As 2023 comes to a close, it’s believed that Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue and Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford are the two fighters that are in neck & neck competition for the ‘Fighter of the Year.’
Some argue that Crawford is better positioned to win the ‘Fighter of the Year’ in 2023 due to his impressive victory over previously unbeaten Errol Spence Jr. for the undisputed welterweight championship last July.
That was a huge event compared to Inoue’s recent undisputed super bantamweight championship victory over Marlon Tapales on December 26th.
The 30-year-old ‘Monster’ Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) has been busier this year than Crawford, beating super bantamweight champions Marlon Tapales and Stephen Fulton by knockout to become the 122-lb undisputed champion.
Those two fighters Inoue beat in 2023 lacked the name appeal with casual boxing fans, and the fights failed to generate much attention from the U.S. casuals.
Perhaps if there had been a more promotional push by Top Rank, people would have taken notice of Naoya’s fights with Fulton & Tapales, but that didn’t happen. Very few interviews of the fighters were shown leading up to those contests, which further hurt the promotion.
For the Inoue-Tapales clash on December 26th, there was almost no buzz about the fight, and it went under the radar of many fans in the States. It didn’t help that the event was shown on ESPN+ early in the morning before most fans woke up.
Crawford’s undisputed victory
Crawford’s victory over IBF, WBA & WBC welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. commanded a lot of attention from U.S. fans, as it was well publicized, and both fighters gave a lot of interviews to get people aware of the contest.
I’m the only fighter to beat a top five pound for pound fighter this year and the way I beat him was unmatched. 2023 Fighter Of The Year Is Me. Some might say but I only fought 1 time but that 1 fight was bigger than any of the others. #facts
— Terence Crawford (@terencecrawford) December 27, 2023
Weighting the Victories
Crawford’s win over Spence was a more dominant victory than Inoue’s against Fulton and Tapales. Terence took Spence apart, hitting him with counters and beating him up.
What takes away from the victory, though, is Spence had been inactive for 14 months, gained a lot of weight during his time off, and had been involved in a second car crash.
Some believe that the 33-year-old Spence isn’t the same fighter that he once was since his terrifying car crash in 2019. His Ferrari was smashed beyond recognition, and Spence was thrown from the vehicle as it tumbled during the crash. He lost teeth, and his body looked in bad shape from the accident.
In Spence’s two fights after the accident against Danny Garcia & Yordenis Ugas, he wasn’t dominant and absorbed a lot of punishment in those contests. Ugas had Spence hurt at one point but couldn’t finish him off.
Devin Haney: A third option for Fighter of the Year
Two-division world champion Devin Haney is also a possibility for the Fighter of the Year, but what makes it unlikely that he’ll be given the honor is his controversial victory over Vasily Lomachenko last May. Beating Lomachecnko was impressive, but it was too close for Haney to be credited.
That victory was questionable in the eyes of the fans, and Haney didn’t do himself any favors by walking away from it without offering a rematch to show the fans that he’s the better fighter, not the guy who was given a gift due to him being the A-side.
Moreover, Haney looked a lot bigger than Lomachenko inside the ring after he’d rehydrated overnight, and he resembled a welterweight inside the ring, fighting a lightweight.
Devin’s second win this year over Regis Prograis was also tarnished after it was learned that he’d rehydrated from 140 to 165 lbs, giving him a massive size advantage over his opponent.
This cemented many fans’ belief about Haney being a weight bully, a fighter who competes in a division well below his natural size.