WBN Fighter of the Year 2019 is turning into a three-horse race after Briton Josh Taylor sandwiched himself between Canelo Alvarez and Naoya Inoue.
Canelo and Inoue initially overtook Taylor in the voting, although the World Boxing Super Series winner is now back in contention.
With almost 1500 votes in the first six days, the poll is on course to do record-breaking numbers. Out-doing the almost 5,000 received last year as Tyson Fury took the crown.
Ahead by just under 100, Canelo is the current favorite. But Taylor and Inoue both still hold a great chance to win.
CAST YOUR VOTE BELOW:
The candidates:
ERROL SPENCE JR.
The current unified welterweight champion defeated Mikey Garcia and Shawn Porter to cement his place as one of the best pound for pound fighters on the planet.
Spence’s latter fight with Porter will go down as one of the greatest in 2019.
CANELO
On the back of beating Gennady Golovkin controversially in 2018, Canelo went on to further unify at middleweight before defeating Sergio Kovalev at 175 pounds.
Canelo is now one of just a few Mexican fighters to win world titles in four weight divisions.
MANNY PACQUIAO
The ‘Pacman’ returned to the forefront big time in 2019. After a couple of years in the wilderness on the back of losing to Floyd Mayweather, Pacquiao came back with a vengeance.
Wins over Adrien Broner and Keith Thurman proved life can begin at 40 for some.
DEONTAY WILDER
‘The Bronze Bomber’ built on his draw with Fury in December with two stunning knockouts. Dominic Breazeale was dispatched in a round before Luis Ortiz even more convincingly than the first.
Wilder’s ten world title defenses and all-round excitement mean the American now the number one heavyweight in the world.
ANTHONY JOSHUA
Back holding all the aces at 200 pounds plus after capitulating badly against Andy Ruiz Jr. in June, redemption was certainly sweet for Anthony Joshua.
Boxing his way to a victory against a massively overweight Ruiz in their rematch means Joshua is once again clutching four world titles.
NAOYA INOUE
What a year for Naoya Inoue. Knockout after knockout and impressive performance in the WBSS was followed up by a legacy-altering match-up with Nonito Donaire.
The pair went hell-for-leather in a bid to claim the Ali Trophy, with Inoue coming out on top to the delight of his home crowd.
JUAN ESTRADA
Mexcian hero Juan Estrada defeated Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in 2019 to become a two-weight world champion.
Voting ends on Jan 7, 2020.
