Another frantic year of boxing draws to a close, and it’s now time to reflect on the brilliant to the bizarre, from the stunning knockouts to the bitter robberies, ahead of what promises to be a thrilling 2023 ahead.
Indeed, another year without either Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua or Terence Crawford vs Errol Spence Jr ticks by, but there was more than enough drama in 2022 to keep us boxing lovers enthralled.
We head into 2023 with the undisputed showdown between Fury and Oleksandr Usyk now seemingly on the horizon – though how many times have we thought that? – while Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia are scheduled to square off in a huge clash.
Dmitry Bivol, meanwhile, announced himself to the world in 2022 as he claimed one of boxing’s biggest scalps, while Katie Taylor, Claressa Shields, Chantelle Cameron and Natasha Jonas all starred in an historic year for women’s boxing.
But it wasn’t all positive, with one of boxing’s biggest scandals in recent memory coming to fruition this year, while a gut-wrenchingly shocking robbery all the way back in February left many questioning their love for the sport.
Now, it’s time to hand out a number of awards to those who have made the year the spectacle it was, as Sportsmail analyses the best knockouts, fighters and more.
Where else to start but the fight of the year – and it wasn’t at all an easy pick; Katie Taylor’s win over Amanda Serrano and Claressa Shields’ win over Savannah Marshall both came close.
But ultimately, it was difficult to look past the all-out war between Leigh Wood and Michael Conlan, in what was a truly stunning featherweight world title affair back in March.
Wood entered the bout marginally the favourite, having shown vast improvement by knocking out Reece Mould to claim the British title and stopping Can Xu to win the WBA belt in 2021. Conlan, unbeaten at 16-0, was the talented but unproven underdog.
