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Inoue Fancied to Repeat as FOTY but Beterbiev, Usyk, Bam Have Strong Cases (Last of Two Parts) By Teodoro Medina Reynoso PhilBoxing.com Sat, 16 Nov 2024  L-R: Beterbiev, Usyk and Rodriguez. This is the time of the year when we look back and review the performances of top fighters, especially world champions to determine who among them is deserving to be declared as the Fighter of the Year. In Part One, I discussed the merits of Naoya Inoue and why his performance this year, including his expected win over Australian mandatory challenger Sam Goodman on Christmas Eve, put him ahead in the race for FOTY 2024. In this second part, I will discuss and endeavor to analyze the chances of three other elite champions namely Artur Beterbiev, Oleksander Usyk and Jesse Bam Rodriguez to bag the yearend honors thus frustrating the Japanese bid for back to back FOTY award. Artur Beterbiev - Finally a Deserved Loftiest Recognition as FOTY? For all his dominant performances since turning pro in 2013, recognition seems to elude the Russian former bemedaled amateur fighter. Not even after he won three-fourths of all major belts in the light heavyweight division with crushing victories over the likes of Enrico Koelling (IBF), Alexander Vozdyk (WBC) and Joe Smith (WBO) and high profile defenses against the likes of Anthony Yarde, Callum Johnson and Callum Smith. It's been said Naoya Inoue has beaten a long list of reigning, former and future world champions, so does Beterbiev and many of them have comparatively more superior credentials. But despite these, for a long time, Beterbiev had to box under the shadows of his more celebrated komrad, Dmitri Bivol, the WBA titlist who even won the FOTY honor in 2022 with dominating points win over boxing's fair haired poster guy Canelo Alvarez. This year proved a major turning point as Beterbiev finally got to meet Bivol for all the marbles so to speak. Undoubtedly, the Beterbiev vs Bivol unification bout is 2024's biggest fight. How big was that fight? It was the main event of an eight-bout event held at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia under the auspices of Saudi Sports Czar Turki Alalshikh and co promoted by five major promoters including Bob Arum, Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren. It was watched live by thousands and millions around the world via DAZN PPV and US ESPN+. The fight which ended in a controversial majority decision in favor of Beterbiev was analyzed and talked about by both experts and casuals for days and weeks after, in fact even to these days. It was the first time Artur was taken the distance in the pros and his boxing acumen and resolve were fully tested by another fighter than the last man to beat him, Oleksander Usyk twelve years ago in the 2012 London Olympics heavyweight semi finals. Beterbiev had just two fights this year, the other being a January 2024 7th round TKO win over former super middleweight champion Callum Smith. But this victory over Bivol I think is enough to finally win him his first FOTY honor this year. In fact, had Bivol gained the nod in Riyadh, it would have been him who is the hands down choice to repeat his 2022 feat. Oleksander Usyk - Repeat over Tyson Fury Merits Another FOTY? Oleksander Usyk is fighting twice this year, the first time he is doing so since invading the heavyweights four years ago. And he is fighting the same foe, Tyson Fury that originally made him undisputed champion in his second weight class. Although the bout will only be for the unified WBC-WBA and WBO plus the Ring Magazine lineal world heavyweight championship, a repeat win by Usyk over Fury hopefully will be enough to propel him to his second FOTY award since 2018, the year he became undisputed champion at cruiserweight. Tough luck, Usyk had to vacate his IBF title than meet the winner of an eliminator between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois, two fighters that he had already defeated before. Despite fighting just once a year at heavyweight before this Fury rematch, Usyk has achieved so much in boxing's premier division coming from the cruiserweight since Evander Holyfield. Hopefully, the award giving bodies, especially the Ring will give him his second FOTY award this time recognizing his exploits at heavyweight. Note that his foe, Fury himself was a two time FOTY winner as heavyweight Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez Banging at the FOTY Door Two years ago, Jessie "Bam" Rodriguez was just another name shuffling between boxing's lower weights divisions while shocking the more established names as Carlos Cuadras and Wisaksil Wangek aka Srisaket Sor Rungvusai at super flyweight. He proved that he could also excel at flyweight, the division he bypassed moving up to super fly from light fly, by beating Sunny Edwards. Now, he is THE MAN at the loaded super flyweight after beating in succession Juan Francisco Estrada and Pedro Guevarra. He did the feat of beating Edwards, Estrada and Guevarra, by stoppage, (the first time that the three were beaten in that manner) all in 2024. The potential of Rodriguez is such that some pundits believe he has what it takes to end the Japanese monopoly at bantamweight. And even threaten Naoya Inoue should he stay much longer at super bantamweight. A Fighter of the Year award would be a fitting gift as Bam saunters into the new year for more and bigger conquests. Honorable Nominations: 1. Jack Catteral - If there is a miniature version of British super middleweight great Joe Calzhage, it has to be Jack Catteral whose toughness, stubbornness and hate in face of defeat and determination to rise above his perceived limitations remind very much of Calzhage. Catteral fought two times in 2024 and won those bouts decisively -against erstwhile undisputed Jr welterweight champion Josh Taylor who controversially beat him in 2022 and -against former highly regarded WBC titlist Regis Prograis. 2. Junto Nakatani- Nakatani gained notice with a one punch 12th round knockout of Andrew Moloney for a major belt at super flyweight. But he really grabbed attention- and imagination in 2024 with three fights and three wins, all by frightening knockout at bantamweight, first against the tough and ring-wise Mexican Alejandro Santiago Barrios, one time conqueror of Nonito Donaire, for the WBC bantamweight crown. He followed it up with eye popping KOs in title defenses against two foes with reputation as tough, durable customers, namely Filipino Vincent Astrolabio and Thai Tasana Salapat. Nakatani is being considered as Inoue's foe in 2025. The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.  |
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