BBN 2020 Awards
It's that time of the year again, but what a very different year it has been. Boxing was non-existent for many months during the spring and early summertime. Despite this, there has been some big nights of boxing in the UK and abroad, as the sport rallied on.
BBN has taken votes from professional boxers, trainers, managers, promoters, journalists, and their own writing staff to find our worthy winners below:
British Fighter of the Year Award
Tyson Fury (30-0-1, 21KOs)
‘The Gypsy King’ Tyson Fury was 2020’s runaway winner following his seven-round destruction of formidable WBC World heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, who he reached a stalemate with in December 2018.
The 32-year-old two-time heavyweight champion was even nominated in SPOTY for the second time this year, although he requested for his name to be withdrawn following their bad history. He didn't win that competition, but he was named The Ring Magazine's Fighter of the Year 2020, becoming the first Brit boxer to ever win the prestigious award twice.
The 6ft 9” giant rallied to defend his green and gold WBC belt to a top 15 contender at the end of this year, but genuine efforts were waylaid unfortunately for him and fight fans alike.
After domestic rival Anthony Joshua’s successful title defence to Kubrat Pulev in December, plans for the mega-fight are underway to happen in 2021.
Runner-up
Joe Joyce (12-0, 11KOs)
Lyndon Arthur (18-0, 12KOs)
These two underdogs both came out on top in their big domestic showdowns just two weeks apart from each other on BT Sport.
'Juggernaut' Joe Joyce conquered the formidable, heavily favoured Daniel Dubois with his vaster experience, unwavering discipline, and superior game plan on the last weekend of November. The 35-year-old will now be knocking on the door for a world title shot in 2021, whil his British rival goes back to the drawing board.
Just one week later, defending Commonwealth light-heavyweight champion Lyndon Arthur continued the trend with split decision verdict over world title contender Anthony Yarde. The 'King' tamed the 'Beast' with his rangey jab over the full 12-round distance, but Yarde was not convinced by the scoring and called for the rematch, which will be an exciting prospect for fight fans to look forward to in 2021.
Honourable Mentions
Jazza Dickens (30-3, 11KOs)
Josh Taylor (17-0, 13KOs)
29-year-old Liverpudlian Jazza Dickens won the Golden Contract tournament with a fine victory in the final over Ryan Walsh this month. It was his second win of 2020 having defeated once-beaten WBO European featherweight champion Leigh Wood in February, shortly before the first lockdown brought everything to a standstill.
Scot Josh Taylor also received the same amount of nominations with his scintillating stoppage win over undefeated KO artist and his IBF mandatory challenger Apinun Khongsong in September.
British Female Fighter of the Year Award
Chantelle Cameron (13-0, 7KOs)
After winning mandatory positions in two weights, the Northampton 'Capo' finally became a world champion at her first time of asking by defeating Olympian and unbeaten pro Brazilian Adriana dos Santos Araujo unanimously, not giving away a single round to her heavier opponent.
29-year-old Cameron claimed the vacant WBC World Female super-lightweight title in October and wants all the big names – Katie Taylor coming top of her hitlist – in 2021.
Runner-up
Terri Harper (11-0-1, 6KOs)
Denaby's 'First Lady' Terri Harper had a sensational year, cramming in three world title fights and keeping those titles wrapped securely around her waist. First, she defeated Eva Wahlstrom to add the WBC super-featherweight belt to her IBF one; then she had a bit of a scare against Briti rival Tasha Jonas, who held her to a draw in August, but it meant she still kept her belts; lastly she sent unbeaten Norweigian Katharina Thanderz packing with a ninth-round KO, closing the fight in style in November and sending a message to her doubters.
Honourable Mentions
Rachel Ball (7-1)
This remarkable 29-year-old from Aldridge, West Midlands, has had a breakout year by stepping as the highly underestimated underdog against undefeated Shannon Courtenay in August, knocking the highly-regarded prospect down in the first round on the way to securing a 77-75 points win; then she landed a world title shot, but had to happily settle for the interim WBC World Female super-bantamweight belt instead, ater intended opponent Ebanie Bridges withdrew through injury. It's a fight that should get made in 2021 for the full world title, so Ball's interesting and inspiring journey continues.
Editor’s Choice for British Fighter of the Year Award 2020
Denzel Bentley (14-0-1, 12KOs)
British middleweight champion
Undefeated middleweight sensation Denzel Bentley fought three times in four months against a 15-2 WBA International title contender Mick Hall, who had only been beaten by Jack Arnfield; then a brilliant brace of bouts with once-beaten Mark Heffron, both fights just two months apart. The first ended in a stalemate where Battersea's Bentley surprised most by decking Heffron early forcing all three judges to to score the 10-round contest at 95-95.
Second time around was a very different story, as Bentley's thudding shots closed the left eye of Heffron and was pulled out of the fight after round four, meaning the 25-year-old was crowned British middleweight champion.
Overseas Fighter of the Year
Teofimo Lopez (16-0, 12KOs)
This 23-year-old became 'The Man' by beating 'The Man'. On October 17 at the MGM Grand, the Brooklyn born boxer defeated history-making Vasiliy Lomachenko by unanimous decision, with one judge awarding it 109-119!
Teofimo's alias is 'The Takeover'… well, in 2020, he did exactly that!
Runner-up
Canelo Alvarez
The four-weight world champion solidified his position at the top of the pound for pound rankings with his one-sided destruction of Callum Smith in the last boxing show of the year.
Overseas Female Fighter of the Year
Katie Taylor (17-0, 6KOs)
Bray boxer Katie Taylor removed all doubt over her claim to being undisputed lightweight champion with her convincing rematch win over Belgian Delfine Persoon in August, then she defended her hoard to undefeated Spaniard Miriam Gutierrez three months on.
Runner-up
Claressa Shields (10-0, 2KOs)
Formidable female from Flint, Claressa Shields continued to make history as she became a Triple Champion in 2020 when she won the vacant WBC and WBO WOrld titles by defeating Ivana Habazin widely on points.
Thank you
Thank you to everyone who voted in these awards: Charlie Edwards; Kieran Gething; Ryan Walsh; Carl Greaves; Louis Robinson; Ben Davies; Jack Bradley; Anish Parekh; Arijan Goricki; Mark Dunlop; Erol Ceylan; George Lacey; Mick Kane; Chris Glover; Ben Day; Dee 'The Hat'.
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