already held the WBC title. Rodriguez, 25, continues to impress in his young career and is scheduled to face IBF titleholder Martinez in November on the The Ring IV card, headlined by David Benavidez against Anthony Yarde.
The way Rodriguez keeps dismantling his opponents is incredibly revealing, and he will have the opportunity to take another undefeated record from a boxer and get closer to becoming undisputed at 115 pounds. Many things would have to happen, besides him winning this fight, for Rodriguez to take home the honors of boxer of the year, but “Bam” is always in the conversation.
Shakur Stevenson
Stevenson has a 2-0 record in 2025 with dominant victories over Josh Padley and William Zepeda. His skill has never been in doubt, and his exciting battle with Zepeda in July silenced the detractors who claim that Stevenson’s fights are boring. He has been looking for fights with Gervonta Davis and Teofimo López. With Davis committed to a fight with Jake Paul and López silent after Stevenson called for the fight at 140 pounds, Stevenson’s options for a big fight to close out 2025 are limited.
There is always the possibility that he will resume the previously scheduled fight with Floyd “Kid Austin” Schofield. They were going to face each other in February, but Schofield had to withdraw due to illness. Schofield returned in a big way in June when he eliminated Tevin Farmer on the Jake Paul-Julio César Chávez Jr. card. A fight between Stevenson and Schofield would be much bigger now than when it was originally scheduled.
Stevenson could also seek a fight with IBF super lightweight champion Richardson Hitchins, or compete in a lightweight unification bout against IBF titleholder Raymond Muratalla. Neither of those fights would make Stevenson the boxer of the year, but if he delivers another dazzling performance, you never know.
