2018 Fighter of the Year nominees

The ballots have been finalized for the Boxing Writers Association of America’s 2018 awards. The biggest prize of them all is the Sugar Ray Robinson Fighter of the Year award, and five nominees have made the final cut. Let’s have a look:

OLEKSANDR USYK (16-0, 12 KOs)

The 31-year-old Ukrainian had a breakout year in 2018, which he started by becoming the first undisputed cruiserweight champion in history. Usyk participated in the World Boxing Super Series’ inaugural tournament and took a majority decision over Mairis Briedis in January, a unanimous decision over Murat Gassiev in July (where he became the undisputed champion), and then scored a highlight reel knockout of Tony Bellew last month.

TERENCE CRAWFORD (34-0, 25 KOs)

After becoming the undisputed junior welterweight champion in 2017, Crawford had two fights this calendar year. The fighter from Omaha moved up to welterweight in June and captured the WBO title from Jeff Horn in a one-sided beatdown, and then went on to stop Jose Benavidez Jr. in something of a grudge match. Crawford remains one of the top rated pound-for-pound fighters in the sport.

VASILIY LOMACHENKO (12-1, 9 KOs)

Lomachenko currently holds the title as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport on most lists and had two outings in 2018. He began by moving up to lightweight to seek more challenges, andcaptured the WBA lightweight title by stopping Jorge Linares in May. Lomachenko then went on to successfully unify lightweight titles earlier this month when he outpointed WBO titleholder Jose Pedraza over 12 rounds of action. Lomachenko may have reach his physical limits at lightweight, but he’s still able to largely dominate with his incredible boxing ability.

MIKEY GARCIA (39-0, 30 KOs)

The Mexican fighter from California has been moving up in weight classes like they don’t matter. Garcia had two outings this year: first winning a junior lightweight world title by taking a decision over Sergey Lipinets in March, and then moving back down to lightweight for a unification match with Robert Easter Jr. in July. Garcia was able to dominate Easter Jr. over 12 rounds to unify titles, and then decided he needed to move all the way up to welterweight to fight Errol Spence Jr., the only fighter that could get his competitive juices flowing.

MAURICE HOOKER (25-0-3, 17 KOs)

This one may come as a slight surprise to some, but Hooker made the final cut. The 29-year-old from Dallas had two fights this year. He started with a June fight against Terry Flanagan and took home a split decision win to snag the vacant WBO junior welterweight title in Flanagan’s hometown of Manchester, England. Hooker then took on Alex Saucedo in November, stopping him in 7 rounds in Saucedo’s hometown of Oklahoma City.

Who do you think deserves the this year’s Fighter of the Year award?