The Most Accomplished Boxers of 2013

Timothy Bradley accomplished more than most boxers out there in the past few years. Ironically, however, he is also one of the most snubbed and overlooked. This all stems from what should have been his greatest career achievement, which was beating Manny Pacquiao. This fight instead has caused boxing fans to resent and discredit him.

Fanatic Pacquiao love has clouded many people’s vision and no one looked at the fight as they really should have. Before that fight, Pacquiao was “the” man. Even if he had lost, Bradley was still an underdog contender who was given a shot against one of the best fighters of all time, and he held his own and went the distance. A much bigger and thought to be more dangerous Brandon Rios didn’t do nearly as well as Bradley. Whether it was a crowd-pleasing fight or not, we literally watched a fighter do his best from start to finish and squeezed out a purely technical victory. Many other boxing notables from Margarito to Hatton to De La Hoya had all felt the wrath of a Pacquiao blowout. Bradley stepped in the ring, stayed elusive and slippery, punched, jabbed and touched whenever possible, and forced a fight with one of boxing’s highest ranked power punchers to go to the score cards. And all he received for it was spirited boos.

Even though hardly anyone accepted his split-decision win over Manny Pacquiao, Timothy Bradley wasn’t finished putting the exclamation point at the end of his 2013 statement. He eventually went to war with Ruslan Provodnikov in an epic battle quickly placed in the running for “Fight of the Year.” Provodnikov, known as the “Siberian Rocky,” is another tough star on the rise who had designs on using this fight to avenge his sparring partner, Pacquiao, and to springboard his blossoming career with a title. He tasted victory, wanted that win and he fought like it pounding Bradley into a daze. Bradley weathered the storm, returned fire more frequently despite two knockdowns, and took the victory over Provodnikov too. It was later revealed that Bradley was fighting through a concussion and still won. The heart can carry the body beyond its limitations and Bradley proved that once again. In that fight Bradley manifested the heart and will of a true champion worthy of respect.

The final test for Bradley to close out the year was in the form of another boxing living legend, Juan Manuel Marquez. It was Marquez’s strategy to further steal Pacquiao’s thunder and create more distance by beating Pacquiao, and then beating the guy he last lost to. That didn’t happen. The guy Pacquiao lost to made Marquez lose, as well. Timothy Bradley kept his head in the game and he won against another future Hall of Fame legend that tried to use him as a stepping stone in his plans.

I’m a realist and sometimes a fighter can be a fluke or get lucky. As an undefeated fighter that rose to become WBO Champion, then added Manny Pacquiao, and then his rival Juan Manuel Marquez to his trail of wins, it’s no fluke. Timothy deserves to be the Boxer of 2013.

There’s nothing more to say about Floyd Mayweather that he hasn’t said himself in the ring: He’s the best. The undefeated Floyd Mayweather was already head and shoulders above the rest, but he sent the message home to his haters to back up, sit down and hail the king.

Mayweather was on top, so naturally all the criticism and excuses for why people lost to him came his way incessantly. In 2013, however, Mayweather put his boxing genius on display and shut everything and everyone down with finality. He couldn’t be criticized this time around as he fought frequently and gave a shot to young, strong, dangerous title holders, including Canelo Alvarez. Not only did he take on all these challenges from young rising stars with the wind at their backs, he also made it look incredibly easy. Every time you thought he might have his hands full, Mayweather put on another boxing clinic and left everyone scratching their heads wondering who is in his league enough to at least make it interesting.

Simultaneously, Mayweather won the cold war with his biggest rival whom he never fought, Manny Pacquiao. Pacquiao was off doing the same thing; he was fighting tough, top-ranked challengers, but he lost to Timothy Bradley and then Juan Manuel Marquez. Mayweather kept rolling along toward the new year with still no one seemingly in his stratosphere. With huge purse payouts and easy wins in what was thought to be risky fights, Mayweather wins big in 2013.

Andre Ward is one of the most impressive and accomplished champions in the world. Ward is an Olympic gold medalist who had a stellar, undefeated ascent into Super Middleweight supremacy. His official international coronation and confirmation as the Super Middleweight king came when he became the winner of the Super Six World Boxing Classic and conquered Mike Green, Arthur Abraham, Mikkel Kessler and Carl Froch. He confidently stepped into an extremely tough field in which he was favored to win, and he did comfortably. In short, Andre Ward wins. Joe Calzaqhe ducked him and retired, which was probably smart on his part.

Perhaps what is most impressive in 2013, Andre Ward stepped up to fight a much bigger, then Light Heavyweight Champion, Chad Dawson, with only his belts on the line. Ward outclassed Dawson and stopped the bigger man via tenth round TKO.

Ward seems to be an enigma for everyone in his weight class. Regardless of his success, Ward is having trouble building a strong fan base and filling seats, perhaps because he’s too good a boxer. He’s smart, calculated, efficient, and doesn’t usually offer the slugfests or knockouts fans love to see. Regardless, Ward never failed to deliver a manifestation of division superiority with every threat he’s faced thus far. Through every obstacle, Andre Ward distinctively wears the crown.

Adonis Stevenson came roaring onto the scene in 2013 in a huge way and made himself an international boxing star overnight. 20 of his 23 wins were won via clean knockout. He was starting to attract a lot of attention with his power and ring dominance, and then his moment came in Chad Dawson.

The light heavyweight division has lost notable fighters like Calzaghe and Jones, and made room for new fighters to step into the spotlight. And in many ways Chad Dawson was the current face of the light heavyweight division as one of the division’s most popular fighters. Dawson was trash talking and said he didn’t know who Stevenson was and had to Google him. The result: Stevenson dropped Dawson and knocked him out in the first round. Now Chad Dawson knows exactly who Mr. Adonis Stevenson is, and we do too.

Adonis Stevenson kept his winning ways going in his fight with Tavoris Cloud. Adonis Stevenson overwhelmed him, taunted him, ruined Cloud’s face and then closed the show by Round 7. Stevenson was now fighting the best fighters in the division and winning by shutout.

Stevenson’s next challenge was WBC silver light heavyweight title holder Tony Bellew. Stevenson dominated the fight and handed Bellew his first knockout loss of his career in Round 6.

Stevenson closed out the year winning multiple titles leaving boxing fans salivating to see which new boxing star signs the deal to step in the ring with him next.

Guillermo Rigondeaux is a two-time Olympic gold medalist who came bursting onto the scene hurling himself into supremacy perhaps quicker than anyone else. In fact, Rigondeaux did more in only 12 professional fights than anyone else in boxing in recent times. Rigondeaux fought 11 contenders and made light work of all of them en route to winning the Interim WBA super bantamweight , WBA super bantamweight , and NABA super bantamweight titles. Then his big moment arrived. He landed a fight with the best of the best, Nonito Donaire, and Guillermo Rigondeaux schooled him too. In another one of the biggest upsets of the year, Guillermo Rigondeaux was a little known ring boss who made the best fighter in the division fight his fight and lose. Rigondeaux was too smart, too fast, and just plain good.

Guillermo Rigondeaux’s next test was just icing on the cake. He systematically rendered the highly regarded Joseph Agbeko athletically useless. Agbeko never had a chance, struggled, and labored through a completely boring fight that wasn’t Guillermo Rigondeaux’s fault. In boring fights with skillful boxers we always blame the wrong guy. Rigondeaux was already on a path to victory. It’s up to the challenger to try something different and spice things up. Agbeko was castrated and volunteered himself to finish the fight trying to box a man who was clearly outboxing him. You have to go for broke and let your hands fly when you’re clearly not going to win on points. Instead, Rigondeaux displayed his ring superiority and skill level. At only 13-0, Rigondeaux showcased himself as a superior force to be reckoned with in the new year and years to come.

Bernard Hopkins is an old veteran who made history in 2013. As an older fighter, Bernard Hopkins has still been a relevant threat to title holders. And after every loss, which is usually a close fight, Bernard Hopkins keeps coming back to the top.

In 2005 Hopkins had two close fights with Jermain Taylor in which he lost his IBF, WBC, WBA (Super), WBO &The Ring middleweight titles. Still among the best, he won the IBO &The Ring light heavyweight titles from Antonio Carver three years later in 2008. In that same year he lost those titles to Joe Calzaghe, though many strongly believe he was robbed. Calzaghe even hit the canvas. Regardless, the old man “Bhop” bounced back with a stellar performance against Kelly Pavlik in a unanimous decision shutout.

In 2011 Hopkins won The Ring, IBO & WBC light heavyweight titles and was also awarded WBC Diamond Belt in a unanimous decision victory over Jean Pascal. It was with this fight that Hopkins broke George Foreman’s record and became the oldest boxing champion at 46 years old.

In 2012 Hopkins lost his belts again via decision against the much younger Chad Dawson. In true Hopkins fashion, he’d be back. In 2013, just when people were wondering if Hopkins should start considering retirement, he schooled the much younger Tavoris Cloud and won the IBF light heavyweight title. Again, Hopkins made history breaking his own record for oldest champ. He further cemented his incredible year with a shutout victory against Karo Murat and retained his IBF title. At 48 years old, Bernard Hopkins was without a doubt one of the most impressive standout fighters of the year showing no signs of decline.

Danny Garcia is an undefeated fighter who faced tough opposition and came out the victor in every crucial career-changing fight.

Garcia’s meteoric ascent came after defeating boxing stars Nate Campbell, Kendall Holt, Érik Morales, and then a stunning fourth round KO victory over Amir Khan. Danny Garcia was on fire. The Amir Khan knockout was a shocking victory that garnered Garcia some new found respect. While Garcia was still on fire he did it again and knocked out veteran legend Érik Morales, also in the fourth round, in their rematch.

In 2013 he finished off another ex-champ veteran, beating Zab Judah by unanimous decision. And finally, he finished off a dangerous Lucas Matthysse who was on an impressive knockout streak of his own. Garcia was never in trouble and outboxed Matthysse to a unanimous decision victory. Still undefeated, with a trail of beaten boxing notables on his resume, Danny Garcia took the year by storm and catapulted himself into division supremacy.

Gennady Golovkin was a knockout artist on the rise who was generating a lot of attention for himself with several impressive early round knockouts. Golovkin is undefeated and won the vast majority of his fights with a punishing, humbling knockout. The only lingering question was how good he would be against top-ranked fighters. Golovkin answered that question sending a highly-ranked former Irish, British, and European middleweight champion, Mathew Macklin, to the canvas in Round 3. No, Macklin isn’t an Andre Ward, but he’s a tough respected fighter who makes a great litmus test for any rising star to try to make a statement against. In Macklin, Golovkin made that statement and finally added a big name to his list. The way Golovkin dropped Macklin let critics know exactly what they wanted to find out.

In another great exhibition, Golovkin put Curtis Stevens away by Round 8. With Golovkin rolling through competition with contenders falling to his KO power, he forged a spotlight for himself in 2014 as another star to look out for.

Mikey Garcia is another one of those fighters who garnered attention winning almost all his fights by knockout. Garcia remained a standout boxer with a promising career for years. However, it was in 2013 that Garcia took a huge step up in competition and respect.

In January 2013, Garcia fought the number one ranked WBO Featherweight Champion, Orlando Salido, and dominated the entire fight until it was stopped due to his broken nose from a head clash. Forced to go to the score cards, it was a shutout victory for Garcia.

Next Garcia fought tough former champ Juan Manuel Lopez and expeditiously knocked him out in Round 4.

In November 2013, Garcia stepped in the ring with Roman Martinez for his WBO Featherweight title. Garcia went down in the second round, but unaffected, Garcia got up to dominate the fight and dropped Martinez with a perfectly timed body shot in Round 8. Now fighting top-ranked competition, Garcia kept his knockout streak going for the world stage to see.

Mikey Garcia finished off the year as the clear number one standout star at 130 pounds.

Sergey Kovalev created a Tyson-like reputation by knocking out most of his challengers early. Anytime a fighter is on an outstanding knockout streak, it makes fans and critics wonder how good that fighter would fare against a strong contender. Fans and critics got that answer after his most impressive win against former champ Nathan Cleverly. Cleverly was no bum. Cleverly was an elite level, undefeated champion, and Kovalev put him down hard and fast. Sergey Kovalek did what it takes to become a boxing star: He kept winning by a crowd-pleasing knockout. And when a stronger test came along, he did the exact same thing. He exuded confidence and stepped into the spotlight.

Now when Kovalev talks about possible fights with Adonis Stevenson and Bernard Hopkins, people are listening. Sergey Kovalev is one of a host of fighters who closed out the year with a powerful statement and 2014 and beyond is welcoming what’s next for him.