Winner
Carl Frampton
It was a good year for plenty of fighters but none had a better 2016 than the Fighter of the Year, Carl Frampton. Frampton was involved in two of 2016's biggest fights, first against Scott Quigg and then against Leo Santa Cruz. Frampton took on Quigg in February and traveled to Quigg's backyard for the fight. While it wasn't the action packed bout some expected Frampton did break Quigg's jaw in the fourth round. While the fight remained close it was clear that Frampton had won and two of the three judges saw it the same way. That win added another junior featherweight world title to Frampton's collection and then in July he would travel to Brooklyn to take on Santa Cruz. That fight is a contender for the 2016 Fight of the Year and was electric for all 12 rounds. To take on Santa Cruz, Frampton moved up to the featherweight division and when the fight ended Frampton had another new world title to take back to Northern Ireland. For the year Frampton went 2-0, beating two top level, undefeated opponents and picked up two world titles in the process.
Runner-Up
Vasyl Lomachenko
If it weren't for the exceptional year that Carl Frampton had it would have been Vasyl Lomachenko winning this award. Lomachenko started off the year by moving up in weight to challenge Roman "Rocky" Martinez for his junior lightweight world title. Despite being the smaller man Lomachenko easily handled Martinez, knocking him out in the fifth round in what garnered "in the running" status for the 2016 Knockout of the Year. Lomachenko would follow that win up by taking on the heavy hitting Nicholas Walters in November. The fight was supposed to be competitive but was anything but. Lomachenko was too fast and too accurate for Walters who ended up quitting after the seventh round. It was an eye opening performance from Lomachenko who ended the year 2-0 with two knockouts against top quality opposition.
Honorable Mention
Joe Smith Jr.
If you hadn't heard of Joe Smith Jr. before 2016 you probably weren't alone. That is because Smith had never really had a big fight and was only a part-time boxer, spending time as a part-time construction worker as well. It is safe to say Smith won't be going back to his day job because he scored two stunning upsets in 2016. Smith actually went 3-0 with three knockouts in 2016 with his first win coming over Fabiano Pena. The year really picked up for him when he shocked everyone in attendance by knocking out heavy favorite Andrzej Fonfara in the first round of their June fight. Smith followed up that upset by scoring another one against the legendary Bernard Hopkins in what was Hopkins' last fight. Smith scored an eighth round knockout of Hopkins when he knocked him clear out of the ring, leaving him unable to continue. It was a big year for Smith whose career is now hotter than ever.
In The Running
Terence Crawford
Big Time Boxing's 2014 Fighter of the Year was Terence Crawford and this year he was in the running for the award as well. Crawford went 3-0 in 2016 while scoring two knockouts. First Crawford defended his junior welterweight title against Hank Lundy, stopping him in the fifth round. Then Crawford took on the second best junior welterweight in the sport, Viktor Postol in July in a title unification fight. Crawford dropped Postol twice in that fight and was able to do anything he wanted on his way to a decision win while picking up Postol's WBC world junior welterweight title in the process. To cap off the year Crawford defended his WBC and WBO world titles against John Molina, although Molina came in overweight which put a damper on the event. Still, Crawford looked spectacular and easily handled the tough but over matched Molina, scoring an eighth round stoppage to have a perfect year where he barley lost a round.
Andre Ward
Finally after years of frustrating fans with his inactivity Andre Ward fought three times in 2016. In those fights Ward went 3-0 and won each fight by the way of unanimous decision. Ward started off the year by dropping and beating Sullivan Barrera who entered the fight with an unbeaten record. Next Ward took on Alexander Brand and won every single round on all three judges scorecards. However, his big win of 2016 came against light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev. Ward won that fight with a very close unanimous decision and had to get off the canvas in the second round to do so. By beating Kovalev, Ward was also able to pick up three world titles but to be fair many thought that Kovalev was deserving of the decision in that fight. Yet it was Ward who the judges picked so he will get credit for the victory which helped him make this list.
Jermall Charlo
Another fighter who had a big year was Jermall Charlo. Before this year Charlo had built his career by beating journeymen and faded veterans but stepped up big in 2016, going 2-0 with one knockout. The first win of the year for Charlo came against Austin Trout in what really amounted to the toughest test of Charlo's career. It was a close fight but Charlo proved he had the skills to hang with the top fighters and beat Trout by the way of unanimous decision. Then in December Charlo took on Julian Williams in what was expected to be a good action fight. Charlo started fast by dropping Williams in the second round and in the fifth round dropped him another two times, the second of which ended the fight. Charlo deserves to be on the list and in 2016 proved himself to be one of, if not the most dangerous fighter in the junior middleweight division.
Carl Frampton
Runner-Up
Vasyl Lomachenko
Honorable Mention
Joe Smith Jr.
In The Running
Terence Crawford
Big Time Boxing's 2014 Fighter of the Year was Terence Crawford and this year he was in the running for the award as well. Crawford went 3-0 in 2016 while scoring two knockouts. First Crawford defended his junior welterweight title against Hank Lundy, stopping him in the fifth round. Then Crawford took on the second best junior welterweight in the sport, Viktor Postol in July in a title unification fight. Crawford dropped Postol twice in that fight and was able to do anything he wanted on his way to a decision win while picking up Postol's WBC world junior welterweight title in the process. To cap off the year Crawford defended his WBC and WBO world titles against John Molina, although Molina came in overweight which put a damper on the event. Still, Crawford looked spectacular and easily handled the tough but over matched Molina, scoring an eighth round stoppage to have a perfect year where he barley lost a round.
Andre Ward
Finally after years of frustrating fans with his inactivity Andre Ward fought three times in 2016. In those fights Ward went 3-0 and won each fight by the way of unanimous decision. Ward started off the year by dropping and beating Sullivan Barrera who entered the fight with an unbeaten record. Next Ward took on Alexander Brand and won every single round on all three judges scorecards. However, his big win of 2016 came against light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev. Ward won that fight with a very close unanimous decision and had to get off the canvas in the second round to do so. By beating Kovalev, Ward was also able to pick up three world titles but to be fair many thought that Kovalev was deserving of the decision in that fight. Yet it was Ward who the judges picked so he will get credit for the victory which helped him make this list.
Jermall Charlo
Another fighter who had a big year was Jermall Charlo. Before this year Charlo had built his career by beating journeymen and faded veterans but stepped up big in 2016, going 2-0 with one knockout. The first win of the year for Charlo came against Austin Trout in what really amounted to the toughest test of Charlo's career. It was a close fight but Charlo proved he had the skills to hang with the top fighters and beat Trout by the way of unanimous decision. Then in December Charlo took on Julian Williams in what was expected to be a good action fight. Charlo started fast by dropping Williams in the second round and in the fifth round dropped him another two times, the second of which ended the fight. Charlo deserves to be on the list and in 2016 proved himself to be one of, if not the most dangerous fighter in the junior middleweight division.
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