Ali–Frazier Award

The Ali–Frazier Award (known as the Harry Markson Award prior to 2009) is given annually to the fighters who compete in the Boxing Writers Association of America's Fight of the Year. The award has been conferred annually since the BWAA's awards dinner in 2003. The BWAA votes on the best fight of each year regardless of the weight class or nationality of the fighters.

The award was originally named for Harry Markson, a boxing promoter and publicist who served for five years as the president of boxing operations at Madison Square Garden. In 2009, the award was renamed the Ali–Frazier Award in honor of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, and their epic fight trilogy. The award is presented with other honors given by the BWAA at an annual awards dinner.

List of winners

Year Date Location Winner Loser Result Weight class World title(s) at stake Notes
2002 May 18 Uncasville, Connecticut, United States Micky Ward
 United States
Arturo Gatti
 Canada
Majority decision after 10 rounds (95-93, 94-93, 94-94) Welterweight None First fight in Gatti-Ward trilogy
2003 April 26 Mashantucket, Connecticut, United States James Toney
 United States
Vassily Jirov
 Kazakhstan
Unanimous decision after 12 rounds (117-109, 117-109, 116-110) Cruiserweight IBF cruiserweight title (Jirov)
2004 November 27 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Marco Antonio Barrera
 Mexico
Erik Morales
 Mexico
Majority decision after 12 rounds (115-113, 115-114, 114-114) Super featherweight WBC super featherweight (Barrera) Final fight of trilogy between the two
2005 May 7 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Diego Corrales
 United States
José Luis Castillo
 Mexico
Technical knockout,
in tenth of 12 rounds
Lightweight WBC lightweight title (Castillo)
WBO lightweight title (Corrales)
First of two 2005 fights between the two
2006 March 18 Levallois-Perret, France Somsak Sithchatchawal
 Thailand
Mahyar Monshipour
 France
Technical knockout,
in tenth of 12 rounds
Super bantamweight WBA super bantamweight title (Monshipour)
2007 September 29 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States Kelly Pavlik
 United States
Jermain Taylor
 United States
Technical knockout,
in seventh of 12 rounds
Middleweight WBC and WBO middleweight titles (Taylor) First of two fights between the two
2008 March 1 Carson, California, United States Israel Vázquez
 Mexico
Rafael Márquez
 Mexico
Split decision after 12 rounds (114-111, 113-112, 111-114) Super bantamweight WBC super bantamweight title (Vázquez) Third fight of the Israel Vázquez-Rafael Márquez rivalry
2009 February 28 Houston, Texas, United States Juan Manuel Márquez
 Mexico
Juan Díaz
 United States
Technical knockout,
in ninth of 12 rounds
Lightweight WBO lightweight title (vacant)
WBA (Super) lightweight title (vacant)
First of two fights between the two
2010 December 11 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Amir Khan
 United Kingdom
Marcos Maidana
 Argentina
Unanimous decision after 12 rounds (114-111, 114-111, 113-112) Light welterweight WBA light welterweight title (Khan) Amir Khan vs. Marcos Maidana
2011 July 15 New York, New York, United States Majority draw after ten rounds (97-93, 95-95, 95-95)
between Dominican Republic Delvin Rodriguez and Poland Pawel Wolak
Super welterweight None First of two fights between the two
2012 December 8 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Juan Manuel Marquez
 Mexico
Manny Pacquiao
 Philippines
Knockout,
in the sixth of 12 rounds
Welterweight None Fourth fight between the two
2013 March 16 Carson, California, United States Timothy Bradley
 United States
Ruslan Provodnikov
 Russia
Unanimous decision after 12 rounds (115-112, 114-113, 114-113) Welterweight WBO welterweight title (Bradley)
2014 April 26 Carson, California, United States Lucas Matthysse
 Argentina
John Molina, Jr.
 United States
Knockout,
in the eleventh of 12 rounds
Light welterweight None
2015 November 21 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Francisco Vargas
 Mexico
Takashi Miura
 Japan
Technical knockout,
in the ninth of 12 rounds
Super featherweight WBC super featherweight title (Miura) Takashi Miura vs. Francisco Vargas[1]
2016 June 4 StubHub Center, Carson, California, United States Majority draw after 12 rounds (115-113, 114-114, 114-114)
between Mexico Francisco Vargas and MexicoOrlando Salido
Super featherweight WBC super featherweight title (Vargas) [2]
2017 April 29 Wembley Stadium, London, England Anthony Joshua
 United Kingdom
Wladimir Klitschko
 Ukraine
Knockout, after 11 rounds Heavyweight IBF heavyweight title (Joshua)
WBA (Super) heavyweight title (vacant)
Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko[3]
2018 April 7 The Joint, Paradise, Nevada, United States Jarrett Hurd
 United States
Erislandy Lara
 Cuba
Split decision
after 12 rounds (113-114, 114-113, 114-113)
Super welterweight WBA (Super) super welterweight title (Lara)
IBF super welterweight title (Hurd)
2019 November 7 Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan Naoya Inoue
 Japan
Nonito Donaire
 Philippines
Unanimous decision after 12 rounds (117-109, 116-111, 114-113) Bantamweight WBA (Super) bantamweight title (Donaire)
IBF bantamweight title (Inoue)
2018-19 World Boxing Super Series Bantamweight final, Naoya Inoue vs. Nonito Donaire[4]
2020 October 3 MGM Grand Conference Center, Paradise, Nevada Jose Zepeda
 United States
Ivan Baranchyk
 Belarus
Knockout,
in the fifth of 10 rounds
Light welterweight None Jose Zepeda vs. Ivan Baranchyk
2021 October 9 T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada Tyson Fury
 United Kingdom
Deontay Wilder
 United States
Knockout,
in the eleventh of 12 rounds
Heavyweight WBC heavyweight title (Fury) Final fight of trilogy between the two
2022 March 12 Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, England Leigh Wood
 United Kingdom
Michael Conlan
 Ireland
Technical knockout,
in the twelfth of 12 rounds
Featherweight WBA (Regular) featherweight title (Wood)
2023 June 10 Toyota Arena, Ontario, California Jaime Munguía
 Mexico
Sergiy Derevyanchenko
 Ukraine
Unanimous decision after 12 rounds (115-112, 114-113, 114-113)) Super Middleweight None

See also

References

  1. ^ "Muhammad Ali – Joe Frazier Award Fight of the Year". Boxing Writers Association of America. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  2. ^ "Vargas vs. Salido Named as BWAA "Fight of The Year"". BoxingScene. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  3. ^ "BWAA List Of Award Winners For The 2018 Dinner". Boxing Writers Association of America. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
  4. ^ "Canelo Alvarez Is The BWAA 2019 Fighter Of The Year". Retrieved 10 February 2020.