Fighter of the Year: Inoue or Crawford?

After whooping Tyson Fury twice in 2024, Usyk of Ukraine (24-0, 15 KOs) had a single fight in 2025, but it was a banger. In a rematch with Daniel Dubois in July, Usyk regained the IBF title with a sensational fifth-round stoppage of Dubois to become undisputed for the second time.

Since then, Usyk has been out of the ring while rehabbing what he said was a lingering back injury. There was some snickering after a video surfaced of Usyk partying and dancing. Nevertheless, there weren’t many compelling opponents left for Usyk, forcing his hand. No matter how good, putting in five rounds in a rematch against an opponent he beat the first time is impressive, but it weeds Usyk out as a serious candidate.

The Case for Terence Crawford

 Terence Crawford of Omaha only fought once in 2025, but what a fight. Crawford did what seemed unthinkable, taking on Canelo at 168 pounds at Allegiant Stadium to become the undisputed super middleweight champion with a single fight in the division.

Crawford (42-0, 31 KOs) was the underdog entering Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on September 13. In front of a sold-out stadium and millions watching on Netflix, Crawford calmly took Alvarez apart, winning the upset by scores of 116-112, and 115-113 twice. It had seemed unthinkable until he did it.

Adding to the accomplishment was the historic nature of Crawford’s achievement. He became a five-division world champion, one of just six male boxers to win titles in this many divisions along with Manny Pacquiao (eight), Oscar De La Hoya (six), and Thomas Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard and Floyd Mayweather.

He is the first male three-division undisputed champion (junior welterweight, welterweight, and super middleweight in the multi-belt era. Finally, he joins Pacquiao and Mayweather as the third four-division lineal champion.

“When I set my sights on doing something, and I know what I’m capable of, it’s not like a surprise to me. It’s a surprise to y’all because y’all didn’t believe me. But I knew I could do it, and I just needed the opportunity,” Crawford said after the victory.

A few weeks later as speculation raged about Crawford winning a sixth division title by fighting a titleholder in the middleweight division, he stunned the boxing world by announcing his retirement, undefeated at age 38. Will it stick? We may find out in 2026.

The Case for Naoya Inoue 

Inoue of Yokohama (32-0, 27 KOs) is the most active top male fighter in the world. He is the only male champion to defend his undisputed junior featherweight titles four times in one year. Only his countrywoman, Mizuki Hiruta, matched Inoue, defending her WBO World Super Flyweight title four times in 2025.

In 2025, the four-division world champion started the year expecting to face his mandatory challenger, Sam Goodman of Australia. When Goodman was injured, Inoue honored his obligation to fight for the fans anyway, blowing out challenger Ye Joon Kim of South Korea in four rounds.

In May, Inoue took on little-known Ramon Cardenas of San Antonio in Las Vegas, his first fight in the U.S. in four years. It was an unexpected thriller as Inoue had to get off the deck after a second-round knockdown to take out a tough Cardenas in the eighth round. Inoue admitted after the fight he “likes to brawl” when he would be better off using his skills.

Inoue then took on a fighter who had been campaigning for his chance to fight the champion. Murodjon “MJ” Akhmadaliev of Uzbekistan, who is based in Indio, California, was by far the best opponent Inoue since Stephen Fulton in 2023. Inoue had been accused of avoiding the mandatory challenger Akmadaliev for his WBA belt.

Inoue breezed right through the Uzbek, picking Akhmadaliev apart for a wide unanimous decision. Finally, Inoue traveled to Riyadh for his first fight in Saudi Arabia against undefeated Alan David Picasso. Picasso gave a brave effort, but he could not stand up to Inoue’s speed, footwork or accuracy in a blowout on the scorecards.

With the win over Picasso, Inoue passed Floyd Mayweather and Joe Louis to hold the record for most consecutive world title fight wins in boxing history, with 27 straight wins. He also became the first fighter in 42 years to successfully defend the Ring Magazine title four times in a single calendar year.

The Deciding Factor: Activity Matters

If there’s a universal gripe among the boxing community, it’s the lack of activity by so many of the sport’s champions. Fighting four, five, six times a year used to be commonplace. In the current era, two fights per year by a champion is now considered acceptable. Given the big money available from the infusion of cash from the Saudi General Entertainment Authority and from both Netflix and Prime Video, there’s no real motivation to fight more often.

Inoue saw fit to stay active and deliver four fights for his fans around the world. While it can be argued that two of the four fights were against opponents with virtually no chance of winning, both Cardenas and Akhmadaliev were fine opponents. Cardenas delivered a sensational effort in his loss. Akhmadaliev’s disappointing performance came as a surprise given his record as an Olympic medalist and former world champion.

I have no intention of taking anything away from Terence Crawford’s incredible victory over Alvarez. It will still be some time before it can be determined whether he faced a great champion showing signs of decline after 20 years of taking on all challengers. But no matter how impressive, I cannot name a Fighter of the Year rewarding someone for a single fight. YMMV.

The NY Fights Fighter of the Year: Naoya Inoue

Fighter of the Year: Honorable Mentions

It’s a matter of time before super flyweight unified champion Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez makes the top spot as the best of the next generation. The 25-year-old won both of his 2025 fights by tenth-round knockouts, climbing up the top ten pound-for-pound list. Rodriguez took Phumelela Cafu apart to add his WBO belt to his WBC and WBO titles. Then, Rodriguez demolished Fernando “Puma” Martinez in a fight expected to be more competitive.

Rodriguez lacks just one belt to unify the division before he moves up to conquer junior bantamweight, and perhaps someday jumps up to take on Inoue.

Dmitriy Bivol of Russia got his revenge against Artur Beterbiev of Montreal in Riyadh on February 22, winning their rematch in dominating fashion. Bivol applied the lessons from the first fight to take down the boogieman Beterbiev and achieve a lifelong goal as the undisputed light heavyweight champion.

Who will emerge in 2026? Boxing is full of surprises, and we’ll look back in 12 months to see if a new name finds its way into consideration.