Boxing Year in Review: The Best Fighters and Bouts of 2022

Few if any sporting events pack the same level of excitement and drama as a boxing match. Over 2022, fans of the sport got plenty of thrills, since the year was full of great fights and memorable performances. There were staggering upsets and jaw-dropping knockouts. Established champions once again proved their mettle, and what was perhaps the biggest women’s bout of all time took place.

Let’s take a look at boxing’s highlights over 2022.

Boxers of the Year

Dimitry Bivol

Dimitry Bivol captured a light-heavyweight title back in 2017. However, it wasn’t until 2022 that he truly distinguished himself in the eyes of boxing fans.

In May, the then-31-year-old Russian squared off against the world’s №1 pound-for-pound boxer, Canelo Alvarez. Alvarez was riding a nearly 10-year unbeaten streak and had just unified the super-middleweight titles by scoring knockouts in each of his last two fights. Oddsmakers made the Mexican a 4–1 favorite.

Bivol, however, had another plans. Over 12 rounds, he not only beat Alvarez but did so decidedly. While the judges all scored the bout 115–113 for the underdog, boxing experts dismissed any notion of the result being close. Bivol consistently blunted the super-middleweight champion’s offense and, contrary to his typical defensive-minded style, threw repeated combinations to score an emphatic victory. In so doing, he joined the ranks of boxing’s elite.

Bivol followed up his resounding defeat of Alvarez by taking on unbeaten Gilberto Ramirez. Like in his matchup with Alvarez, the light-heavyweight champion combined his defensive skills with an aggressive offense. Ramirez was never in the fight.

Claressa Shields

The self-described greatest women’s boxer ever lived up to her lofty nickname in 2022 by scoring two big wins. In March, she dominated the previously undefeated Ema Kozin, winning on scores of 100–90 on each of the three judge’s cards.

Five months later, Shields stepped into the ring against old rival Savannah Marshall. Marshall, a UK native, had beaten Shields in 2012 when the two were amateurs. As a professional, Shields has remained undefeated and, in taking on Marshall, the Flint, Michigan, star was looking to avenge her sole amateur loss.

With a decade of hype surrounding it, the matchup had enormous expectations. Along with being the culmination of a heated rivalry, it was the headlining bout on a historic all-women’s card, the first time such an event has taken place in the United Kingdom. Fortunately, the fight lived up to the sky-high expectations, with more than 2 million people tuning in to witness what proved to be one of the year’s best contests.

Shields, who was competing on her opponent’s home turf in front of a sold-out crowd at London’s O2 Arena, ultimately got her revenge. Utilizing a more patient offensive style as well as her superior athleticism, she bested the Briton, winning a close but decisive decision on scores of 97–93, 97–93, and 96–94.

Fights of the Year

Leigh Wood vs. Michael Conlan

The United Kingdom was blessed with another of 2022’s great fights when Nottingham, England, played host to this featherweight clash. The contest pitted England’s Leigh Wood, the champion, against undefeated Belfast southpaw Michael Conlan.

Despite being the underdog, Conlan looked ready to defy the odds early on when he landed a brutal overhand left that knocked Wood to the canvas at the end of first round. The champion got up, but Conlan proceed to utilize his boxing skills to control the fast-paced slugfest over the fight’s first half. Still, even though he hurt Wood several times, he could not finish the Englishman.

This, for Conlan, proved disastrous. As Conlan began to tire in the latter rounds, Wood rallied, punishing the Northern Irishman’s body in the 10th round and dropping him in the 11th. Conlan continued to land shots of his own, but by the final round, he had nothing left. With the contest still close on the scorecards, Wood removed any doubt when he landed a right hand that knocked his opponent unconscious and sent him flying through the ropes. It was one of the best knockouts of the year.

Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano

In a banner year for women’s boxing, this lightweight clash was the most unforgettable. Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano came into the fight as two of the three best boxers in the sport. And five months before Shields-Marshall made history across the pond, Taylor-Serrano made history of its own in New York City’s Madison Square Garden as the first women’s bout to headline the legendary venue’s main arena.

Like Shields-Marshall, the expectations could not have been higher. Luckily for fans, the matchup not only lived up to the hype but exceeded it, thanks to the two boxers putting on an unforgettable show in front of the sold-out crowd.

Part of the success of the bout lay in the pair’s contrasting styles: the finesse and athleticism of Taylor versus the power and fury of southpaw Serrano. The combustible combination made for an exciting contest, with Taylor surviving a Serrano onslaught in the middle rounds before using her speed to outbox her opponent in the final frames.

So great was the quality of boxing that the fans in attendance gave the competitors a standing ovation as the seconds ticked down in the final round. While Taylor ultimately edged out a split decision, the fight could not have been closer. If the standing ovation is any indication, boxing fans badly want to see a rematch.