Per Paul R. Jones: With awards season in full swing and 2024 in retrospect, I’m counting down the 5 most daring boxing performances of 2024 and giving away gear to honor the fighters who got us here.
[⚠️WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS GRAPHIC BOXING IMAGES THAT SOME READERS MAY FIND DISTURBING. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.]
No. 5. BEST PERFORMANCE
Photo © DAZN on X
APPOINTED: BEKTEMIR MELIKUZIEV
• Date: 20.04.2024
• Place: Barclays Center (Brooklyn, NY)
ranked competitor, BEKTEMIR MELIKUZIEVand undefeated challenger, PIERRE HUBERT DIBOMBE, on the square in April at HANEY v. GARCIA undercard for the WBA Inter-Continental Super Middleweight title. What followed was a bloody mess, partly due to MELIKUZIEV and DIBOMBE suffering deep lacerations over their eyes, caused by accidental headbutts and elbows exchanged in close quarters. Although DIBOMBE took a tolerable cut in the opening round, MELIKUZIEV’s gruesome cut in the 5th stanza, thanks to a nasty clash of heads with DIBOMBE, was far worse, leaving the self-proclaimed “SILIDG” bleeding profusely from his eyelid for the rest of the fight. Fortunately for MELIKUZIEV, he collected enough early rounds and was comfortably ahead when the fight was stopped in the 8th round by the ringside doctor due to an accidental headbutt. And it was no surprise when MELIKUZIEV got a TKO over DIBOMBE when the final results were read.
No. 4. BEST PERFORMANCE
Photo © World Boxing Association/@wbaboxingofficial
NOMINATED: JONO CARROLL
• Date: 24.07.2024
• Place: IBA Colosseum (Serpukhov, RUS)
In a fun fight against a tough underdog, JTHAT CARROLLagainst the former Olympic gold medalist, ALBERT BATYRGAZIEVfor the WBA (Interim) super featherweight title, CARROLL started off hot in the first quarter of the fight, even buzzing BATYRGAZIEVA badly in the 3rd round. However, throughout the rest of the fight, BATYRGAZIEV systematically pummeled CARROLL, hitting CARROLL to the head and body, and finally ending the Irishman’s night in the 9th round with savage body shots.
After the fight, CARROLL joked, “I’m going to have to get my modeling career back for a little while.” That’s an understatement considering the boxing makeover BATYRGAZIEV gave CARROLL. For CARROLL’s bravery and his ability to persevere despite both eyes being nearly swollen shut — the likes of which we haven’t seen since GUERRERO vs. BERT in 2012 — CARROLL deserves the No. 4 spot on our list.
Photo © Jae C. Hong/AP
No. 3. BEST PERFORMANCE
Photo © NETFLIX
🥉3RD PLACE: AMANDA SERRANO
• Date: 24.11.2024
• Place: AT&T STADIUM (ARLINGTON, TX)
Our third place, AMANDA SERRANOhe pushed it to the max TAYLOR VS. SERRANO – II (Women’s Boxing’s consensus FIGHT OF THE YEAR), fights KATIE TAYLOR with a nasty wound over the right eye in the last 3 rounds. Although SERRANO fought TAYLOR in a 10-round scramble, SERRANO’s ability to increase her performance in the clutch stood out – with the Boricu legend landing 285 of her 734 punches (39%, per COMPUBOX) after receiving a headbutt from TAYLOR in the 8th round. And with 4 world titles on the line, and despite battling blood constantly seeping into her eye during the championship rounds, SERRANO proved her mettle here and came up short again in a controversial decision loss to TAYLOR (score: 95-94 [thrice]) — a fight that many believed SERRANO would win.
No 2. BEST PERFORMANCE
Photo © Esther Lin/PBC
🥈 SECOND FIRST: SEBASTIAN FUNDORA
• Date: 30.03.2024
• Venue: T-Mobile Arena (Las Vegas, NV)
Registration at number 2 on our countdown is a late registration, SEBASTIAN FUNDORAwho beat the former WBO world champion, TEAM TSZYU, split decision in March, serving as half of the bloodiest battle of 2024. TSZYU vs. FUNDORA.
Photo © Esther Lin/PBC
Despite nasty cuts and bleeding covering his face and body, and at times obscuring his vision, including FUNDORA’s nose and mouth running like a faucet — ‘THE TOWERING INFERNO’ managed to land more than 700 of the combined 1,100 punches exchanged in this bout. Just as importantly, FUNDORA’s history-making victory, in which he topped TSZYU by split decision to become the only super welterweight champion of the world (WBC/WBO), helped create a current FIGHT OF THE YEAR contender who deserved second place place finish. A match that had fans clamoring for a rematch of this ‘damn good’ affair.
No 1. BEST PERFORMANCE
Photo © @MIKAELALAUREN76/Instagram
🏆WINNER: MIKAELA LAUREN
• Date: 30.11.2024
• Location: Hotel InterContinental (Vienna, AUST)
Finally, the most daring performance in 2024 was achieved by the former world champion, MICHAEL LAURENfrom Sweden. In the fight for the championship in November against the current champion, MICHAEL KOTASKOV48-year-old LAUREN proved that she really is a “warrior”, fighting until the last bell despite the terrible swelling of her face. LAUREN’S swelling reportedly came from a crack in her skull, which was the result of several accidental headbutts that were delivered in the first round.
To make matters worse, the younger KOTASKOVA beat up LAUREN with the cumulative effects of KOTASKOVA’s punches and unintentional headbutts, leaving LAUREN’s face virtually unrecognizable after the fight, resembling the central character for the movie, The Elephant Man.
Although LAUREN joked after the fight that she “looks[ed] like Freak Show,” her grit is undeniable, having gone up against an undefeated and world-ranked opponent 13 years her junior, at an age where more people are more concerned about their 401Ks than the leather trade. And it is for these reasons, as well as for the significant physical suffering suffered by MIKAELA LAUREN, that she is at the top of the list with BEST PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR!
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About the author:
Paul R. Jones! is a longtime boxing writer and ringside photographer for Boxing News 24. A scientist by day and a writer by night, he covers the humorous, unusual and absurd sport of boxing. His articles, photographs and commentary have appeared on many websites (such as Boxing News 24/7, Round by Round Boxing, Boxing Insider and Medium.com), as well as in print and scholarly journals.
Send him an email or tip at prjones1@hotmail.com.
