Polling for the 2018 World Boxing News Fighter of the Year – as voted by the fans – is looking to be a mere foregone conclusion.
Just over a week into voting and over three and a half thousand people have cast their opinion from the twelve strong nomination list.
One clear leader has emerged.
Tyson Fury currently holds an advantage of over one thousand votes, ahead of cruiserweight king Oleksandr Usyk.
In third place stands Fury rival Anthony Joshua, whilst 2016 winner Vasyl Lomachenko is fourth.
Josh Warrington and Canelo Alvarez hold fifth and sixth spots respectively.
Cast your vote:
Nominees:
Vasyl Lomachenko: The Ukrainian won the trophy in 2016 with a whopping 76% after what was a stellar year. ‘Loma’ was beaten in 2017 by the resurgent Gennady Golovkin with 48% of the poll. In 2018, Lomachenko won a third weight world title when defeating Jorge Linares. He then unified after shoulder surgery against Jose Pedraza in December.
Canelo Alvarez: Defeating Gennady Golovkin in September was followed up by a third-weight world title against Rocky Fielding three months later.
Oleksandr Usyk: The inaugural World Boxing Super Series champion. Usyk then went on to stop Tony Bellew in a huge UK event. He beat the number two and three in his division and is a strong contender to lift the crown.
Mikey Garcia: Becoming a four-weight world champion at 140 pounds in 2018. Garcia then unified the lightweight division for good measure.
Tyson Fury: One of the comeback stories of all time, Fury was a knockdown away from regaining the world heavyweight crown.
Deontay Wilder: ‘The Bronze Bomber’ enjoyed a stellar year when stopping Luis Ortiz. Wilder then almost wiped out Fury in a Fight of the Year contender.
Naoya Inoue: Japan’s newest superstar, Inoue proved why he’s called ‘The Monster’ when halting two world-class fighters in a combined total of three minutes and two seconds.
Anthony Joshua: The current heavyweight champion, Joshua further unified the division. The Briton then fended off the challenge of top contender Alexander Povetkin.
Josh Warrington: Winning two high-profile UK world title clashes as the underdog. Warrington earned his spot with a Fight of the Year display against Carl Frampton.
Donnie Nietes: Becoming only the third Filipino to win world titles at four weights sees Nietes on the list.
Kosei Tanaka: The 23 year-old two-time WBN Young Fighter of the Year scored a third-weight world title in just his twelfth bout last September.
Callum Smith: Winning the WBSS accolade and Ring Magazine title at 168 pounds. ‘Mundo’ deserves his place among the elite for 2018.
