2021 has seen several historic and captivating performances from the male fighters and plenty of breakthrough stars emerge.
Terence Crawford finally secured the elite welterweight win he was looking for when he stopped Shawn Porter in November, Naoya Inoue gave a reminder of his ruthless streak with two knockout victories and from a British perspective, Tyson Fury defended his WBC heavyweight title in a fight of the year trilogy against Deontay Wilder, Conor Benn broke through with three notable victories, whilst Lawrence Okolie looked imperious in winning and then defending his WBO cruiserweight title.
As we close the curtain on what has been an extremely busy year for the sport, we look back on the standout male fighters from the last 12 months.
5. Shakur Stevenson
2021 Record: 2-0 (1 KO)
Fighters Faced in 2021: Jeremia Nakathila (UD12), Jamel Herring (TKO10)
Plenty have touted 2016 Olympic Silver medalist, Shakur Stevenson, as a talent that could go to the very top and a pound-for-pound star in the near future.
Already a WBO featherweight champion, Stevenson (17-0, 9 KOs) began his year at super featherweight, becoming interim WBO champion thrashing Jeremia Nakathila in June, dropping the Namibian in round four before winning every frame.
That win set up a showdown with full champion, Jamel Herring, a man in the form of his life and coming off a dominant win over Carl Frampton in April.
Herring was simply no match for Stevenson, who dominated ’Semper Fi’, before putting the exclamation mark on the win with a stunning tenth round stoppage.
2022 could see a unification clash with Top Rank stablemate and WBC titlist, Oscar Valdez.
4. Josh Taylor
2021 Record: 1-0
Fighters Faced in 2021: Jose Ramirez (UD12)
Josh Taylor started off 2021 as WBA ‘super’ and IBF champion at super lightweight, and he travelled to Las Vegas in May looking to add the WBC and WBO straps in a 50-50 showdown with Jose Ramirez.
There was plenty of trash talk in the build-up, and the pundits struggled to split the pair. On the night, ’The Tartan Tornado’ turned on the style, and showed his class.
Ramirez was floored in the sixth and seventh rounds, and those knockdowns proved crucial, as the Scot took a two point win on all three cards to become undisputed ten stone king.
Taylor (18-0, 13 KOs) was due to defend against Jack Catterall in late 2021, but that has now been moved to early 2022.
3. Oleksandr Usyk
2021 Record: 1-0
Fighters Faced in 2021: Anthony Joshua (UD12)
Since cleaning out the cruiserweight division in 2018, Oleksandr Usyk had largely flattered to deceive at heavyweight.
In October 2020, he had to work hard to outscore Derek Chisora, and the Ukrainian was in pole position to face Anthony Joshua as WBO number one contender.
After talks between the camps of Joshua and Tyson Fury broke down due to Fury’s obligations with Deontay Wilder, ‘AJ’ was left to defend his WBA ‘Super’, IBF and WBO crowns against Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September.
Many felt that despite being a superb technician and boxer, that Joshua would be simply too big for him, but the visitor proved mist wrong in a masterclass.
The 34-year-old kept Joshua at bay, and had him out on his feet in the final round, before taking a richly deserved unanimous win.
The pair are set to rematch in 2022.
2. George Kambosos Jr
2021 Record: 1-0
Fighters Faced in 2021: Teofimo Lopez (SD12).
Coming into 2021, Australia’s George Kambosos Jr was waiting patiently for a shot at lightweight gold, after taking a split decision win against Lee Selby in October 2020 to become IBF mandatory.
Few gave him a chance against WBA ‘super’, IBF, WBO and WBC franchise champion, Teofimo Lopez, who had upset Vasyl Lomachenko two weeks before Kambosos (20-0, 10 KOs) defeated Selby.
Purse bids for the bout were won by Triller, to the tune of $6 million, but dates and venues were moved multiple times throughout the year, and Lopez also tested positive for COVID-19.
Australia, Dubai and Saudi Arabia were mooted, but eventually Triller had to pull out, and Matchroom promoted the contest in New York at the end of November.
A simple knockout win was expected for Lopez, but it was ’The Takeover’ who was on the floor in the opening frame, and the Aussie was inspired, eventually having to come off the deck in the tenth himself before sealing a split decision victory.
The 28-year-old will hope for a big 2022 with Devin Haney, Gervonta Davis and Vasiliy Lomachenko all options.
1. Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez
2021 Record: 3-0 (KO3)
Fighters Faced in 2021: Avni Yildirim (RTD3), Billy Joe Saunders (RTD8), Caleb Plant (TKO11).
Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez rounded off 2020 with a dominant unanimous decision win against Callum Smith to take the WBC and WBA ‘super’ super middleweight titles, and, after a busy 2021, ‘Canelo’ would finish this calendar year as the undisputed champion at 168 pounds.
Firstly, Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KOs) easily took care of his overwhelmed mandatory challenger, Avni Yildirim, forcing the Turk to retire after three, one-sided rounds, and he then added the WBO belt to his collection, as he saw off the stiff challenge of Billy Joe Saunders in Dallas.
Saunders gave the Mexican plenty to think about, before Canelo’s power him forced the Brit retire due to facial damage after eight frames.
2021 was to end with a meeting with IBF champion, Caleb Plant, and, again Alvarez was pushed before wearing down his opponent to force an eleventh round stoppage.
2022 is already looking intriguing for the consensus pound-for-pound number one, who has been approved to face WBC cruiserweight world champion, Ilunga Makabu.
