Ali–Frazier Award

{{Short description|American boxing award}}

{{Infobox sports award

| name = Ali–Frazier Award

| image =

| image_size =

| caption =

| sport = Boxing

| givenfor = "Fight of the Year"

| presenter = Boxing Writers Association of America

| country = U.S.

| first =

| firstwinner =

| mostrecent =

| url =

}}

The Ali–Frazier Award, known alternatively as the Boxing Writers of America Fight of the Year and previously known as the Harry Markson Award prior to 2009, 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 including the Fight of the Century. The award is presented with other honors given by the BWAA at an annual awards dinner.

Past recipients

class="wikitable"

!Year

!Date

!Location

!Winner

!Loser

!Result

!Weight class

!World title(s) at stake

!Notes

2002

|May 18

|Uncasville, Connecticut, United States

|Micky Ward
{{USA}}

|Arturo Gatti
{{CAN}}

|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
{{USA}}

|Vassily Jirov
{{KAZ}}

|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
{{MEX}}

|Erik Morales
{{MEX}}

|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
{{USA}}

|José Luis Castillo
{{MEX}}

|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
{{THA}}

|Mahyar Monshipour
{{FRA}}

|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
{{USA}}

|Jermain Taylor
{{USA}}

|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
{{MEX}}

|Rafael Márquez
{{MEX}}

|Split decision after 12 rounds (114-111, 113-112, 111-114)

|Super bantamweight

|WBC super bantamweight title (Vázquez)

|Third fight of the Márquez–Vázquez rivalry

2009

|February 28

|Houston, Texas, United States

|Juan Manuel Márquez
{{MEX}}

|Juan Díaz
{{USA}}

|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
{{GBR}}

|Marcos Maidana
{{ARG}}

|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

|colspan=3|Majority draw after ten rounds (97-93, 95-95, 95-95)
between {{flagicon|DOM}} Delvin Rodriguez and {{flagicon|POL}} Pawel Wolak

|Super welterweight

|None

|First of two fights between the two

2012

|December 8

|Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

|Juan Manuel Marquez
{{MEX}}

|Manny Pacquiao
{{PHI}}

|Knockout,
in the sixth of 12 rounds

|Welterweight

|None

|Fourth fight between the two

2013

|March 16

|Carson, California, United States

|Timothy Bradley
{{USA}}

|Ruslan Provodnikov
{{RUS}}

|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
{{ARG}}

|John Molina, Jr.
{{USA}}

|Knockout,
in the eleventh of 12 rounds

|Light welterweight

|None

|

2015

|November 21

|Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

|Francisco Vargas
{{MEX}}

|Takashi Miura
{{JPN}}

|Technical knockout,
in the ninth of 12 rounds

|Super featherweight

|WBC super featherweight title (Miura)

|Takashi Miura vs. Francisco Vargas{{cite web|title=Muhammad Ali – Joe Frazier Award Fight of the Year|url=http://www.bwaa.org/#!past-winners/joxn5|publisher=Boxing Writers Association of America|accessdate=1 June 2016}}

2016

|June 4

|StubHub Center, Carson, California, United States

|colspan=3|Majority draw after 12 rounds (115-113, 114-114, 114-114)
between {{flagicon|MEX}} Francisco Vargas and {{flagicon|MEX}}Orlando Salido

|Super featherweight

|WBC super featherweight title (Vargas)

|{{cite web|title=Vargas vs. Salido Named as BWAA "Fight of The Year"|url=http://www.boxingscene.com/vargas-vs-salido-named-bwaa-fight-year--113056|publisher=BoxingScene|accessdate=28 January 2017}}

2017

|April 29

|Wembley Stadium, London, England

|Anthony Joshua
{{GBR}}

|Wladimir Klitschko
{{UKR}}

|Knockout, after 11 rounds

|Heavyweight

|IBF heavyweight title (Joshua)
WBA (Super) heavyweight title (vacant)

| Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko{{cite web|title=BWAA List Of Award Winners For The 2018 Dinner|url=http://www.bwaa.org/single-post/2018/03/14/BWAA-List-Of-Award-Winners-For-The-2018-Dinner|publisher=Boxing Writers Association of America|accessdate=March 24, 2018}}

2018

|April 7

|The Joint, Paradise, Nevada, United States

|Jarrett Hurd
{{USA}}

|Erislandy Lara
{{CUB}}

|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
{{JPN}}

|Nonito Donaire
{{PHI}}

|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{{cite web|title=Canelo Alvarez Is The BWAA 2019 Fighter Of The Year|url=http://www.bwaa.org/single-post/2020/01/17/Canelo-Alvarez-Is-The-BWAA-2019-Fighter-Of-The-Year|accessdate=10 February 2020}}

2020

|October 3

|MGM Grand Conference Center, Paradise, Nevada

|Jose Zepeda
{{USA}}

|Ivan Baranchyk
{{BLR}}

|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
{{GBR}}

|Deontay Wilder
{{USA}}

|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
{{GBR}}

|Michael Conlan
{{IRE}}

|Technical knockout,
in the twelfth of 12 rounds

|Featherweight

|WBA (Regular) featherweight title (Wood)

2023

|June 10

|Toyota Arena, Ontario, California

|Jaime Munguía
{{MEX}}

|Sergiy Derevyanchenko
{{UKR}}

|Unanimous decision after 12 rounds (115-112, 114-113, 114-113))

|Super Middleweight

|None

See also

References

{{Reflist}}