We've reached the midway point of 2021, so who is the fighter of the year so far?
It's Canelo Alvarez, who was 2-0, including a huge unification win
It’s July 1 and the year is now halfway over, so who was the fighter of the year, at least for the first half of 2021?
I’m going with the pound-for-pound king Canelo Alvarez, boxing’s biggest star. He fought twice in big events — no elite fighter was as busy and activity counts — and he stopped both opponents in one-sided fights. First, there was the gimme mandatory super middleweight title defense against overmatched Avni Yildirim (21-3, 12 KOs) on Feb. 27. Alvarez crushed him in three rounds and at least he did what he was supposed to do — get rid of the undeserving opponent in short order and explosive fashion.
Then came the big one: A three-belt unification bout with slick Billy Joe Saunders (30-1, 14 KOs) on May 8 before a United States indoor boxing record crowd of 73,126 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Many expected Saunders to give Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 KOs) problems but he dominated before breaking Saunders’ right orbit bone and cheek in the eighth round, after which Saunders’ corner stopped the fight.
It was a very big victory for Alvarez, who hopes to meet titlist Caleb Plant in September for the undisputed 168-pound title with the winner being a strong candidate for fighter of the full year.
Other candidates
2. Oscar Valdez
Former featherweight titlist Valdez (29-0, 23 KOs) may have been the underdog when he got his mandatory shot against junior lightweight titlist Miguel Berchelt on Feb. 20 in Las Vegas, but as soon as the bell rang it was all Valdez. He turned in a sensational performance in an utterly one-sided and unexpected beat down of Mexican countryman Berchelt (38-2, 34 KOs). He dropped him in the fourth and ninth rounds before scoring a knockout of the year contender in the 10th round to win the 130-pound title.
3. Josh Taylor
Scotland’s Taylor (18-0, 13 KOs) traveled to Las Vegas to face the United States’ Jose Ramirez on May 22 and did the business. He dropped Ramirez (26-1, 17 KOs) twice and won a unanimous decision to become the four-belt undisputed junior welterweight champion and only the second undisputed champion from his country, joining Hall of Fame former lightweight champion Ken Buchanan, who had done it in the two-belt era 50 years earlier.
4. Nonito Donaire
Four-division champion and future Hall of Famer Donaire (41-6, 27 KO) added another significant line to his resume on May 29 in Carson, California, where he dropped two-time French Olympian Nordine Oubaali (17-1, 12 KOs) twice in the third round and once in the fourth in a fourth-round knockout victory to take his bantamweight title. The win not only made Donaire a three-time bantamweight champion but it also allowed him to break his own record as the oldest fighter ever to win a bantamweight world title at age 38.
5. Gervonta Davis
Davis (25-0, 24 KOs), one of boxing’s most exciting fighters and biggest draws, moved up 10 pounds and two divisions to take on the much bigger Mario Barrios (26-1, 17 KOs), whom he dropped three times en route to an impressive 11th round knockout on June 26 in Atlanta to win a secondary junior welterweight belt.
6. Vasiliy Lomachenko
Coming off losing his unified lightweight belts to Teofimo Lopez in October, Lomachenko (15-2, 11 KOs) came storming back in a hugely impressive performance against Masayoshi Nakatani (19-2, 13 KOs) on June 26 in Las Vegas. Lomachenko dropped the much bigger Nakatani in the fifth round and battered him into a ninth-round knockout in which he looked as good as he ever has.
7. Jamel Herring
After multiple delays, junior lightweight titlist Herring (23-2, 11 KOs) and former two-division titlist Carl Frampton finally met on April 3 in Dubai, where Frampton was the favorite. But Herring dominated. He dropped Frampton in the fifth and sixth rounds en route to an impressive sixth-round stoppage to retain his title and send Frampton (28-3, 16 KOs) into retirement.
8. Sunny Edwards
In an upset on April 30, England’s Edwards (16-0, 4 KOs) impressively outpointed South Africa’s Moruti Mthalane (39-3, 26 KOs) by clear decision to take his flyweight world title in London and end his 16-fight winning streak over 12½ years.
Alvarez photo: Michelle Farsi/Matchroom Boxing
Josh Taylor is the only world champ having all 4 belts and is best candidate for fighter of the year.
Once Canelo becomes undisputed its him. I want to say Taylor but fighting for undisputed and then Catterall will not be as impressive as Yildrim, BJS, Plant/ 3 fights > 2 fights