Round Of The Year – Kambosos Jnr vs Teofimo Lopez

Rarely do we get a round that makes us jump out of our seat, yet, that is what Kambosos Jnr did in round one by knocking down the dreaded power-puncher Teofimo Lopez, to set the stage for a modern classic. 

In the same vein as a James “Buster” Douglas or Andy Ruiz Jr., more recently, the bout went from an obligation to watch, to the reason we watch the sport. 

Kambosos Jnr. fought off Teofimo Lopez and beat the champion, Lopez, in Lopez’s adopted hometown of New York City, at Madison Square Garden, even surviving a lat

Honorable Mention – 

Oleksandr Usyk vs. Anthony Joshua – Round 12 – The dramatic ending to more than likely the end of an era as Anthony Joshua as the face of British boxing, as Usyk came dressed to the ring as an astronaut, and left a modern legend. Usyk toyed with and nearly stopped Joshua in the final round, as Joshua looked like a beaten man, in a fight that was supposed to be used as leverage against the other heavyweights. Instead, the final round was a lasting image of what happened to Joshua in seemingly all of his major marquee bouts, as Usyk emerged as a modern Evander Holyfield-like figure of the new era, becoming undisputed at cruiserweight, and now holding most of the heavyweight world titles.

Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury III – Round Four – Fury drops Wilder in round three, and most thought that Fury had his number, BUT when Wilder put Fury down twice in the following round, we knew we had an all-time classic. Wilder turned to box, but when he reverted to bang he caught Fury again – but he just didn’t have quite enough in the tank to win the fight, but he earned everyone’s respect for the performance and created a legendary round and moment in the sport of boxing. 

Brandon Glanton vs Efe Apochi – Round Six – A brutal round in which both cruiserweight threw at a fast pace, and keep a high punch output through the full duration of the round. Though not quite a fight of the year-type bout in a year of great fights, it provide a ton of excitement and round six had some of the best bell-to-bell action of any fight.

Roman Gonzalez vs Juan Francisco Estrada II – Round Seven – Though I had Gonzalez winning this fight, the constant work-rate of the two super flyweight legends was best seen as Estrada started to begin to surge late in the fight, and though it is hard to pick an exact round, the seventh felt like a great summary of a good fight that got forgotten in a year of good fights.