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Andreas Hale
With four months left on the 2025 boxing schedule, there is no clear-cut frontrunner for fighter of the year. From Oleksandr Usyk’s one-sided thumping of Daniel Dubois to Dmitry Bivol avenging his loss against Artur Beterbiev for the undisputed light heavyweight championship, there have been some great performances throughout the year. However, there has yet to be that performance that creates enough distance to set one fighter apart from the pack.
There are still a few major fights on this year’s schedule that can yield performances to enter the conversation. Terence Crawford challenging Canelo Alvarez for the undisputed super middleweight championship is the one that stands out. However, several other fighters also have the opportunity to close the year strongly and make their case.
We take a look at some of the fights that have already been announced, as well as fighters we expect to compete again before the end of the year. What will they have to do to solidify their place as ESPN’s 2025 fighter of the year?
Terence Crawford, if he beats Canelo Alvarez
Yes, it would be Crawford’s only fight this year, but moving up two weight classes to beat pound-for-pound staple Canelo and become a three-division undisputed champion would have more value than anyone else’s two or three fights.
There was a time when we thought Crawford would be too small for Errol Spence Jr. when they met for the undisputed welterweight championship in July 2023, and we saw how that turned out. For Crawford, who began his championship run at 135 pounds, to move up and beat Canelo, an all-time great who has never lost at 168 pounds, would be revelatory. Let’s not forget that Crawford will turn 38 in September and is almost three years older than Canelo.
Depending on how Crawford was to win, it would not only cement his place as the fighter of the year, but also it would lead to serious consideration of where the career of “Bud” sits as one of the greatest boxers ever.
Rolando “Rolly” Romero, if he lands the Manny Pacquiao fight and wins
Knockout losses to Gervonta “Tank” Davis in 2022 and Isaac Cruz in 2024 left Romero as an opponent rather than a future candidate for fighter of the year. However, he upset the apple cart by beating Ryan Garcia by unanimous decision in May and is high on Pacquiao’s list of potential opponents for his next fight.
Pacquiao’s manager, Sean Gibbons, has mentioned Romero by name and is targeting for the Filipino legend to return to the ring before the end of 2025. With aspirations to break his own record as the oldest fighter to become welterweight champion (Pacquiao turns 47 on Dec. 17), a fight with WBA champion Romero makes a great deal of sense.
As for the fight itself, Romero still possesses significant punching power and looked huge against Garcia. While the fight with Garcia wasn’t a barnburner by any stretch of the imagination, Romero showed a few new wrinkles in his game and defended incredibly well against Garcia’s trademark left hook. If he were able to defeat Pacquiao, he would have a claim at the award.
Katie Taylor, if she faces and beats Chantelle Cameron
After closing the book on the Amanda Serrano trilogy with a clear decision win in July, Taylor can finally move on and pursue another opponent. The fight that makes the most sense for the undisputed junior welterweight champion is a rubber match with Cameron, the only fighter to have beaten Taylor in her professional career.
The fight is an easy one to make with Cameron signing a deal with Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions and having made her promotional debut on the Taylor-Serrano 3 undercard, a unanimous decision win over Jessica Camara.
Cameron beat Taylor by majority decision in May 2023 and lost a narrow decision in the rematch in November 2023. Considering the closely contested nature of the first two meetings, a third fight is the obvious choice. If Taylor can win impressively, she would be difficult to ignore in the fighter of the year conversation.
Naoya Inoue, if he beats Murodjon Akhmadaliev and takes one more fight in December
“The Monster” has been on a rampage this year with knockouts of Ye Joon Kim and Ramon Cardenas and will take his third fight of 2025 when he faces Akhmadaliev on Sept. 14. While a win over “MJ” alone may not make Inoue the clear-cut fighter of the year, a fourth fight in 2025 would certainly place him squarely in the conversation.
Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, has announced plans for a December fight card with Inoue defending his undisputed junior featherweight championship against WBC mandatory challenger David Picasso, who is coming off a majority decision win against Kyonosuke Kameda on the Pacquiao-Mario Barrios undercard.
If Inoue can go 4-0 with four knockouts this year, he could come away with the honors.
Moses Itauma, if he faces and beats a top-10 heavyweight
Itauma is just 20 years old, but he has gone from prospect to contender in a blink of an eye. His first-round annihilation of Dillian Whyte on Aug. 16 was a frightening example of his potential. Between the knockout of Whyte and his two-round steamrolling of Mike Balogun in May, Itauma’s heavyweight stock is soaring through the roof. He has clocked in less than six minutes of fight time in 2025, and a return before the end of the year is highly likely.
Itauma has mentioned a fight with the durable Jermaine Franklin to get rounds in. However, with Franklin now fighting on the Canelo-Crawford undercard, Itauma will have to look elsewhere for an opponent, and a fight against a top-10 heavyweight could be the way to go.
Filip Hrgovic, who defeated David Adeleye on the Itauma-Whyte undercard, makes a lot of sense. Or Itauma could pursue a fight with former interim champion Zhilei Zhang, who is coming off a knockout loss to Agit Kabayel in February. If Itauma lands a fight with any top heavyweight and wins, it will be hard to exclude him from the conversation.
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, if he beats Fernando Martinez
Rodriguez added to his belt collection in the smaller weight classes in 2025 with an impressive 10th-round stoppage of Phumelele Cafu in July to become WBO junior bantamweight champion. He already owned the WBC title. Rodriguez, 25, continues to impress in his young career and is slated to face IBF titleholder Martinez in November on the stacked The Ring IV card headlined by David Benavidez vs. Anthony Yarde.
The manner in which Rodriguez continues to dispatch his opponents is incredibly eye-opening, and he’ll get the opportunity to take another fighter’s undefeated record and inch closer to becoming undisputed at 115 pounds. A lot would have to go his way, outside of him winning this fight, for Rodriguez to take fighter of the year honors, but “Bam” is always in the conversation.
Shakur Stevenson, if he moves up to 140 pounds or defends his 135 title against a top contender
Stevenson is 2-0 in 2025 with dominant wins over Josh Padley and William Zepeda. His skill has never been in question, and his thrilling battle with Zepeda in July silenced naysayers who claim Stevenson’s fights are boring. He has been on the hunt for fights with Gervonta Davis and Teofimo Lopez. With Davis locked in for a fight with Jake Paul and Lopez going radio silent after Stevenson called for the fight at 140 pounds, Stevenson’s options for a big fight to close out 2025 are limited.
There’s always the possibility of him revisiting the previously scheduled fight with Floyd “Kid Austin” Schofield. They were to meet in February, but Schofield had to pull out due to illness. Schofield returned in a big way in June when he wiped out Tevin Farmer on the Jake Paul-Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. undercard. A fight between Stevenson and Schofield would be much bigger now than it was when originally scheduled.
Stevenson could also pursue a fight with IBF junior welterweight champion Richardson Hitchins or compete in a 135-pound unification bout against IBF titleholder Raymond Muratalla. Neither of those fights would make Stevenson a shoo-in for fighter of the year, but if he puts on another dazzling performance, you never know.