2023 has been a year of big fights and even bigger performances.
With that in mind, ProBox TV's writers voted for the best performances of the year.
Here they are:
5: Devin Haney against Regis Prograis
One of 2023's best performances arrived toward the end of the year when Devin Haney, who had already beaten Vasiliy Lomachenko in the summer, shut out Regis Prograis at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
Haney won every round on every judges scorecard, and even scored a knockdown in the third round. His jabbing, technical boxing, and ring IQ combined to inflict significant damage on his opponent's face — and showed that, after becoming the man at 135-pounds, Haney is fighting his way to become the man at 140, too.
4: Rafael Espinoza against Robeisy Ramirez
Top Rank made it a habit to organize spectacular matches like this.
Though a majority of fans may have expected Ramirez to breeze past Espinoza, it was the Mexican — who hadn't fought in the US for eight years — who boxed like he belonged on the big stage.
Espinoza won the WBO featherweight title with a majority decision win in which he had to get up from the canvas to get his W.
His performance was so strong it won't likely be long before he returns to American TV.
3: Naoya Inoue against Stephen Fulton
The signature win of Naoya Inoue's extraordinary career arrived in 2023 when Stephen Fulton, a legitimate world champion, traveled to Tokyo to box the Japanese star, but left not just beaten, not just embarrassed, but annihilated, too.
Inoue become a four-division champion after the win — one in which he made Fulton hesitant to pull the trigger because of how fast and accurate his own power punches were.
Shortly after flooring Fulton with a straight right to the face and a short left, Inoue left the ring with a ninth-round finish over a fighter many had creeping into their top-10 pound-for-pound lists.
2: Teofimo Lopez against Josh Taylor
The Lopez vs. Taylor fight this year was inspired matchmaking because of what each fighter had gone through in recent years.
Having once asked in the middle of the ring if he still had it, Lopez showed against Taylor that he always did have it, as he unanimous decisioned him after putting him on wobbly legs as early as round two.
Taylor's face looked damaged by the fifth, and Lopez backed him into the ropes by the ninth. It got so easy for Teo that he even taunted his opponent.
The win was so special, both for Lopez, and for boxing, generally, that the fighter quite probably booked himself mega-fights in 2024, and beyond.
1: Terence Crawford against Errol Spence Jr.
It could only ever be Terence Crawford as the winner in this category.
It was a fight that took years to make, so that both fighters entered the ring as world champions and pound-for-pound fighters, in what many regarded to be a true 50-50 contest.
Crawford returned one of the very best welterweight wins of all time as he dismantled Spence, knocked him down, and knocked him out, in style, in one of the year's big Las Vegas events back in the summer.
Spence was never overrated — he was always a great fighter, however, Crawford showed he's a clear level above great. He's a generational talent.
Honorable mentions:
Jesse 'Bam' Rodriguez against Sunny Edwards, Gervonta Davis against Ryan Garcia, Francis Ngannou against Tyson Fury, Giovani Santillan against Alexis Rocha, and Katie Taylor against Chantelle Cameron in their rematch.
