The past year delivered a wealth of unforgettable moments in boxing — historic victories, new undisputed champions, stunning upsets, highlight-reel knockouts and breakout performances that reshaped the sport.
Terence Crawford jumped two weight divisions to defeat Canelo Alvarez and made history by becoming undisputed champion in a third division, a feat never accomplished in the four-belt era (since 2007).
Gabriela Fundora became the youngest undisputed champion in boxing history in 2024, then followed it up last year with two knockout victories that propelled her into the top five of ESPN’s women’s pound-for-pound rankings.
And the story of 2025 wasn’t limited to champions alone. Trainers, prospects and unforgettable fights all played their part, leaving fans eager for more.
So which moments, fighters and knockouts will be remembered as the very best of 2025? Let’s celebrate the highlights of the year that was.
Men’s fighter of the year: Terence Crawford
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Teddy Atlas fired up by Terence Crawford’s performance vs. Canelo Alvarez
Teddy Atlas and Timothy Bradley Jr. break down Terence Crawford’s victory over Canelo Alvarez.
Other fighters may have been more active in 2025, but only Crawford moved up two weight divisions to soundly defeat superstar Canelo Alvarez to become a three-division undisputed world champion. That alone is worth more than anything that any other boxer accomplished. That includes Naoya Inoue defending his undisputed junior featherweight championship four times, Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez adding to his title collection by wiping out two world champions and Oleksandr Usyk maintaining his dominance over the heavyweight division.
There were questions regarding how Crawford, a former junior welterweight and welterweight undisputed champion, would acclimate to the super middleweight division that Alvarez had dominated for five years. Would he be able to absorb Alvarez’s power and potentially hurt him? Crawford answered those questions definitively by putting on a superior masterclass of boxing and leaving Canelo visibly frustrated. Crawford, who spent a majority of his career competing from 135 to 147 pounds, finally got his just due and stepped into superstardom with a legacy-defining performance.
The fighter from Omaha, Nebraska, who started his pro career with little fanfare, proved he is worthy to be called the greatest boxer of his era. And to put the cherry on top of a brilliant career, Crawford decided to retire after his biggest professional win.
Women’s fighter of the year: Gabriela Fundora
Fundora firmly established herself as the future of women’s boxing with an impressive 2025 campaign, dominating the field with knockout wins over Alexas Kubicki and Marilyn Badillo to maintain her status as undisputed flyweight champion. With her 5-foot-9 height and 69-inch reach advantages, Fundora demonstrated her finishing prowess, adding to an already frightening box of tools that could potentially see the 23-year-old reach the top of the women’s pound-for-pound food chain in 2026.
Fundora is a mix of extraordinary physical traits and exceptional skills. She is currently the only boxer under 30 on ESPN’s P4P list. If she makes good on her intention to move down in weight and becomes a two-division champion in 2026, there’s a strong chance she wins this award in consecutive years.
Men’s fight of the year: Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Conor Benn 1
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Conor Benn: Victory over Chris Eubank Jr. is on par with winning a world title
Conor Benn believes his victory over Chris Eubank Jr. will be on par with the feeling of winning a world title.
It wasn’t just the fight; it was every moment leading up to the grudge match that made the first meeting between Eubank and Benn the best men’s fight of the year. A deeply personal feud between their middleweight champion fathers three decades ago continued in 2025, as Eubank and Benn engaged in an epic back-and-forth that had London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium rocking.
From the moment Eubank arrived at the arena with his father, Chris Eubank Sr., to the epic prefight walkouts to the electrifying in-ring encounter, the night will go down as one of U.K. boxing’s most memorable. But none of the atmosphere would matter if the fight itself wasn’t excellent.
The pendulum swings of momentum were dramatic. Benn started fast, but Eubank closed the gap and eventually the show with a strong second half to win a hard-fought unanimous decision. It was the rare occasion in which the fight matched — and arguably exceeded — the hype.
Women’s fight of the year: Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano 3
Although not quite as thrilling as their previous two encounters, the third meeting between Taylor and Serrano was an intriguing chess match in which both fighters opted to be more vigilant than in the two previous slugfests. The result of the strategic shift favored Taylor, who managed to methodically outpoint the seemingly subdued Serrano over the course of their 10-round fight to earn a majority decision. A calculated Taylor utilized a sharp check hook to keep Serrano away, with the occasional flurry whenever her rival drew too close. It was the equivalent of watching two football teams trade short passes and between-the-tackles run plays rather than attempt riskier deep throws and trick plays. The two previous fights set an unfairly high bar for their third encounter, but it was an exceptionally technical battle between two of the current best fighters on the planet.
Prospect of the year: Adam Azim
Azim went from prospect to true junior welterweight title contender in 2025 with impressive wins over Sergey Lipinets and Kurt Scoby. Azim, 23, rolled through Lipinets in February, becoming only the second fighter to finish the former world champion. He followed that performance with a punishing 12th-round stoppage of Scoby that was led by a vicious body attack. The Brit had been pegged as a future world champion, and he’s evolving faster than anticipated.
KO of the year: Brian Norman Jr. vs. Jin Sasaki
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Brian Norman Jr. retains title with devastating 5th-round KO
Brian Norman Jr. lands a clean left hook to knock out Jin Sasaki in the fifth round and successfully defends his WBO title in Japan.
Norman exploded into the consciousness of boxing fans with a wicked fifth-round knockout of Sasaki in June. While Fabio Wardley’s come-from-behind knockout of Justis Huni and Jai Opetaia’s disturbing flattening of Huseyin Cinkara were worthy contenders for best of the year, Norman’s sweeping left hook formally announced him as the hardest puncher in the welterweight division.
Sasaki had already touched the canvas twice in the first round but he opted to keep an offensive mindset, looking to find his way back into the fight. Norman saw his window of opportunity when Sasaki went to the body with a left jab and stayed a little too close for comfort. Norman planted his feet and fired a left hook that caught Sasaki just as he was attempting to pull himself out of range. The incredible force of the blow sank Sasaki, his head violently bouncing off the canvas. There was no need to count as the referee quickly waved off the fight. The owner of Sasaki’s home gym told Japanese media outlets days later that Sasaki was struggling with memory loss and couldn’t recall the six weeks ahead of the fight.
Upset of the year: Rolando “Rolly” Romero vs. Ryan Garcia
The plan was simple: Devin Haney and Garcia would be showcased in separate tune-up matches on the first fight card held at New York’s Times Square on May 2 to set up a highly anticipated rematch.
Haney took care of business in a relatively unexciting affair with Jose Ramirez then took his seat ringside to see how his rival would fare against the hard-hitting but far from defensive minded “Rolly” Romero.
Garcia was a significant betting favorite (-900) and was expected to score a spectacular knockout of Romero with his powerful left hook. Instead, a nightmare scenario for Garcia began to take shape when Romero deposited him to the canvas in the second round with a left hook of his own. And what followed was nothing short of a letdown. Romero nursed a lead on the scorecards, and the fight was largely devoid of action, with a combined 123 punches landed out of a total of 490 thrown. Romero’s unanimous decision win produced the third-lowest punch output for a 12-round fight in CompuBox history, nullifying an anticipated Haney-Garcia rematch.
Trainer of the year: Robert Garcia
Trainers such as Brian “BoMac” McIntyre (Terence Crawford and Chris Eubank Jr.) and Ben Davison (Fabio Wardley and Moses Itauma) had strong years leading their respective charges to legacy-defining wins. But this award goes to Garcia for his work with Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Raymond Muratalla.
Garcia led Muratalla on his way to becoming a lightweight interim world champion by outpointing Zaur Abdullaev in May. He helped Ortiz knock on the door of pound-for-pound status with a methodical drubbing of Israil Madrimov in February and a violent decimation of Erickson Lubin in November. But his work with ESPN’s No. 5 pound-for-pound dynamo Rodriguez truly set him apart from the field. Rodriguez scored two scintillating 10th-round knockouts of world champions Phumelele Cafu in July and Fernando Martinez in November to secure his place as one of the best fighters in the world and his trainer’s place atop ESPN’s best of year.
ESPN boxing writers Nick Parkinson and James Regan collaborated on the selection of boxing’s best moments and performers of 2025.
