By Paul R. Jones! Each year, East Side Boxing (ESB) releases the names of our annual award winners, given to the best fighters, fights, and knockouts in boxing.
As always, our selection process is data-driven, emphasizing facts over fiction and analytics over emotion.
Without further ado, here are our 2019 ESB Yearly Award Winners (or “ESBYS”) and runners-up:
FIGHTER OF THE YEAR, MALE
CANELO ÁLVAREZ was a man on fire in 2019, out-dueling Daniel Jacobs and flattening Sergey Kovalev, en route to earning ESB’s top honor: boxing’s Fighter of the Year.
🏆 WINNER
CANELO ÁLVAREZ
Middleweight
NOMINEES
Errol Spence Jr.
Welterweight
Naoya Inoue
Bantamweight
Josh Taylor
Junior Welterweight
FIGHTER OF THE YEAR, FEMALE
AMANDA SERRANO edged equally-deserving Katie Taylor and Claressa Shields in our voting as the Female Fighter of the Year in 2019. Serrano became the first 7-division World Champion in Women’s Boxing History in 2019 and a Guinness World Records holder for the most worlds titles won by a woman across multiple weight classes: #WhereBrooklynAt. The three-sport fighter (boxing, jiu-jitsu, MMA) also called out Taylor in 2019—a fight that would have immediate pound-for-pound implications.
🏆 WINNER
AMANDA SERRANO
Featherweight
NOMINEES
Katie Taylor
Lightweight
Jessica McCaskill
Super Lightweight
Claressa Shields
Middleweight
FIGHT OF THE YEAR
NAOYA INOUE’s riveting win over NONITO DONAIRE is our consensus pick for 2019 Fight of the Year. This bantamweight bout had six key elements that produce a timeless bout: (1) big momentum shifts; (2) dramatic moments; (3) limited fouling and holding; (4) who would win. INOUE proved that he could beat an elite opponent without having to rely solely on his vaunted power, claiming a WBA Super Bantamweight World Title and the coveted Ali Trophy with his win over DONAIRE in the World Boxing Super Series finals.
🏆 WINNER
NAOYA INOUE UD12 NONITO DONAIRE
Bantamweight
NOMINEES
Josh Taylor MD12 Regis Prograis
Junior Welterweight
Errol Spence Jr. SD12 Shawn Porter
Welterweight
Julian Williams UD12 Jarrett Hurd
Junior Middleweight
FIGHT OF THE YEAR, WOMEN’S BOXING
JESSICA McCASKILL’s unanimous decision win over ANAHI ESTER SANCHEZ was undeniably 2019’s Fight of the Year in women’s boxing. A super lightweight title unification bout that featured sustained action, heated exchanges, and high stakes.
🏆 WINNER
JESSICA McCASKILL UD10 ANAHI ESTER SANCHEZ
Super Lightweights
NOMINEES
Katie Taylor MD10 Delfine Persoon
Lightweights
Amanda Serrano UD10 Heather Hardy
Featherweights
Claressa Shields UD10 Christina Hammer
Middleweights
PROMOTER OF THE YEAR
All things considered, Premier Boxing Champions (PBC | Haymon Boxing) gave fight fans more compelling fights in 2019 than did the competition, which led to our recognition of PBC as ESB’s Promoter of the Year.
🏆 WINNER
PREMIER BOXING CHAMPIONS
PBC | Haymon Boxing
NOMINEES
Eddie Hearn
Matchroom Boxing
Kalle Sauerland / Richard Schaefer
Sauerland Promotion | Ringstar Sports | Comosa AG
Bob Arum
TOP RANK
KNOCKOUT OF THE YEAR
YUNIEL DORTICOS’s jaw-dropping knockout of ANDREW TABITI was something to behold: A picture-perfect, walk-off knockout by the Cuban badass that closed the show on a high-octane battle for an IBF Cruiserweight World title. KTFO’s don’t get much cleaner than this. Photo © Sumio Yamada – WBSS
🏆 WINNER
YUNIEl DORTICOS KTFO10 ANDREW TABITI
Cruiserweight
NOMINEES
DEONTAY WILDER KTFO1 DOMINIC BREAZEALE
Heavyweight
DERECK CHISORA KTFO2 ARTUR SZPILKA
Heavyweight
DEVIN HANEY KTFO7 ANTONIO MORAN
Lightweight
TRAINER OF THE YEAR
EDDY REYNOSO established himself as boxing’s top trainer in 2019 by taking Canelo Álvarez to new heights and successfully cultivating young talent (e.g., Ryan Garcia). Photo © Tom Hogan – HOGANPHOTOS | Golden Boy
🏆 WINNER
EDDY REYNOSO
(Notable fighters: Canelo Álvarez, Ryan Garcia)
NOMINEES
BRIAN “BOMAC” McINTYRE
(Terence Crawford, Jamel Herring)
DERRICK JAMES
(Errol Spence Jr., Jermell Charlo)
CALVIN FORD / Kenny Ellis
(Gervonta Davis, Lorenzo Simpson, Demond Nicholson, Malik Hawkins)
comeback FIGHTER OF THE YEAR
ANDREW CANCIO had a 2019 to remember, including successive knockout wins over (then) undefeated, ALBERTO MACHADO, which allowed CANCIO to win and defend his WBA Super Featherweight strap. CANCIO came out of a brief retirement for one last punch versus MACHADO and made the most of his opportunity. Although CANCIO, who also works for the Southern California Gas Company, would lose his title in November to rival RENE ALVARADO, the gritty vet put forth a valiant effort before finally being waived off by a referee’s stoppage. His ability to overcome adversity (e.g., being released by Golden Boy Promotions after the ALVARADO loss), and prove naysayers wrong, earned CANCIO an ESBY as our 2019 Comeback Fighter of the Year. Photo © Tom Hogan – HOGANPHOTOS | Golden Boy
🏆 WINNER
ANDREW CANCIO
Super Featherweight
NOMINEES
ALFREDO ANGULO
Super Middleweight
SERGEY LIPINETS
Welterweight
Javier Fortuna
Lightweight
MOST IMPROVED FIGHTER OF THE YEAR
The fighting Marine, JAMEL HERRING, who served two tours of duty in Iraq, leveled up with Trainer of the Year nominee BRIAN McINTYRE in 2019 to take the super featherweight division by storm. HERRING, the runaway winner of our ESBY award for the Most Improved Fighter of the Year, posted wins against a former world champ, (Masayuki Ito) and an undefeated prospect (Lamont Roach Jr) in 2019, earning and defending a WBO World Super Feather Title along the way. His opponents’ combined record: 44-1-2. Photo © Mikey Williams – Top Rank
🏆 WINNER
Jamel Herring
Super Featherweight
NOMINEES
JEAN PASCAL
Light Heavyweight
Josh Taylor
Junior Welterweight
Michael Hunter
Heavyweight
UPSET OF THE YEAR
ANDY RUIZ JR.’s improbable knockout of renown heavyweight ANTHONY JOSHUA was arguably boxing’s biggest upset of the decade and a no-brainer for 2019’s Upset of the Year. Photo © Al Bello – Getty Images
🏆 WINNER
ANDY RUIZ JR. TKO7 ANTHONY JOSHUA
Heavyweight
NOMINEES
Josh Taylor MD12 Regis Prograis
Junior Welterweight
Julian Williams UD12 Jarrett Hurd
Junior Middleweight
Juan Francisco Estrada UD12 Sirsket Sor Rungvisi
Super Flyweight
breakout FIGHTER OF THE YEAR
JOSH TAYLOR is our 2019 Breakout Fighter of the Year on the basis of his activity level and strength of schedule. Taylor beat a borderline pound-for-pound entrant and former unified champion (REGIS PROGRAIS) in the World Boxing Super Series finale, and upended undefeated, up-and-coming prospect Ivan Baranchyk to earn an ESBY in this category. Photo © Andrew Couldridge – Action Images
🏆 WINNER
JOSH TAYLOR
Junior Welterweight
NOMINEES
JOSÉ CARLOS RAMÍREZ
Super Lightweight
Artur Beterbiev
Light Heavyweight
Teófimo López
Lightweight
PROSPECT OF THE YEAR
True to his moniker, Daniel Dubois’s fists were equipped with “dynamite” in 2019, smashing all 5 of his opponents by knockout. DUBOIS was also involved in a Round of the Year candidate (vs. RICHARD LARTEY) and consistently raised his level of his competition throughout the year. For his efforts, DUBOIS is ESB’s pick for the 2019 Prospect of the Year. Photo © Sky Sports Boxing
🏆 WINNER
Daniel Dubois
Heavyweight
NOMINEES
Vergil Ortiz Jr.
Welterweight
Efe Ajagba
Heavyweight
Joe Joyce
Heavyweight
WORST DECISION OF THE YEAR
JAIME MUNGUÍA’s highly-questionable win over DENNIS HOGAN was a head-scratcher, making it more than worthy of an ESBY for the Worst Decision of the Year. Photo © Tom Hogan – Hogan Photos/Golden Boy
🏆 WINNER
Jaime MunguÍa MD12 Dennis Hogan
Super Welterweight
NOMINEES
Callum Smith UD12 John Ryder
Super Middleweight
Joshua Greer Jr. MD12 Nikolai Potapov
Bantamweight
Ohara Davies Dec10 Miguel Vazquez
Super Lightweight
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About the Author: Paul R. Jones! is a boxing writer and ringside photographer for East Side Boxing. A scientist by day and boxing writer by night, Paul covers the humorous, offbeat, and absurd from the sport of boxing. You can keep up with more of what Paul is thinking about on Twitter @boxingepicenter. You can also e-mail him at prjones1@hotmail.com.
More from Paul:
EAST SIDE BOXING’s 2018 AWARDS: Complete List of Winners, Nominees, More!
ESB Best of 2017! Lomachenko, Crawford, Joshua, More!
ESB Best of 2016! Frampton, Thurman, Álvarez, More!
The Year in Review: Six Notable Fights in 2014 – Part I — Pacquiao, Hopkins, Froch, More!