Photo: Mikey Williams & Vincent Ethier – Quebec boxing shone in 2024, and Artur Beterbiev was the one leading de charge.
Punching Grace wraps up the year by highlighting the greatest achievements in Quebec boxing in 2024. The formula is simple. We asked 10 experts from 10 different platforms to tell us who stood out the most in these five categories:
- Boxer of the Year
- Performance of the Year
- Knockout of the Year
- Fight of the Year
- Breakout of the Year
Here’s their 50 picks!
Anson Wainwright / The Ring Magazine
- Boxer of the Year: Artur Beterbiev, who defeated Bivol to become the undisputed champion and thus The Ring Magazine champion.
- Knockout of the Year: Iglesias vs. Shvedenko. Not just in Quebec, but this was one of the best knockouts of the year worldwide.
- Performance of the Year: Artur Beterbiev vs. Callum Smith.
- Fight of the Year: Jason Moloney vs. Saul Sanchez.
- Breakout of the Year: Imam Khataev.
Anthony Marcotte / BPM Sports
- Boxer of the Year: Obviously, it’s Artur Beterbiev. He started the year with a flawless performance against Callum Smith in Quebec before winning the most important fight involving a Quebec boxer in history against Dmitry Bivol. And no, don’t believe the robbery talk, as I had Beterbiev winning. Already looking forward to the rematch, which I anticipate will be even more decisive in Beterbiev’s favor.
- Knockout of the Year: Osleys Iglesias vs. Evgeny Shvedenko on June 6 at the Montreal Casino. Shvedenko’s terrifying reaction to a punch that didn’t even seem to be Iglesias’s full power left me speechless on the mic. The good news is that the Ukrainian recovered, as the consequences could have been much worse.
- Performance of the Year: Shakeel Phinn vs. Erik Bazinyan in the draw they fought to in May at the Montreal Casino. A real battle between the two Quebecers, and I still believe Phinn should have been declared the winner. He has nothing to be ashamed of in his performance.
- Fight of the Year: For me, aside from the Beterbiev-Bivol fight in Saudi Arabia, it’s Patrice Volny vs. Steven Butler. There was a natural animosity between the two, and we have to admit that they should have fought each other much earlier. I thought Volny would win, and I was right. But what a battle!
- Breakout of the Year: For me, it should go to Osleys Iglesias, who very few knew before his arrival in Quebec. Since then, he’s been impressing everyone with his stunning punching power. Knockout wins against Marcelo Coceres, Shvedenko, Sena Agbeko, and Petro Ivanov, all in 2024. EOTTM is going to have a problem soon because a potential showdown between Iglesias and Christian Mbilli is on the horizon. Unless Iglesias, a big super-middleweight, eventually moves up to light heavyweight.
Dave Lévesque / Journal de Montréal
- Boxer of the Year: Artur Beterbiev.
- Knockout of the Year: Jean Pascal vs. Terry Osias.
- Performance of the Year: Christian Mbilli vs. Rohan Murdock.
- Fight of the Year: Christian Mbilli vs. Sergiy Derevyanchenko.
- Breakout of the Year: Jhon Orobio.
Francis Paquin / RDS
- Boxer of the Year: Artur Beterbiev. Who else but the undisputed light-heavyweight champion trained by Marc Ramsay? Both men are at the top of their game, and yet they seem to be able to do even better, as if such a thing were possible!
- Knockout of the Year: Osleys Iglesias vs. Evgeny Shvedenko. This right hand from the Cuban boxer was so devastating that it reminded me of Adonis Stevenson’s victory over Jesus Gonzales years ago.
- Performance of the Year: Christian Mbilli vs. Rohan Murdock. At this level, simply winning isn’t enough. You have to do it with flair, and that’s exactly what the French super-middleweight did against the Australian in Quebec. Under the watchful eyes of legendary Bob Arum, he showed that he has what it takes to be a champion and can deliver under pressure.
- Fight of the Year: Erik Bazinyan vs. Shakeel Phinn. One of the best fights presented in Quebec in recent years. Even now, it’s impossible to say there was a winner. A real draw, where both fighters had their moments. A classic!
- Breakout of the Year: Jhon Orobio. Hard to pick a winner here, but one thing’s for sure: Marc Ramsay never stops praising the young 21-year-old Colombian boxer. His eyes light up every time he talks about him, even though he’s already helped two other Colombians – Eleider Alvarez and Oscar Rivas – become world champions recently.
Frédéric Daigle / La Presse Canadienne
- Boxer of the Year: Artur Beterbiev, yes, but I’d also include amateur boxing: Wyatt Sanford, Canada’s first Olympic medal since 1996!
- Knockout of the Year: Jean Pascal vs. Terry Osias. The fight was decided, only 3 minutes left for Osias to go, but his only mistake cost him the victory and gave Pascal’s career a second life.
- Performance of the Year: Tough question. Are we talking about one fight or the overall performance throughout the year? I’ll interpret it the second way and say Sanford at the Paris Games.
- Fight of the Year: Beterbiev vs. Bivol, and Mbilli vs. Murdock… and Taylor vs. Serrano II internationally (I know, I’m cheating).
- Breakout of the Year: Dzmitry Asanau!
Laurent Poulin / Boxingtown Québec
- Boxer of the Year: Imam Khataev.
- Knockout of the Year: Osleys Iglesias vs. Evgeny Shvedenko.
- Performance of the Year: Artur Beterbiev vs. Bivol or Smith. Honestly, I opted for variety because I could have given all the trophies to Artur.
- Fight of the Year: Sébastien Bouchard vs. Jan-Michael Poulin.
- Breakout of the Year: Omar Zaatiti’s 13-0 in Olympic boxing in 2024 and his #3 world ranking at 20… Otherwise, for the pros, I’m going with Christopher Guerrero, who took down two Americans and finished the year in the top 15 worldwide.
Manny Montreal / Talking Boxing
- Boxer of the Year: Artur Beterbiev. After achieving what he has, it’s hard to mention anyone else.
Knockout of the Year: Jean Pascal vs. Terry Osias. In my opinion, [Jean Pascal] was losing every round and reminded everyone that he’s never down for the count. - Performance of the Year: First, Christopher Guerrero. He asked for a bigger challenge, and he delivered, stopping Courtney Pennington in the 4th round. Remember that Pennington had delivered a very close fight against Custio Clayton just before. Then, Jessica Camara, who went on the road to South Korea to upset the WBA Gold champion. For me, this is truly the definition of “not taking shortcuts.”
- Fight of the Year: Bazinyan vs. Phinn… I mean come on!
- Breakout of the Year: Derek Pomerleau and Wilkens Mathieu. They had high expectations, but they didn’t disappoint!
Mario Larouche / Passion-Boxe
- Boxer of the Year: Artur Beterbiev. I also considered Christian Mbilli, but I feel that will be him in 2025.
- Performance of the Year: Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol.
- Fight of the Year: Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol.
- Knockout of the Year: Osleys Iglesias vs. Evgeny Shvedenko.
- Breakout of the Year: Wilkens Mathieu.
Matt Casavant / Punching Grace
- Boxer of the Year: Artur Beterbiev.
- Knockout of the Year: Steven Butler vs. Steve Rolls.
- Performance of the Year: Christian Mbilli vs. Rohan Murdock.
- Fight of the Year: Erik Bazinyan vs. Shakeel Phinn.
- Breakout of the Year: Osleys Iglesias and – as a prospect – Wilkens Mathieu.
William Dumoulin / Boxingnews QC
- Boxer of the Year: Artur Beterbiev – An obvious choice after his wins over Callum Smith and Dmitry Bivol.
- Knockout of the Year: Iglesias vs. Shvedenko – It was such a massive knockout that I wasn’t sure Shvedenko would get up.
- Performance of the Year: Beterbiev vs. Smith – His tactical, technical, and physical dominance over Smith earns him the performance of the year.
- Fight of the Year: Poulin vs. Bouchard – A real 50/50 fight that could have gone either way.
- Breakout of the Year: Christopher Guerrero – His year overall, and especially his dominant victory over Pennington, has established him as a serious prospect.
Cumulative Results
- Boxer of the Year: Artur Beterbiev
- Knockout of the Year: Osleys Iglesias vs. Evgeny Shvedenko
- Fight of the Year: Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol & Erik Bazinyan vs. Shakeel Phinn
- Performance of the Year: Christian Mbilli vs. Rohan Murdock
- Breakout of the Year: Wilkens Mathieu
