Stephen Fulton Jr. and Brandon Figueroa win against Tyson Fury against Deontay Wilder 3 for the 2021 Fight of the Year

In fact, 2020 was a rare day for boxing, as the best plans for the sport were delayed in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, which returned to sweet science at its best the following year.

Paid events have been given in line with the promise of action and entertainment. In fact, it seems like every weekend there was some sort of consequence-level struggle. With that, we saw the fighters on both sides bring their best and produce great theater over 10 or 12 rounds.

A panel of CBS Sports experts sat down with some of the highlights of the years to vote on our chances, including the best fight and the playoffs, with some very interesting results. Let’s take a closer look at who we thought created the best fights of the year.

Awards voted by Brian Campbell, Brent Brookhouse, Brandon Wise and Shakiel Mahjouri.

The struggle of the year

Winner: Stephen Fulton Jr. he won. Brandon Figueroa via MD12

This November junior featherweight union fight had an undefeated pair of champions at the peak of their physical level. What he produced, however, somehow exceeded the high expectations of the fighting fans. Fulton (20-0, 8 KOs) proved from the start that he had few problems fighting under the same conditions as Figueroa (22-1-). 1, 17 KO) as they exchanged endless streams of two-way action inside the Las Vegas Park Theater. Fulton, who took the WBA title to match his WBC crown, spent the first half of most rounds winning Figueroa to the brim by making it a point to show the judges that he was the more accurate sniper of the two. But the rallies at the end of Figueroa became a consistent trend, fueled by relentless harassment of the body. In the end, the action could have gone one way or another. In fact, there is an argument that a draw would be the most gratifying result for the two fighters to measure up for the second time. It was never a boring moment during the 12 rounds, as both fighters showed the same attitude, chin and endurance.

Second place: He defeated Tyson Fury. Deontay Wilder via KO11

How did the best of 2021 get the best fights in this historic trilogy and one of the biggest fights in heavyweight boxing ever seen at the title level? It was a year like that. Even though customer fatigue seemed high after Wilder (42-2-1, 41 KOs) forced the court order to secure a third meeting with Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) to secure a contract, no one complained after the fight. . Fury defended his WBC and linear titles in the 4th round by lifting twice from the canvas and lowering Wilder’s total three times on his way to a wild knockout. This fight, which took place inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in October, had no more skill and heart, as the two boxers went through a long release to force them to throw everything at each other.

Third place: Juan Francisco Estrada def. Roman Gonzalez via SD12

Gonzalez (50-3, 41 KOs) proved that this rematch, which is expected to be one of the best low-weight fighters of the modern era, was worth waiting for about nine years after facing Estrada in the low-flying flyweight championship. Their second meeting, held in March at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, saw the two fighters combine 115-pound titles in a 12-round classic thriller that was wild and skillful. The only downside was the fact that Estrada (42-3, 28 KO) was the result of most of the observers. At the age of 34, “Chocolatito” turned the clock back to remind fans of the pound. Here’s to deciding to try these big ones of all time for the third time in 2022.

Others who receive votes: Mikaela Mayer won. Through Maiva Hamadouche UD 10 (November), Terence Crawford won. Shawn Porter via TKO10 (November) was won by Gervonta Davis. Mario Barrios via TKO11 (June) was won by Josh Taylor. Jose Ramirez via UD12 (May).