2023 Fight of the year: Luis Nery-Azat Hovhannisyan
Plus the 10 honorable mentions in order; past winners year-by-year
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When Golden Boy Promotions announced that Luis Nery and Azat Hovhannisyan would meet in a WBC junior featherweight final eliminator on Feb. 18, many immediately marked it down as a possible fight of the year contender.
After all, former bantamweight and junior featherweight titlist Nery and Hovhannisyan, a former junior featherweight title challenger, are power punchers with crowd pleasing styles.
As the fight grew closer, Mexico’s Nery predicted that within 30 seconds of the opening bell that the fight “would be a war.” The Los Angeles-based Armenian Hovhannisyan concurred.
And then they delivered. Round after round after round, they treated the fans in attendance at the Fox Theater in Pomona, California, and those watching the main event on DAZN, to all-out slugfest of the highest order that is the 2023 Fight Freaks Unite Fight of the Year.
From the start, until Nery finally subdued Hovhannisyan in the 11th round, they slugged it out with reckless abandon in tremendously exciting and competitive fight.
Nery eventually scored a 10th-round knockdown in the hard-hitting and thrilling clash but there were constant bursts of toe-to-action and both fighters were visibly rocked at various times.
A left hand from Nery opened a bloody cut under Hovhannisyan’s right eye in the third round. In the fourth round, Hovhannisyan had Nery on shaky legs before he rebounded with a damaging combination off the ropes, including an uppercut, which rocked Hovhannisyan as they were both hurt in the final seconds.
“This is going to be spectacular, I’m telling you. It’s just getting started,” DAZN analyst Sergio Mora noted just as the fifth round was beginning.
He couldn’t have been more prescient.
Nery inflicted a second cut on Hovhannisyan in the fifth round, opening a wound on his right eyelid. The blood flowed but Hovhannisyan brushed it aside and continued to plow forward, leaving referee Ray Corona merely a spectator for most of the fight because there was so little for him to do.
They simply continued to trade punishment and both were shaken from the constant blows, especially in the brutal ninth round.
“I am humbled watching this; I am humbled,” Mora said when the ninth round ended.
Nery finally broke through in the 10th round when he landed a left that dropped Hovhannisyan with 40 seconds remaining but he survived — barely — and they continued to intensely trade. He seemed OK as the 11th round began and was coming on midway through the round, but when the southpaw Nery wobbled his bleeding foe with two lefts Corona stepped in at 1 minute, 51 seconds to bring an end to this instant classic, which Nery led 96-93, 96-93 and 95-94 at the time of the stoppage.
“An absolute classic,” DAZN blow-by-blow man Corey Erdman exclaimed.
Nery, during his post-fight interview, reflected on the battle.
“We knew it would be a hard fight,” Nery said through an interpreter. “It was good for the fans. It was a war for everybody.”
Other unforgettables
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2. Jaime Munguia W12 Sergiy Derevyanchenko (June 10 at Ontario, Calif.)
After years of criticism of his very soft schedule, former junior middleweight titlist Munguia stepped up to face the well-respected former three-time middleweight title challenger Derevyanchenko as they both made their super middleweight debuts and turned in an unforgettable and dramatic battle that easily could have taken top honors. It figured to be exciting on paper and more than lived up the expectations in the main event of a Golden Boy card on DAZN.
It was a savage back-and-forth battle in which Munguia was on the verge of losing his perfect record but never stopped swinging until finally landing a hard left hand to Derevyanchenko’s midsection in the 12th round for the only knockdown. Munguia trailed on two scorecards going into the final round and the knockdown turned out to be the difference in his winning 115-112, 114-113 and 114-113. But the fight was much more than the drama of that last round.
They met in the center of the ring at the opening bell and went to toe to toe immediately and never let up. Both were rocked repeatedly during the many fierce exchanges. Derevyanchenko landed uppercuts and big right hands and often counter punched while crowd favorite Munguia landed sledgehammer left hooks. As if the fight wasn’t already enthralling, the fifth round took it to another level as Derevyanchenko got hurt early but roared back and was on the verge of a knockout win after pummeling Munguia in a wild round of the year contender. It was just bombs away for most of the rest of the fight.
3. Rafael Espinoza W12 Robeisy Ramirez (Dec.9 at Pembroke Pines, Fla.)
The unheralded Espinoza, an anonymous 10-year pro getting the opportunity of a lifetime, scored a tremendous upset in a dramatic majority decision victory over Ramirez in an intense fight to win the WBO featherweight title in a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN main event. With the heavily Cuban crowd cheering on Ramirez, the two-time Cuban Olympic gold medalist making his second title defense, Espinoza sealed the shocking victory with a dominating 12th round that included knocking Ramirez down with an onslaught of punches with about 30 seconds left. What had been a split draw heading into the final round ended as majority win for Espinoza, 115-111, 114-112 and 113-113.
He dominated the first four rounds before Ramirez rallied and nearly ended the rousing bout in the final seconds of the fifth round when he dropped Espinoza in a heap in a corner with a cracking right hook. Espinoza got up quickly, took a few steps, but staggered and fell into the ropes on the other side of the ring. Many referees would have stopped the fight, but Christopher Young did not. Espinoza was able to collect himself and go on to win the memorable fight.
4. Emanuel Navarrete W12 Oscar Valdez (Aug. 12 at Glendale, Ariz.)
There was never going to be any subtlety to the fight between WBO junior lightweight titlist Navarrete and Mexican countryman and former titlist Valdez in a much-anticipated showdown many thought might rival the legendary trilogy between Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, both of whom Top Rank brought in to help promote the ESPN fight. While Navarrete-Valdez perhaps didn’t reach that level, they still put on a worthy and rousing classic that produced unbridled violence and showed the heart and determination of both men. In the end, Navarrete, thanks to intense pressure, massive punch output (1,038 thrown) and the heart to fight much of the bout with a damaged right hand, won a unanimous decision — 119-109, 118-110 and 116-112, seemingly a bit wide on two cards — to retain his title.
5. Artur Beterbiev TKO8 Anthony Yarde (Jan. 28 at London)
Three-belt light heavyweight champion Beterbiev traveled to Yarde’s hometown to make a WBO mandatory defense on ESPN+ in the United States and maintained his mark as the only active champion with a perfect knockout percentage (19-0, 19 KOs) in a big-time action fight. Yarde had his moments in an enthralling, fast-paced battle, but Beterbiev’s power was ultimately too much as they let it all hang out in this scrap.
They were cut and bleeding going into the eighth round, but Yarde appeared more tired and worse for the wear, and Beterbiev took advantage. He rocked Yarde with a clean right hand to the head and then immediately dropped him to all fours with a follow-up chopping overhand right. Yarde looked shaky but made it to his feet at the count of eight as blood streamed down his face from a cut under his left eye that he suffered in the sixth round. When the fight resumed, Beterbiev cracked him with a right and got in one more blow before referee Steve Gray stepped in and stopped it at 2:01 the behest of Yarde trainer Tunde Ajayi. As it turned out, Yarde surprisingly led on two cards (68-65 and 67-66) while Beterbiev led 67-66 on the third, but made them irrelevant.
6. Emanuel Navarrete TKO9 Liam Wilson (Feb. 3 at Glendale, Ariz.)
Fighting for the vacant WBO junior lightweight title, Navarrete won a belt in a third division but went through hell to get it in an unforgettable slugfest with little known but big-hearted 14-1 underdog Wilson, who traveled a long way from Australia and made a name for himself in the Top Rank on ESPN main event. Navarrete survived a hard fourth-round knockdown and took plenty of clean punches but rallied to drop and stop Wilson, who turned in a tremendous effort. He was up on all three scorecards following the fourth round in which he rocked Navarrete with a left hook that sent him reeling backward and then continued to pound him before dropping him with a right hand.
There was controversy because Navarrete spit out his mouthpiece and got several seconds of extra recovery time as referee Chris Flores put it back in but in the wrong position. By the time the fight resumed the round was nearly over and Wilson could not follow up on his big moment. Early in the ninth round, Navarrete landed clean right hand on Wilson’s chin, dropping him to his side in the center of the ring. Wilson, who was bleeding from his nose, beat the count but then took huge punishment along the ropes before Flores stopped this gem of a fight.
7. Joe Cordina W12 Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov (April 22 at Cardiff, Wales)
Rakhimov was making his first defense of the IBF junior lightweight title in the hometown of mandatory challenger Cordina, who was seeking to regain the belt after having been stripped due to injury. They put on one heck of a show in the Matchroom Boxing main event on DAZN as Cordina reclaimed the belt he had never lost in the ring. From the opening bell, they set an unrelenting pace. The quicker Cordina dropped Rakhimov with a short left hand in the second round and cut him over the left eye in the sixth round. Rakhimov, however, was undeterred and never stopped plowing toward Cordina, even when he getting nailed with clean shots. Both refused to go into reverse as they fired power shots with abandon and Cordina’s hometown crowd went absolutely wild with every shot in a festive and electric atmosphere. Cordina, whose combinations were more eye catching, ultimately won a deserved split decision, 115-112 and 114-113 with one judge favoring Rakhimov 116-111, as he regained the belt in a brilliant fight.
8. Mauricio Lara TKO7 Leigh Wood I (Feb. 18 at Nottingham, England)
Lara and Wood, both powerful punchers with action styles, promised it would not go past six rounds and they were only slightly off. Lara, trailing on all three scorecards in a rough, grinding, slugfest, landed the sort of perfect and powerful left hook Joe Frazier would have been proud of to stop Wood in the seventh round and take his WBA featherweight title in a Matchroom Boxing main event on DAZN.
It was the expected shootout from the start. Wood, fighting in his hometown, emerged from the first round with blood streaming down his face from a cut over his left eye caused by an accidental head butt. But he continued to press forward, as did Lara, and they landed many heavy shots. Going into the seventh round, Wood led 59-55, 58-56 and 58-56 but no lead is ever safe with Lara, a fearless aggressor with a big punch. Late in the seventh, they threw simultaneous hooks but Lara’s connected flush on Wood’s chin and he went down hard in the center of the ring. He quickly got to his feet but as referee Michael Alexander was about to resume the fight, Wood trainer Ben Davison threw in the towel with six seconds remaining, ending a dramatic battle.
9. Kenneth Sims Jr. W12 Batyr Akhmedov (May 13 at Las Vegas)
The junior welterweight contenders met in a WBA title eliminator on a Showtime/PBC undercard and stole the show as they slugged it out from start to finish in an exciting battle that Sims, whose right eye was nearly swollen closed for the final four rounds, won by majority decision (116-112, 115-113, 114-114) in an unexpected classic. Sims, who easily switched between right-handed and southpaw, relied heavily on counter punches while Akhmedov applied extreme pressure. Both found success with body punching and the fight was close all the way as they traded back and forth. This one more than made up for the disappointing Rolando Romero-Ismael Barroso main event.
10. Subriel Matias TKO5 Jeremias Ponce (Feb. 25 at Minneapolis)
After Josh Taylor vacated the IBF junior welterweight title, Matias and Ponce met for the vacant belt and produced an outstanding shootout in a Showtime/PBC headliner. Matias, a huge puncher, looked shell-shocked after the first round during which Ponce took immediate control and overwhelmed him with blows. Ponce set a torrid pace but he could not sustain the massive output, nor could he stand up to the considerable thunder in Matias’ fists. Matias got himself together in the second round, began to land with regularity and, after dropping Ponce in the final seconds of the fifth round, Ponce trainer Alberto Zacarias stopped the fight in the corner. The surprising call brought an end to what had been a firefight.
11. Armando Resendiz TKO10 Jarrett Hurd (May 4 at Ontario, Calif.)
Former unified junior middleweight champion Hurd was coming off a 21-month layoff and looking to establish himself at middleweight against massive underdog Resendiz on a Showtime/PBC undercard. Few expected the all-out slugfest, much less that Resendiz score a breakout upset victory. Hurd had his moments, but Resendiz stood with him punch for punch and got the better of the action. He cut Hurd’s lip later in the fight and just after the bell rang to begin the 10th (and final) round, referee Ray Corona called timeout to have the ringside doctor examine the wound, which was ruled too serious for Hurd — the winner of a junior middleweight unification bout and 2018 fight of the year against Erislandy Lara — to continue. Resendiz was up big at the time of the stoppage (89-82, 87-84 and 87-84) and earned every one of those points in this blazing, toe-to-toe thriller.
Rafael’s Fights of the Year
2023-Luis Nery TKO11 Azat Hovhannisyan
2022-Sivenathi Nontshinga W12 Hector Flores
2021-Tyson Fury KO11 Deontay Wilder (III)
2020-Jose Zepeda KO5 Ivan Baranchyk
2019-Naoya Inoue W12 Nonito Donaire (I)
2018-Jarrett Hurd W12 Erislandy Lara
2017-Anthony Joshua TKO11 Wladimir Klitschko
2016-Francisco Vargas D12 Orlando Salido
2015-Francisco Vargas TKO9 Takashi Miura
2014-Francisco Rodriguez Jr. W12 Katsunari Takayama
2013-Timothy Bradley Jr. W12 Ruslan Provodnikov
2012-Juan Manuel Marquez KO6 Manny Pacquiao (IV)
2011-Akira Yaegashi TKO10 Pornsawan Porpramook
2010-Humberto Soto W12 Urbano Antillon
2009-Juan Manuel Marquez KO9 Juan Diaz (I)
2008-Israel Vazquez W12 Rafael Marquez (III)
2007-Israel Vazquez TKO6 Rafael Marquez (II)
2006-Somsak Sithchatchawal TKO10 Mahyar Monshipour
2005-Diego Corrales TKO10 Jose Luis Castillo (I)
2004-Marco Antonio Barrera W12 Erik Morales (III)
2003-Arturo Gatti W10 Micky Ward (III)
2002-Micky Ward W10 Arturo Gatti (I)
2001-Micky Ward W10 Emanuel Burton
2000-Felix Trinidad TKO12 Fernando Vargas
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Photos: Nery-Hovhannisyan, Munguia-Derevyanchenko: Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy; Espinoza-Ramirez, Navarrete-Valdez, Navarrete-Wilson: Mikey Williams/Top Rank; Beterbiev-Yarde: Mark Robinson/Top Rank; Cordina-Rakhimov, Lara-Wood I: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing; Sims-Akhmedov, Matias-Ponce, Resendiz-Hurd: Esther Lin/Showtime
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Surprised Haney vs Lomachenko didn’t at least make the top 10! That was a banger of a fight, a high level chess match, a lot of shifts in momentum, and a lot of action. There were also major stakes for both fighters. The controversy around the decision overshadowed what a crazy good fight it was. Just imagine if the fight was exactly the same, but the judges decided to give two of the 50/50 rounds to Loma and he won by SD. How different the conversation would be around his legacy and how different the overall landscape of boxing would be right now.
The BBBoCrooks willl always be remembered by me for their shenanigans, that always seem to benefit their felllow Brits. B Samples (Dillian Whyte). John Riel Casimero being stripped over using a Sauna to help make weight. And of course Bronco Lara being effectively stripped, by not allowing him to lose 3.8 lbs in the three days prior to the official weigh in. Anyone knowledgeable that watched Lara's fight with Wood, noticed a neutered version of Bronco Lara. It was obvious that Lara wasn't fighting with his typical zest. Being robbed in broad daylight, then told to go to work, will do that I suppose.