Although only one of them makes it on to his official record, Terence Crawford had two big decision wins in 2025, both of which will define his legacy.
Although only one of them makes it on to his official record, Terence Crawford had two big decision wins this calendar year, both of which will define his legacy.
The first of the two decisions was recorded in September and was unanimous. There were two scorecards of 115-113 and one of 116-112 and together they confirmed Crawford’s superiority over Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, landing the Nebraskan four super middleweight world titles: the WBC, the IBF, the WBO, and the WBA.
Those who watched the fight did not need confirmation from three judges to corroborate what they had seen, yet the same could not be said for Crawford. As confident as he was, Crawford needed the win over Alvarez to be made official in order for him to be able to call himself a world champion in five weight divisions. He needed the confirmation from three judges to prove to the world what he had been saying all along.
Truth be told, if you were watching closely and were quiet enough to listen, there were always signs. There were signs Crawford was different, or special, back when he was a shy and skinny lightweight, and similarly there were signs he was too good for Alvarez early on in their super middleweight fight in Las Vegas. Always a step ahead, it seemed, Crawford wasted no time toying with Alvarez, setting traps and waiting for his Mexican opponent to fall into one. Then, the second he did, Crawford would pick him off with sharp counters, spin him, and return to a position of control, matador-like.
With this kind of control, Crawford had soon made a mockery of the size difference — Crawford had moved up from super welterweight, while Alvarez was the undisputed super middleweight champion — and began to grow, both in stature and strength, as the bout progressed. Toward the end, in fact, it was actually Crawford, the smaller man, who was landing the bigger, more hurtful blows, and every time he did you saw the impact on the reddening face of Alvarez. Often Alvarez could be seen shaking his head when a punch connected, annoyed to have been hit by it. On other occasions he would shake his head in a manner that suggested confusion rather than annoyance, as if to say, “How did he hit me with that?”
The short answer: Terence Crawford is a genius. He is a genius whose genius only becomes apparent to us and to his opponents when trading punches with fighters considered his equal, both in terms of talent and intelligence. It is then we get to see just how good Crawford is in the ring. It is then we understand how even among geniuses, there is someone at the top of the class; someone finding new angles; someone whose brain is forever young, sharp and creative.
Now the body, of course, that’s another thing. Crawford’s, at the age of 38, is quite different than it was 10 years ago, as is to be expected. It is heavier, broader and better equipped to bear both the weight of expectation and countless world title belts. It is now also a bigger target, one that has already been hit a fair amount in 42 professional fights and many more as an amateur. It remains an elusive target, of that there is no doubt, but still it keeps count, still it records every punch, and still it carries a price.
The same is true of the head, which contains the Crawford brain. That too has been knocked about and that too can only offer so much protection to the thing that makes Crawford so special and different from the rest. Perhaps, given his intelligence, he knows this only too well. Perhaps an awareness of it was the inspiration for Crawford’s second big decision win in 2025.
This one, not a fight per se, took place on Dec. 17 and came as a genuine surprise. Even aged 38, nobody could have predicted that Terence Crawford, the man of the hour, would suddenly announce his retirement from the sport just three months after the biggest win of his career. But that is precisely what he did. He called it a day. In some respects, too, the announcement of Crawford’s retirement proved a bigger shock than seeing him have his way with Alvarez in Las Vegas. After all, for so long “Bud” had waited for his breakout moment to become a star, and yet now, having finally gotten it, he was taking his leave with the sound of applause still ringing in his ears.
“I spent my whole life chasing something,” Crawford, 42-0 (31 KOs), said in a statement. “Not belts, not money, not headlines, but that feeling — the one you get when the world doubts you but you keep showing up and you keep proving everyone wrong.
“This sport gave me everything. I fought for my family, I fought for my city, I fought for the kid I used to be; the one that had nothing but a dream and a pair of gloves. I did it all my way.
“I gave this sport every breath I have, every spar, every triumph, every ounce of my heart. I’ve made peace with what’s next. Now, it’s time.”
It won’t have been easy, that decision. It never is. But for Crawford to acknowledge the future when blinded by the bright lights of the present is further evidence of his ability to stay one step ahead, not only of opponents but of a sport adept at convincing its victims to stick around for just one more.
Unlike in September, when he required three judges to verify what he had achieved, Crawford is now making his own decisions and taking matters into his own hands. It is for that reason he is different. It is for that reason he is great. It is for that reason he is Uncrowned's 2025 Fighter of the Year.
2. Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez
The scary thing about Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez is that if he decided to follow Crawford’s lead and retire from the sport tomorrow, he would have already compiled a legacy impressive enough to take him to the International Boxing Hall of Fame. To have done so at the tender age of 25 is quite remarkable.
Better yet, Rodriguez, despite all he has accomplished at such a young age, shows no signs of letting up. In fact, this year he has only enhanced both his legacy and his reputation. In July, he added the WBO super flyweight title to his WBC version when stopping Phumelela Cafu in 10 rounds. Then, in November, he produced one of the performances of the year to stop Fernando Martinez, also inside 10 rounds.
3. Dmitry Bivol
Russia’s Dmitry Bivol will argue that his 2025 has, in some respects, been similar to his 2024, only with one key difference: This time he got the decision.
Yes, 2025 was the year Bivol, the world light heavyweight champion, was rewarded for all his good work against Artur Beterbiev to the tune of a majority decision. That, as far as Bivol is concerned, made up for the majority decision that went against him following their first encounter in 2024, and it also ensured that he and Beterbiev are now one win apiece in their rivalry.
Even better, for Bivol, the performance in that February rematch revealed new dimensions to his game and suggested that he had finally figured out how to stay one step ahead of his countryman. At times he was brave, especially early. Later on, he was simply masterful.
4. David Benavidez
David Benavidez isn’t the only fighter to go by the nickname “Monster,” but it is fair to say that few embody the character better than him.
To date, Benavidez has finished 25 of his 31 professional wins inside the distance, and most of the time he does so by stalking, suffocating and ultimately breaking the spirit of his opponent. He did this again twice this year. The first opponent on the receiving end was David Morrell, an unbeaten Cuban who survived 12 rounds with Benavidez but couldn’t win enough of them to upset the WBC light heavyweight champion’s momentum. After that came Anthony Yarde, who tried to move around Benavidez but soon ran out of room, ideas and breath. He was eventually stopped in Round 7, the image of which only strengthened the belief that from Benavidez, the monster, there is no getting away.
5. Naoya Inoue
Naoya Inoue, also a “Monster,” deserves recognition this year if only for fighting four times. That, in an era when most champions fight just once or twice, should be commended and indeed encouraged.
In the case of Inoue, the world’s best super bantamweight, the year started with a fourth-round stoppage win over Ye Joon Kim in January. He then followed that routine assignment with a far more difficult fight against Roman Cardenas, who not only asked questions of Inoue but managed to drop the Japanese star in Round 2. Five rounds later, it was Cardenas who found himself on the deck, and in the eighth he was stopped.
After that, Inoue boxed Murodjon Akhmadaliev, his WBA mandatory challenger, and was again victorious, this time by unanimous decision. He then finished a productive year with a decision win over Mexico’s David Picasso in December.
Uncrowned's voting breakdown for Men's Fighter of 2025:
Honorable mentions:
Devin Haney
Oleksandr Usyk
Shakur Stevenson
Women's Fighter of the Year: Gabriela Fundora
In a year in which all the talk in women’s boxing has been about three-minute rounds and pushing championship fights to 12 rounds, Gabriela Fundora continued to do what she does best: Knocking out opponents before the sound of the final bell.
While her peers were busy squabbling over minutes and rounds, Fundora proved that in her world it doesn’t matter whether a round lasts two minutes or three minutes, the outcome is still the same. It is convincing, it is conclusive, it is final. In fact, it is Fundora’s rare ability to finish fights inside the distance that separates her from most of the other women who would be in contention for awards such as this one. She doesn’t just win fights, you see. She wins them the way you want to see a fighter win them. No arguments, no judges, no controversy. Rather than just win, she removes all doubt.
This year Fundora, heavy-handed and long-limbed, added to her collection of knockouts by securing two more. The first, in April, saw “Sweet Poison” secure a seventh-round stoppage of Marilyn Badillo, which also happened to represent Badillo's first loss as a pro. The second, five months later, came in yet another defense of Fundora’s undisputed flyweight titles, and this time we watched her hammer Canada’s Alexas Kubicki to defeat in seven rounds.
It is true that Fundora (17-0, 9 KOs) will likely face sterner tests and beat better opponents in the coming year, but nobody can question the momentum she currently enjoys, or the entertainment she brings to the ring each time she fights. Indeed, this is now the second year in a row that the 23-year-old has been voted Uncrowned’s Women's Fighter of the Year, and it is plain to see why.
Aside from the fact that she owns four world titles and is by far the best female flyweight in the world, there is also arguably no better female fighter to watch right now than Gabriela Fundora.
2. Katie Taylor
There must be a sense of déjà vu for Ireland’s Katie Taylor when looking back at her 2025. Like last year, she fought just once, against the same opponent, and like last year, she finds herself in second spot on this list, beaten only by the more eye-catching exploits of Gabriela Fundora.
Still, Ireland's own did enjoy a much better 2025 by virtue of beating Amanda Serrano, her great rival, more convincingly than she beat her in 2024. That alone marks a huge improvement for Taylor, the world’s best super lightweight, and should give her more than enough reason to be proud of her year’s work.
3. Mikaela Mayer
There was once a feeling that Mikaela Mayer wouldn’t ever be truly content until she had avenged her close loss against bitter rival Alycia Baumgardner in 2022.
However, Mayer, rather than wallow or fixate on the progress of others, has instead dusted herself down and paved her own way. No longer a lightweight these days, she now operates and flourishes at super welterweight, where she won the vacant WBC, WBA and WBO titles with a decision win over Mary Spencer in October. Prior to that, Mayer had held a WBO belt at welterweight, and in March she defended that belt against Sandy Ryan, beating the Brit for a second time.
To say that Mayer is currently in the form of her life would be an understatement.
4. Elif Nur Turhan
A new name to many, Turkey’s Elif Nur Turhan had her breakout year in 2025 and finishes it in a very different place than where she started it.
In the space of just nine months, she managed to fight three times, winning all three, and moved her record to 12-0. But what was perhaps most impressive about this, and important to note, was the nature of the wins. Because Turhan, like Fundora, wasn’t just beating opponents by decision — she was stopping them inside the distance.
This was impressive enough against the likes of Shauna Browne and Rima Ayadi. But when Turhan then succeeded in stopping the unbeaten Beatriz Ferreira in five rounds in December to win the IBF lightweight title? The boxing world started to pay attention.
5. Ellie Scotney
With sound fundamentals and a down-to-earth personality, Ellie Scotney is an easy fighter to watch and enjoy. She has held the IBF super bantamweight title for two and a half years now and last year added the WBO version to her collection. Both of those belts Scotney successfully defended on two occasions in 2025, dropping barely a round in the process.
She had a cut to contend with in a fight against Mea Motu in January, but that did little to disrupt her rhythm, and then her latest defense, against Yamileth Mercado in July, was an almost punch-perfect performance made even more special on account of its location: Madison Square Garden.
“I’m living the dream,” Scotney said afterward.
Uncrowned's voting breakdown for Women's Fighter of 2025:
Honorable mentions:
Claressa Shields
Cherneka Johnson
Shadasia Green
More from Uncrowned's 2025 boxing awards:
Category: General Sports
