The Ali–Frazier Award (known as the Harry Markson Award prior to 2009) is given annually to the fighters who compete in the Boxing Writers Association of America's Fight of the Year. The award has been conferred annually since the BWAA's awards dinner in 2003. The BWAA votes on the best fight of each year regardless of the weight class or nationality of the fighters.

The award was originally named for Harry Markson, a boxing promoter and publicist who served for five years as the president of boxing operations at Madison Square Garden. In 2009, the award was renamed the Ali–Frazier Award in honor of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, and their epic fight trilogy. The award is presented with other honors given by the BWAA at an annual awards dinner.

List of winners edit

Year Date Location Winner Loser Result Weight class World title(s) at stake Notes
2002 May 18 Uncasville, Connecticut, United States Micky Ward
  United States
Arturo Gatti
  Canada
Majority decision after 10 rounds (95-93, 94-93, 94-94) Welterweight None First fight in Gatti-Ward trilogy
2003 April 26 Mashantucket, Connecticut, United States James Toney
  United States
Vassily Jirov
  Kazakhstan
Unanimous decision after 12 rounds (117-109, 117-109, 116-110) Cruiserweight IBF cruiserweight title (Jirov)
2004 November 27 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Marco Antonio Barrera
  Mexico
Erik Morales
  Mexico
Majority decision after 12 rounds (115-113, 115-114, 114-114) Super featherweight WBC super featherweight (Barrera) Final fight of trilogy between the two
2005 May 7 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Diego Corrales
  United States
José Luis Castillo
  Mexico
Technical knockout,
in tenth of 12 rounds
Lightweight WBC lightweight title (Castillo)
WBO lightweight title (Corrales)
First of two 2005 fights between the two
2006 March 18 Levallois-Perret, France Somsak Sithchatchawal
  Thailand
Mahyar Monshipour
  France
Technical knockout,
in tenth of 12 rounds
Super bantamweight WBA super bantamweight title (Monshipour)
2007 September 29 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States Kelly Pavlik
  United States
Jermain Taylor
  United States
Technical knockout,
in seventh of 12 rounds
Middleweight WBC and WBO middleweight titles (Taylor) First of two fights between the two
2008 March 1 Carson, California, United States Israel Vázquez
  Mexico
Rafael Márquez
  Mexico
Split decision after 12 rounds (114-111, 113-112, 111-114) Super bantamweight WBC super bantamweight title (Vázquez) Third fight of the Israel Vázquez-Rafael Márquez rivalry
2009 February 28 Houston, Texas, United States Juan Manuel Márquez
  Mexico
Juan Díaz
  United States
Technical knockout,
in ninth of 12 rounds
Lightweight WBO lightweight title (vacant)
WBA (Super) lightweight title (vacant)
First of two fights between the two
2010 December 11 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Amir Khan
  United Kingdom
Marcos Maidana
  Argentina
Unanimous decision after 12 rounds (114-111, 114-111, 113-112) Light welterweight WBA light welterweight title (Khan) Amir Khan vs. Marcos Maidana
2011 July 15 New York, New York, United States Majority draw after ten rounds (97-93, 95-95, 95-95)
between   Delvin Rodriguez and   Pawel Wolak
Super welterweight None First of two fights between the two
2012 December 8 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Juan Manuel Marquez
  Mexico
Manny Pacquiao
  Philippines
Knockout,
in the sixth of 12 rounds
Welterweight None Fourth fight between the two
2013 March 16 Carson, California, United States Timothy Bradley
  United States
Ruslan Provodnikov
  Russia
Unanimous decision after 12 rounds (115-112, 114-113, 114-113) Welterweight WBO welterweight title (Bradley)
2014 April 26 Carson, California, United States Lucas Matthysse
  Argentina
John Molina, Jr.
  United States
Knockout,
in the eleventh of 12 rounds
Light welterweight None
2015 November 21 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Francisco Vargas
  Mexico
Takashi Miura
  Japan
Technical knockout,
in the ninth of 12 rounds
Super featherweight WBC super featherweight title (Miura) [1]
2016 June 4 StubHub Center, Carson, California, United States Majority draw after 12 rounds (115-113, 114-114, 114-114)
between   Francisco Vargas and  Orlando Salido
Super featherweight WBC super featherweight title (Vargas) [2]
2017 April 29 Wembley Stadium, London, England Anthony Joshua
  United Kingdom
Wladimir Klitschko
  Ukraine
Knockout, after 11 rounds Heavyweight IBF heavyweight title (Joshua)
WBA (Super) heavyweight title (vacant)
Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko[3]
2018 April 7 The Joint, Paradise, Nevada, United States Jarrett Hurd
  United States
Erislandy Lara
  Cuba
Split decision
after 12 rounds (113-114, 114-113, 114-113)
Super welterweight WBA (Super) super welterweight title (Lara)
IBF super welterweight title (Hurd)
2019 November 7 Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan Naoya Inoue
  Japan
Nonito Donaire
  Philippines
Unanimous decision after 12 rounds (117-109, 116-111, 114-113) Bantamweight WBA (Super) bantamweight title (Donaire)
IBF bantamweight title (Inoue)
2018-19 World Boxing Super Series Bantamweight final, Naoya Inoue vs. Nonito Donaire[4]
2020 October 3 MGM Grand Conference Center, Paradise, Nevada Jose Zepeda
  United States
Ivan Baranchyk
  Belarus
Knockout,
in the fifth of 10 rounds
Light welterweight None Jose Zepeda vs. Ivan Baranchyk
2021 October 9 T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada Tyson Fury
  United Kingdom
Deontay Wilder
  United States
Knockout,
in the eleventh of 12 rounds
Heavyweight WBC heavyweight title (Fury) Final fight of trilogy between the two
2022 March 12 Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, England Leigh Wood
  United Kingdom
Michael Conlan
  Ireland
Technical knockout,
in the twelfth of 12 rounds
Featherweight WBA (Regular) featherweight title (Wood)
2023 June 10 Toyota Arena, Ontario, California Jaime Munguía
  Mexico
Sergiy Derevyanchenko
  Ukraine
Unanimous decision after 12 rounds (115-112, 114-113, 114-113)) Super Middleweight None

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Muhammad Ali – Joe Frazier Award Fight of the Year". Boxing Writers Association of America. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  2. ^ "Vargas vs. Salido Named as BWAA "Fight of The Year"". BoxingScene. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  3. ^ "BWAA List Of Award Winners For The 2018 Dinner". Boxing Writers Association of America. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
  4. ^ "Canelo Alvarez Is The BWAA 2019 Fighter Of The Year". Retrieved 10 February 2020.

External links edit