Clash of Titans: Crawford vs. Inoue in the 2023 Fighter of the Year Showdown
The 2023 year end awards have been handed out with little to no discussion from the boxing world or fanfare from the boxing public. No controversy at all.
All except Fighter of the Year.
Sporting News, Yahoo Sports, and Boxing Insider, amongst others, picked Terence Crawford. Crawford fought only once in 2023, but in that one fight he unified the belts at welterweight (147 lbs) against a top 5 pound for pound great in Errol Spence. Not only did he win the fight, he dominated it, dropping Spence three times before stopping him in the 9th round.
Meanwhile, Ring Magazine, ESPN, and CBS Sports, amongst others, selected Naoya “Monster” Inoue as their Fighter of the Year. Inoue also unified the belts in his division, super bantamweight (122 lbs), and did it in his only two fights of 2023. First, Monster debuted at 122 lbs against WBC and WBO champion, and fringe pound for pound contender, Stephen “Cool Boy Steph” Fulton (I had Cool Boy number 10 on my P4P list). Inoue stymied and befuddled the usually slick Fulton before knocking him out in the 8th round.
After grabbing Fulton’s two belts, Inoue unified the division in his second fight of 2023 against Marlon Tapales. Though tough and game throughout, Tapales went the way of most Inuoe opponents. Stoppage.
With the two best fighters in the world both having great years, it’s not surprising that there’s a split in the boxing intelligentsia as to who deserves Fighter of the Year.
If only there was some way to break the tie and definitively declare 2023’s Fighter of the Year.
Imagine if we could settle this in the ring. A 12-round bout, comparing each fighter’s year across various categories, evaluating each fighter’s achievements side by side.
This is boxing, so really, it’s the only fair way.
So, without further ado… Ding ding.
Round 1: Number of fights
This category is simple, straightforward, making it an easy round to score. How many fights did they participate in? Inuoe fought twice, while Crawford fought once. Easy round.
10-9, Inoue / Inoue 10-9
Round 2: Win-Loss Record
Another easy round to score. Both fighters were undefeated in their 2023 campaign. However, having fought twice as often as Crawford, Inoue put himself at twice the risk to be defeated.
10-9, Inoue / Inoue 20-18
Round 3: Quality of opposition
Now the fight is starting to heat up. On the surface, it looks like this is an easy round to score. Crawford faced a top 5 pound for pound fighter, so the issue should be closed. Right?
Well, no, it’s not that simple. Inoue faced a borderline pound for pounder and then a two belt world champion. No soft touches in either fight.
If Spence was a 10 out of 10, then Fulton was an 8 out of 10. But you also have to add in Tapales, a 6 out of 10. 8 + 6 = 14. 14 is greater than 10.
The argument can be made for either fighter here. Pound for pound or 14 is greater than 10. In a very close round, Crawford edges it.
10-9, Crawford / Inuoe 29-28
Round 4: Level of dominance
In the previous categories, Inoue’s greater frequency of fights played in his favor. In this category, however, he is hurt by it. Fighting two fights instead of just one gave him double the opportunity to not look dominant. In his first fight of the year, Inoue completely dominated Fulton. But in his second fight, although he knocked Tapales down and later stopped him, Inuoe didn’t look like his dominant self. Tapales took many of Inoue’s best shots and kept coming, countering with his own power. Tapales’ toughness and resilience knocks Inuoe down a notch in this category.
10-9, Crawford / Even 38-38
Round 5: Unification
Both Crawford and Inoue unified the four major belts in their respective divisions. But which unification was more impressive?
Crawford entered the welterweight division in 2018, and immediately dispatched Jeff Horn for the WBO title. Despite his best efforts, Crawford, who debuted at junior lightweight (130 lbs), couldn’t get the title bouts he sought so had time to grow into the weight class. By the time he fought Spence, Crawford was fully a 147 pounder.
Meanwhile, Inoue, who debuted at junior flyweight (108 lbs), moved up to 122 lbs and immediately fought the baddest man in the division for two of the four major belts.
In his very next fight, in the same calendar year, Inoue stopped the other belt holder in the division. Inuoe didn’t have time to grow into a 122 pounder. He showed up as the smaller man, but immediately conquered the division.
10-9, Inoue / Inoue 48-47
Round 6: Knockouts
All three fights between these two pound for pound elites ended in stoppages. But the knockouts are not equal.
As previously mentioned, Crawford had time to grow into the 147 lb division. His knockout of Spence was a welterweight knocking out a welterweight. It happens.
Inoue had just come up to 122 pounds. He was definitely the smaller man in the first fight against Fulton. Yet his ferocious power carried to the bigger weight class. Head to head, Inoue’s knockout versus Crawford’s knockout, Inoue wins. But then you add in the knockout of Tapales, who was tough as nails, and it simply puts Inoue over the top.
10-8, Inoue / Inoue 58-55
Round 7: Degree of difficulty
Is it more difficult to beat a pound for pound division rival, or to clean out a fairly tough division in only two fights?
Here, we can combine a few of the previous arguments to judge this round. 14 is greater than 10, but to ALSO do it at a weight class that is probably two weight classes higher than ideal, the edge goes to Inoue.
10-9, Inoue / Inoue 68-64
Round 8: Historical Achievement
From a historical perspective, this round is as easy to score as the first round. Two undefeated welterweights (a glamor division in boxing), in their primes, in a unification bout…boxing doesn’t get better than this.
Crawford-Spence gave us imaginings of Leonard-Hearns, Toney-Jones Jr, Trinidad-De La Hoya, Mayweather-Pacquiao. The anticipation of the matchup, and the huge hole that it would have left in boxing history if these fights didn’t take place, regardless of the outcome, is exactly the vibes Crawford-Spence gave us. It was a fight that HAD to happen for the history of boxing to be complete.
10-8, Crawford / Inoue 76-74
Round 9: Sportsmanship
I mean, c’mon…the Japanese are culturally good sports. The pride themselves on humility and respect for their opponent.
It’s not that Crawford didn’t show great sportsmanship, it’s that Inoue overwhelmingly showed sportsmanship.
10-9, Inoue / Inoue 86-83
Round 10: Technical Skill
Terence Crawford fought the best fight of his life against Errol Spence. He was sharp and crisp with his punching, his catch and counters were fantastic, his jab was punishing, his power was on full display. A masterclass!
But what was even more impressive was Crawford’s defense. Crawford can be baited into a slugfest with inferior opponents, leading to him getting hit more frequently than someone of his caliber should. Going into the fight, I feared Crawford would repeat that pattern against Spence and pay a hefty price for such hubris.
Crawford proved my fears unfounded as he stayed disciplined with his defensive responsibilities and systematically tore Spence apart.
As skilled as Inoue looked against Fulton, he got hit way too much against Tapales for him to hope to win this round.
10-9, Crawford / Inoue 95-93
Round 11: Importance of Fight
As mentioned above, Crawford’s fight was historic. It NEEDED to happen. But how important of a fight was it for 2023 compared to the two Inoue fights?
From an in ring boxing perspective, both fighter’s year was similar. Both Crawford and Inoue were unifying their respective divisions. Both earned a claim as number one on the pound for pound list. Both dominated worthy opponents.
However, Crawford-Spence was a big money fight. It was a fight that drew attention to the sport. Die-hards and casuals alike were speculating as to the outcome. ESPN and Fox Sports’ talking heads weighed in with their opinions on who was the better fighter.
In a period of time in boxing when a celebrity boxer draws more attention to the sport than established boxing greats, it was important to have a fight that tickled the public’s imagination, and rekindled their interest in the sport.
10-8, Crawford / Even 103-103
Round 12: Impact on Boxing
Crawford’s victory over Spence ended the “wrong side of the street” argument that existed between Crawford, promoted by Top Rank prior to this fight, and the rest of the top welterweights, who were promoted by the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC). Now that Crawford has unified the division, there are a number of fights now available to him that likely was not available before.
A rematch with Spence notwithstanding, Crawford, as the WBO champ, can immediately challenge the WBO champ in the next weight class up. In this case, Crawford can immediately fight Tim Tszyu. But Crawford was already the WBO champ, so nothing new there.
Before the Spence fight, Crawford briefly talked about fighting Jermell Charlo, but Charlo stated Crawford needed to finish his business at 147 lbs first. Basically, fight Spence before you think about fighting me.
Well, now Crawford has fought Spence. Could Charlo be next?
Jarron Ennis is an up and coming welterweight, who is now the IBF champ after the organization stripped Crawford of the belt. He’s looking to challenge Crawford and take over as the man in the division, as well as a spot on the pound for pound list.
Though Crawford doesn’t seem interested in that fight, Ennis is a great opponent.
Even Teofimo Lopez could move up to 147 lbs and fight Crawford.
There’s a lot of great fights available to Crawford now that he’s the man.
Conversely, what’s next for Inoue? Another move up? Move back down? It’s unclear what path Inoue should take, or which fighter he should fight. The conclusion of Inoue’s year feels like the conclusion of a great story, while Crawford’s feels like just the beginning.
10-9 Crawford / Crawford 113-112
By the slimmest of margins, 113-112, Crawford clinched the title of Fighter of the Year. His victory in this hypothetical matchup underlines the significance of his singular, yet monumental, achievement in 2023, crowning him as the year’s standout boxer.
…AND NEW…!
