Photo by Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy/Golden Boy Promotions via Getty Images

Luis Nery vs. Azat Hovhannisyan

The Luis Nery-Azat Hovhannisyan fight harkened back to those classic HBO Boxing After Dark battles, where two lower-weight boxers put it all of the line in an unforgettable slugfest. This 122-pound matchup wasn’t for a world title, but it featured an appetizing matchup between seasoned sluggers. 

Nery entered the ring with the greater pedigree, formerly a two-weight world titlist at 118 and 122 pounds. But he had also had a controversial career – failing drug tests, blowing weight and discarding trainers. Hovhannisyan (who goes by the nickname “Crazy A”) made his name as a rugged club fighter in Southern California before rising to contender status. 

Nery got the best of the action in the early rounds. Mixing in movement with hard, straight punches, in no time he started to mark up Crazy A’s face. Nery scored a knockdown in the third, and his straight left out of the southpaw stance gave Hovhannisyan a lot of problems. Crazy A was bleeding from a cut throughout the fight, but he didn’t get discouraged; he had been prepared to take a lot of shots to land his. And his own blood wasn’t enough to stop him.  

As the fight continued, Hovhannisyan’s relentless pressure, body punching and mugging on the inside started to turn the tide. Nery, who had moved a lot earlier in the fight, was now much more stationary, allowing an easier target for Crazy A to hit. As the fight progressed, it transformed into an all-out war.  Crazy A attacked Nery against the ropes while Nery would counter with eye-catching power punches. 

Hovhannisyan (left) poured on the pressure in the middle rounds. (Photo by Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy/Golden Boy Promotions via Getty Images)

By the tenth, Nery looked like he was starting to wilt. Hovhannisyan’s plan was seemingly working to perfection. He had weathered the early storm, kept coming forward and never stopped applying pressure. He hammered Nery’s body mercilessly with an array of punches and ended Round 10 in the ascendency. 

But between rounds, Nery found one more extra bit of resolve. At the beginning of Round 11, he unfurled a vicious left hand that dropped Crazy A for the second time in the fight. That shot badly hurt Crazy A. He was able to beat the count, but his faculties weren’t fully there. Nery jumped on him and the ref subsequently stopped the fight. 

Nery-Hovhannisyan epitomized boxing at its best: two warriors summoning all that they had to defeat a determined opponent. The fight featured tremendous ebbs and flows. Ultimately, Nery was the last man standing, but he had to earn it. He had to persevere through a withering attack and find one last bit of excellence for the victory. Nery-Hovhannisyan was a thrilling war and a deserved Fight of the Year. 

RUNNERS-UP:

Jaime Munguia UD 12 Sergiy Derevyanchenko – As he’d done against the likes of Daniel Jacobs and Gennadiy Golovkin, Derevyanchenko pushed Munguia to the limit throughout 12 scintillating rounds – appearing to have the brawling Mexican attraction out on his feet at times – but a late rally and final-round knockdown kept the 27-year-old Tijuana native unbeaten (42-0) by razor-thin unanimous decision. 

Joe Cordina SD 12 Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov – Cordina won back the IBF junior lightweight title he was wrongly stripped of in late 2022 with a grueling split-decision over the relentless Rakhimov, who got up from a second-round knockdown and fearlessly fought with a nasty cut as he tried his best to take the unbeaten Welshman to hell over the second half of their grueling fight.

O’Shaquie Foster TKO 12 Eduardo Hernandez – Foster entered the lion’s den to make the first defense of his WBC 130-pound belt, traveling to Cancun and fighting off the spirited challenge of Mexico City-native Hernandez, who lived up to his “Rocky” nickname during an unforgettable Round 11 but was dramatically stopped in the final frame.

Rafael Espinoza MD 12 Robeisy Ramirez – The unheralded Guadalajara native shocked the two-time Olympic gold medalist from Cuba with his non-stop pressure and volume punching, which was backed by sound technique and accurate body-head combinations. Espinoza got up from a fifth-round knockdown, weathered a middle-rounds storm from Ramirez and fought through a badly sprained right ankle to drop the odds favorite in a sensational final round to win the WBO featherweight title via a well-deserved majority decision.