World Beat
Tim Tszyu after his victory over Brian Mendoza. (Photo by Grant Trouville/No Limit Boxing)
By Anthony Cocks
Australian boxing had a bumper year in 2023. Here’s the best of the best over the past 12 months.
Fighter of the Year: Tim Tszyu (24-0, 17 KOs)
The 29-year-old junior middleweight started the year waiting for his shot at undisputed Ring Magazine champion Jermell Charlo to be rescheduled. When that didn’t happen, he did the next best thing, rolling through the best available opposition and picking up the WBO belt. In March, Tszyu out-thought Tony Harrison, stopping him in nine. In June, he blasted out Carlos Ocampo in one. In October, he gave Brian Mendoza a 12-round beatdown. That makes Tim Tszyu our Aussie Fighter of the Year.
Runner-up: Sam Goodman (17-0, 7 KOs)
Fight of the Year: Floyd Masson (13-1, 7 KOs) UD 12 Fabio Turchi (23-3, 16 KOs)
If you’re still of the belief that all southpaws should be downed at birth, go back and watch this all-southpaw cruiserweight showdown. Floyd Masson is a classy boxer who refuses to back down from a fight, and Italian Fabio Turchi, who goes by the moniker “Stone Crusher,” gave him exactly that. For 12 fast-paced rounds, the pair of lefties knocked chips off each other. It was a surprise that they both heard the final bell, with Masson nicking a close points decision in April.
Runner-up: Albert Nolan (7-0-1, 1 KO) UD 8 Vegas Larfield (9-1, 7 KOs)
KO of the Year: Jai Opetaia (24-0, 19 KOs) KO 1 Ellis Zorro (17-1, 7 KOs)
The Ring Magazine cruiserweight champion secured the biggest payday of his career when he boxed Ellis Zorro on the blockbuster “Day of Reckoning” card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on December 23. Sure, it wasn’t the stiffest of competition, but who doesn’t like a one-hitter-quitter? Southpaw Opetaia put Zorro’s lights out with a single left cross.
Runner-up: Brandon Grach (2-0, 1 KO) KO 2 Liam Talivaa (5-1, 2 KOs)
Comeback of the Year: Jai Opetaia
At just 28, Opetaia is no stranger to adversity. A double broken jaw, legal disputes with his former promoter and top contenders running for the hills when offered the opportunity to fight him have curtailed his career. Two quick knockouts in the last quarter of 2023 put the 200-pound division on notice. To paraphrase a popular Australian saying, he’s not here to fornicate with spiders.
Runner-up: Ibrahim Balla (16-2, 7 KOs) MD 10 Youssef Dib (20-1, 10 KOs)
Upset of the Year: Ben Horn (6-6, 1 KO) UD 6 Joel Taylor (10-1, 4 KOs)
Junior middleweight Ben Horn was riding a four-fight losing streak when he was tabbed to face the undefeated Taylor in May. The younger brother of Jeff Horn proved he is more than just a famous surname, boxing a clever fight to spring the upset on short-priced favorite Taylor.
Runner-up: Wade Ryan (22-11, 8 KOs) UD 10 Sergei Vorobev (19-2, 13 KOs)
Prospect of the Year: Alex Winwood (4-0, 2 KOs)
The classy strawweight is on a fast track to success. Winwood, a 26-year-old West Australian, served up three impressive performances in 2023 and is being groomed for a world title shot this year. The Tokyo Olympian has shown a little bit of everything in his short pro career. He is yet to be truly tested, but 2024 should be the year we find out just how far this kid can go.
Runner-up: Nikita Tszyu (8-0, 7 KOs)
Trainer of the Year: Igor Goloubev
The uncle and trainer of Tim and Nikita Tszyu, Igor Goloubev is finally getting the recognition he deserves. With one nephew holding a sanctioning body belt and the other an undefeated star in the making, you can expect Goloubev to feature prominently in trainer of the year discussions going forward.
Runner-up: Angelo Hyder
By Yuriko Miyata
What a great year 2023 was for boxing in Japan.
Naoya Inoue became a global icon, Junto Nakatani stunned fans around the world with the calculated brutality of his KO of the Year against Andrew Moloney, Kenshiro Teraji continued his streak of 108-pound title bout stoppages, and the Shigeoka brothers, Yudai and Ginjiro, won 105-pound world titles in their eighth and 10th pro bouts, respectively, upholding Japan’s legacy of lighter-weight champions.
And more boxing talent is on the rise behind those elite fighters. I would like to name and appreciate the “best of the rest” of 2023 Japanese boxing and the up-and-comers getting ready for the next stage of their careers in 2024.
Best Boxer: Seiya Tsutsumi
The switch-hitter won three tough pro bouts, including a KO in December 2023, to defend his Japanese 118-pound title on the way to winning the trophy of the “Monster Bantamweight Tournament” that commemorated Naoya Inoue’s reign in that division.
via Combat Capital on YouTube:
Fight of the Year: Seiya Tsutsumi UD 10 Kazuki Anaguchi (December 26, Ariake Arena, Tokyo)
The final of the “Monster Tournament” was the co-feature to the Inoue-Marlon Tapales main event. A lanky undefeated southpaw, Anaguchi used his range beautifully, but despite a severe cut on his left eye (suffered in the third round), national champion Tsutsumi found the timing to catch and drop Anaguchi in the fourth, seventh, ninth and 10th rounds to snatch a big win by scores of 94-92, 94-92 and 95-91. Both fighters were so completely exhausted that they could not attend the press conference. All prayers for recovery go to Anaguchi, who is still in a coma after collapsing in his dressing room.
KO of the Year: Jin Sasaki TKO 3 Keita Obara (April 8, Ariake Arena, Tokyo)
Young knockout artist Sasaki knocked experienced former world title challenger Obara out cold. Sasaki was downed by an Obara short right in the second round, but in the next frame the WBO Asia Pacific welterweight titleholder dropped Obara with a left to the body and then sent him flat to the canvas with one solid right.
Upset of the Year: Shuma Nakazato KO 3 Shu Utsuki (April 26, Korakuen Hall, Tokyo)
In a slugfest with the very confident Utsuki, Nakazato caught the undefeated national lightweight champion cold with a short right in the third round. Utsuki was counted out. The belt Nakazato won was the first title any Okinawa-based boxer has earned since his father, three-time world challenger Shigeru Nakazato, won the OPBF 122-pound championship 21 years ago.
Prospect of the Year: Keisuke Matsumoto
The unbeaten featherweight (9-0, 7 KOs) won the vacant Japanese title by executing a well-prepared strategy to defeat former titleholder Ryo Sagawa by 10-round unanimous decision in April. The physically strong Yokahaman is a third-generation boxer. His father, Koji Matsumoto, held the same Japanese featherweight title and challenged for a world title three times.
Ryo Sagawa eats one of Keisuke Matsumoto’s uppercuts. (Photo by Naoki Fukuda)
Breakout Fighter of the Year: Tenshin Nasukawa
The kickboxing superstar set his sights on a new challenge in 2023, finally making his pro boxing debut in April. Since his teenage years, the 25-year-old southpaw has had tremendous speed, fighting instincts and a charismatic aura in the ring. The junior featherweight served as chief support to Kenshiro Teraji’s championship events in 2023 and will continue to do so in 2024. “I love fighting,” said Nasukawa (2-0). “This is the only thing that I have been into. I just want to be the best.”
By Ryan Songalia
The year of 2023 may have ended without a Filipino world titleholder, but that doesn’t mean there was nothing to celebrate.
Marlon Tapales, one of just two Filipino boxers to hold world titles in 2023, vindicated himself after years of ups-and-downs in his career, becoming a two-time champion in the process. The year also saw former titleholders Mark Magsayo and Jerwin Ancajas look revitalized in new weight classes after years of struggling to make weights they’d been fighting at since they were teenagers.
Young prospects like Lienard Sarcon and Dave Apolinario, both from General Santos City, were able to earn wins internationally, hinting at potential future world championship potential.
Others had fallen short in world title fights. Melvin Jerusalem, who kicked off the year with a stunning stoppage of Masataka Taniguchi to win the WBO strawweight title, lost the title to mandatory challenger Oscar Collazo just four months later. Vincent Astrolabio lost a majority decision to Jason Moloney in a fight for the vacant WBO bantamweight title in May but bounced back strongly just three months later, stopping Navapon Khaikanha in eleven rounds in August in what was billed as a WBC bantamweight eliminator.
At age 41, Nonito Donaire fought in what might have been the final world title fight of his Hall of Fame career, losing a unanimous decision to Alexandro Santiago for the vacant WBC bantamweight title.
There are fights to look forward to in 2024. Ancajas, who bounced back from his punishing losses to Fernando Martinez with a fifth round stoppage of Wilner Soto, is scheduled to face Takuma Inoue on February 24 for the WBA bantamweight title. And of course, John Riel Casimero is always a dangerous opponent if he can get his stuff together.
A Manny Pacquiao-like figure is likely to never again emerge, but there is still much to get excited about on the horizon for Filipino boxing. Now on to the awardees.
Marlon Tapales at a media workout ahead of his fight against Naoya Inoue. (Photo by Naoki Fukuda)
Fighter of the Year: Marlon Tapales
Nearly six years had passed since Tapales lost his first world title, the WBO bantamweight belt, on the scales ahead of his first defense against Shohei Omori. What followed was a much-needed move up in weight, but his first attempt at a world title belt at 122 pounds ended in disaster when he was stopped in 11 rounds by Ryosuke Iwasa in 2019. Two years later, Tapales put himself back in position for a title fight by blasting out Hiroaki Teshigawara in two rounds. Despite being the IBF mandatory, he wouldn’t get his opportunity until last April, when he met Murodjon Akhmadaliev for the IBF/WBA unified titles. Tapales made the most of his opportunity, using his southpaw jab to get off to an early lead and win a split decision. Tapales could have stayed in his lane and attempted to pursue safer challenges, but the 31-year-old from Lanao del Norte province dared to be great, meeting Naoya Inoue on December 26 for the opportunity to become the first ever Filipino to hold all four major titles.
It would not be the case, as Inoue overpowered Tapales in the end, beating him by 10th-round knockout. Still, the fight earned Tapales a career-high purse, and he’d likely be near the front of the line for one of the belts should Inoue finish business and decide to move up in weight again.
Fight of the Year: Charly Suarez TKO 12 Paul Fleming
March 15, 2023 – Kevin Betts Stadium, Sydney, Australia
Sixty-two seconds. That’s how much longer Paul Fleming had to stand up to make it to the final bell and win a unanimous decision against Charly Suarez. Suarez, a 2016 Olympian from Davao del Norte province, was trailing by the scores of 103-106, 102-107 and 101-108 on the three cards heading into the final round. With one left hook and a follow-up flurry, Suarez made all of that moot.
Suarez, 35, had his hands full with the 2008 Olympian, who used his southpaw movement and counterpunching to befuddle him early on. Suarez never stopped applying the pressure, and it paid off in the end as a disoriented Fleming turned away from a Suarez attack, bringing the fight to a close in the final round.
Suarez (16-0, 9 KOs) followed that win with an easier decision over Yohan Vasquez in August in his United States debut, and may not be too far from a junior lightweight title opportunity in 2024.
Runner-up: Esneth Domingo TKO 11 Michael Bravo
December 18, 2023 – Paranaque City, Philippines
This is a perfect example of why it’s always a great idea to attend fights at The Flash Grand Ballroom when you’re in Metro Manila. Sometimes, you’ll see random knockdown-drag-‘em-out fights like this one.
Domingo (19-2, 11 KOs) of Lebak, Sultan Kudarat, Philippines was hot off of two straight wins in Japan when he ran into Bravo (14-4, 7 KOs), who was coming off of a closer-than-expected decision loss to Reymart Gaballo. Bravo struck first, dropping Domingo in Round 2 with a right hook. Domingo returned the favor in Round 4, dropping Bravo with a straight right hand and then finishing him off in the 11th round. It’s safe to say that no one in attendance that night felt cheated on their ticket price.
Knockout of the Year: Mark Magsayo KO 3 Isaac Avelar
December 9, 2023 – Thunder Studios, Long Beach, Calif.
With almost two years since his last victory, Mark Magsayo knew he needed to make a big statement in his first fight at 130 pounds. Facing durable journeyman Isaac Avelar, Magsayo did just that. The 28-year-old looked Magnifico, making a quick step to his right and then firing a left hook that left Avelar unconscious, forcing an immediate stoppage to the fight.
via Dee Boxing Thing on YouTube:
Runner-up: Froilan Saludar TKO 1 Keita Kurihara
October 10, 2023 – Koto-Ku, Japan
When Saludar (34-7-1, 24 KOs) first turned pro 15 years ago, scouts would have advised that you stay away from his right hand. That advice still holds true, as Kurihara found out. Kurihara (17-8-1, 15 KOs) was stunned in the opening seconds of the bout by one of those right hands and found himself on the floor moments later from an uppercut in close. Kurihara was sent down almost as soon as he got up from another right hand that made him do a face plant, and he was stopped along the ropes seconds later following another assault. The fight lasted a total of one minute. The Polomolok, Cotabato del Sur, native will face Kurihara once more on Jan. 26 at the NUSTAR Resort and Casino in Cebu City. Kurihara would once again be advised to watch for the right hand.
Upset of the Year: Jayson Vayson TKO 2 Ryuya Yamanaka
December 17, 2023 – Portopia Hotel, Kobe, Japan
When Vayson (11-1-1, 6 KOs) first traveled to Japan last February, he was shut out over 10 rounds by Seigo Yuri Akui. The 25-year-old from Veruela, Agusan del Sur, appeared a safe-enough opponent for Yamanaka (19-4, 6 KOs), a former WBO strawweight titleholder who was on the comeback trail and had won three straight following a four-year retirement. Yamanaka was forced to retire after losing his title to Vic Saludar and suffering a subdural hematoma, but he was cleared to return by the Japan Boxing Commission. Whether you agree with that decision or not, Yamanaka was rated in the top 5 by the IBF and WBO and could have conceivably received another world title opportunity. That momentum was put on ice when Vayson dropped him hard in the second round, leading to the referee stopping the fight.
By Droeks Malan
2023 has been a rough year in South Africa, and boxing was no exception.
Many fighters landed in the journeyman role, losing fights on the road with various degrees of competitiveness.
Others, like cruiserweight contender Thabiso Mchunu and welterweight Thulani Mbenge, found themselves sitting on the shelf.
Then there was the elder statesman, former Ring 108-pound champ Hekkie Budler, who put up a gallant effort against Kenshiro Teraji in a bid to regain his crown but was stopped in nine rounds. Budler has bounced back before and no plans have been announced, but at the age of 35, this may well be it for him.
There was mutual respect after Budler (left) came up short against Teraji. (Photo by Naoki Fukuda)
The biggest shocker was perhaps the loss of the country’s only major titlist. IBF junior flyweight champion Sive Nontshinga fell victim to a one-punch kayo in the second round, losing his title to unheralded Adrian Curiel.
Nontshinga was fresh off a solid performance, outpointing Regie Suganob in a mandatory title defense. The Curiel fight in Monte Carlo was supposed to be a showcase for “The Special One.” No one, least of all Nontshinga, saw the right that ended his reign coming.
Still, Nontshinga is only 25 and he may yet bounce back. A rematch is scheduled to take place in Mexico on the 16th of February.
Junior middleweight Roarke Knapp had a great start to the year, outpointing veteran Frenchman Ahmed El Mousaoui and becoming the first man to stop Przemyslaw Zysk.
Knapp was scheduled to fight Josh Kelly in the U.K. in December. If he’d pulled off the upset, it would have capped a dream year, but then he had to withdraw with an injury to his right hand.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom, however. There were some winners as well.
One of them was Kevin Lerena. The former cruiserweight contender bounced back well after December 2022, when he came within a whisker of upsetting Daniel Dubois before getting stopped himself.
Competing in the WBC’s 224-pound bridgerweight division, which still has little support beyond the sanctioning organization itself, Lerena scored possibly a career-best victory over Ryad Merhy, winning on points over 12 rounds. That win looks even better after Merhy bounced back to defeat former heavyweight gold medalist Tony Yoka.
via Rozklad Jazdy – Sporty Walki on YouTube:
Lerena ended the year with another 12-round victory over Senad Gashi.
There is another junior middleweight making waves and he is Knapp’s stablemate, Shervantaigh Koopman.
After shaking off some rust from a 2022 injury-induced rest by stopping Jackson Kaptein, Koopman stepped up in class, taking on experienced Brandon Thysse. Koopman dug deep and in an all-action affair forced Thysse’s corner to pull their man out at the start of the ninth. He ended the year by putting on a boxing clinic against Cristiano Ndombassy, winning a wide decision.
All eyes are on the undefeated Koopman.
The biggest winner on the road was no doubt featherweight Lerato Dlamini, who upset former bantamweight titlist Tomoki Kameda in Japan. Dlamini stuck to the game plan, circling around Kameda, outboxing and outworking his foe to take a split decision.
via Taka on YouTube:
Dlamini now has options on the table for 2024 that may include a looming IBF title shot or a lucrative rematch with Kameda.
Two junior bantamweights, Sikho Nqothoe and Ricardo Malajika, fought each other the previous year, Nqothole winning a competitive decision. Both have done well since.
Nqothole scored a pair of international victories in 2023, a first-round knockout of Boonrueang Payong and a decision over Jonas Matheus, to secure a sanctioning body ranking.
Ironically, it was Malajika who beat the better opposition, stopping Filipino Adrian Lerasan in five rounds. That was followed by outboxing Argentina’s Kevin Luis Munoz over 12 rounds.
Also making the 115-pound division his home is undefeated Phumelele Cafu, who scored a solid 12-round decision over rugged Genisis Libranza and ended the year with a first-round knockout of Enathi Stelle to pick up the national title.
As if that is not enough, the division also sports Yanga Sigqibo, who bounced back from a points defeat in Japan to Kosei Tanaka the previous year by scoring a victory over Jonas Matheus.
Bantamweight Landile Ngxeke was active in 2023, scoring four straight victories, among them a decision win over Filipino Denmark Quibido.
Who should walk away with this writer’s unofficial South African boxing awards for 2023?
Upset of the Year: Adrian Curiel KO 2 Sivenathi Nontshinga
This one must go to a non-South African for scoring a victory over one of our own, painful as it may be. No one gave Adrian Curiel a snowball’s chance in hell of upending the title reign of Sivenathi Nontshinga, never mind scoring a knockout. Still, with only four knockouts included in his 23-4-1 record, that is exactly what he did. One big right hand to the temple in the second round and the Mexican warrior was the new IBF world titlist.
Another name that must be mentioned is George Kandulo from Malawi. The visiting journeyman entered the ring against top junior flyweight prospect Nhlanhla Tyirha in July with a record of 5-11-1. A late substitute, this was supposed to be an easy night for the local man. Instead, Kandulo tore up the script and stunned the crowd, knocking Tyirha out cold in the sixth round with a straight right to the chin.
Comeback of the Year: Kevin Lerena
After a stoppage defeat, the norm is to come back against a lesser opponent. Instead, Kevin Lerena chose to come back against a world class opponent in Ryad Merhy. The Belgium-based fighter was riding a seven-fight win streak with 26 knockouts included in his 31-1 ledger going into the fight.
If Daniel Dubois left any ghosts lingering in his mind, Lerena certainly exorcized them well. Lerena boxed a disciplined, strategic fight to put himself back in the win column.
He didn’t quite have a win of the same magnitude, but another fighter that came back from a knockout defeat was bantamweight Landi Ngxeke. After suffering a devastating stoppage at the hands of Jayr Raquinel in 2022, he scored four straight wins to get his career back on track.
Knockout of the Year: Phumelele Cafu KO 1 Enathi Stelle
Junior bantamweight Phumelele Cafu lived up to his nickname, “The Truth,” needing just 26 seconds to end the year with a bang. Cafu weaved underneath a right hand-left uppercut combination from his opponent, Enathi Stelle, before popping up and nailing his countryman with a compact left hook, flush on the jaw. Stelle fell backward as if shot and was out when he hit the canvas.
Fight of the Year: Siyakholwa Kuse W 12 Bangile Nyangani
Siyakholwa Kuse avenging a previous defeat to Bangile Nyangani in a 12-round war to regain his national strawweight title must be the best fight witnessed on South African soil this year.
It was a highly competitive nip-and-tuck affair with many swing rounds. One scorecard of 116-110 and especially another of 119-109 felt off the mark, while the third card of 116-112 seemed the fairest reflection.
In a great seventh round that had the crowd on their feet singing, both warriors took turns hurting each other. Nyangani stunned Kuse with a right. Kuse went down moments later in what was ruled a slip, but he then went after Nyangani with hooks to the body punctuated with uppercuts to the head. Just as it looked like he was surging forward, a right from Nyangani knocked him on his heels, but as Nyangani moved in for the kill, an uppercut from Kuse wobbled him in return. Nyangani gathered himself and landed three straight rights in succession, but although Kuse appeared rocked, he dug down deep and came back with combinations as the pair exchanged fiercely until the bell.
That was the fight in a microcosm. Nyangani landed the harder, cleaner blows, but Kuse kept coming back with the flashier, quicker combinations and had the slightly busier hands.
Fighter of the Year: Lerato Dlamini
This is a tricky one.
Sivenathi Nontshinga remains the only South African who beat a Ring-ranked contender this year in Regie Suganob, in defense of his IBF 108-pound belt. Had he not come unstuck against Adrian Curiel, he would have been a shoo-in for the award.
The handful of fighters mentioned above – Knapp, Lerena, Cafu, Malajika and Ngxeke – all had a solid year. Depending on what criteria carry the most weight, a case can be made for all of them.
However, I am going to make featherweight Lerato Dlamini the top South African fighter of 2023.
Winning on the road is never easy, and his victory over Japanese star Tomoki Kameda in The Land of the Rising Sun was just what was needed to restore national pride.
A workhorse in the gym, Dlamini has been quietly plying his trade away from the hype that accompanied many other fighters. This is not the first upset he has caused, and it probably won’t be the last.
We look to the future with hope.
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