The Ring reveal leading nominees for 2025 awards

The world’s oldest boxing magazine, The Ring, has announced the nominees for its 2025 year-end awards. The winners will be honored on 30 January in New York, USA.

Round of the Year

– Callum Smith vs Joshua Buatsi (Round 6);

– Seiya Tsutsumi vs Daigo Higa (Round 9);

– Kenshiro Teraji vs Seigo Yuri Akui (Round 12);

– Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn I (Round 12);

– Filip Hrgovic vs David Adeleye (Round 8).

Upset of the Year

– Rolando Romero UD 12 Ryan Garcia;

– Ekow Essuman UD 12 Josh Taylor;

– Armando Reséndiz SD 12 Caleb Plant;

– Ricardo Sandoval SD 12 Kenshiro Teraji;

– Fabio Wardley TKO 11 Joseph Parker.

Trainer of the Year

– Robert Garcia — trainer of WBA, WBC and WBO junior bantamweight champion Jesse Rodriguez and interim WBC super welterweight titleholder Vergil Ortiz;

– Rudy Hernandez — trainer of former world bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani;

– Shingo Inoue — father and trainer of undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue, as well as WBC bantamweight titleholder Takuma Inoue;

– Brian McIntyre — trainer of former undisputed super middleweight champion Terence Crawford and Lester Martinez;

– Manny Robles — trainer of WBA super middleweight champion Armando Reséndiz.

Prospect of the Year

– Pat Brown (5-0, 5 KOs);

– John Orobio (16-0, 14 KOs);

– Reito Tsutsumi (4-0, 3 KOs);

– Ben Whittaker (10-0-1, 7 KOs);

– Emiliano Vargas (16-0, 13 KOs).

Knockout of the Year

– Fabio Wardley (20-0-1, 19 KOs) vs Justis Huni (12-1, 7 KOs),

Wardley, trailing on the scorecards 88–83 and twice 89–82, knocked out Huni in the 10th round;

– Brian Norman (28-1, 22 KOs) vs Jin Sasaki (19-2-1, 17 KOs),

Norman stopped the Japanese fighter in the 5th round and retained the WBO welterweight title he had lost in his November bout against Devin Haney;

– Oleksandr Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs) vs Daniel Dubois (22-3, 21 KOs),

The fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship ended in the fifth: first Usyk dropped Dubois, then, in the very next attack, sensationally knocked him out;

– Jesse Rodriguez (23-0, 16 KOs) vs Fernando Martinez (18-1, 9 KOs),

In the 10th round Rodriguez countered with a left hand to close the show and unify the WBA, WBC and WBO titles at super flyweight;

– Frank Martin (19-1, 13 KOs) vs Rances Barthelemy (30-4-1, 15 KOs),

Martin made a statement in his return after an 18-month layoff and the lone loss of his career to Gervonta Davis, knocking out Barthelemy in the 4th round.