By Paul R. Jones: With awards season in full swing and 2024 in the rearview, I’m counting down Boxing’s Top 5 Gutsiest Performances of 2024 and handing out the hardware to honor the fighters who got us here.
No. 5. GUTSIEST PERFORMANCE
Photo © DAZN on X
NOMINEE: BEKTEMIR MELIKUZIEV
• Date: April 20, 2024
• Venue: Barclays Center (Brooklyn, NY)
Ranked contender, BEKTEMIR MELIKUZIEV, and undefeated challenger, PIERRE HUBERT DIBOMBE, squared off in April on the HANEY vs. GARCIA undercard for the WBA Inter-Continental Super Middleweight Title. What ensued was a bloody mess, due in part to MELIKUZIEV and DIBOMBE sustaining deep lacerations to their respective eyes, which were caused by accidental headbutts and elbows exchanged in close quarters. Although DIBOMBE sustained a manageable cut in the opening round, MELIKUZIEV’s gruesome cut in the 5th stanza, courtesy of a nasty clash of heads with DIBOMBE, was far worse, leaving the self-proclaimed “BULLY” bleeding profusely from his eyelid for the remainder of the fight. Fortunately for MELIKUZIEV, he banked enough early rounds and was comfortably ahead on the cards when the fight was stopped in the 8th round by the ringside physician due to an accidental headbutt. And it came as no surprise when MELIKUZIEV was awarded a technical unanimous decision win over DIBOMBE when the final scorecards were read.
No. 4. GUTSIEST PERFORMANCE
Photo © The World Boxing Association/@wbaboxingofficial
NOMINEE: JONO CARROLL
• Date: July 24, 2024
• Venue: IBA Colosseum (Serpukhov, RUS)
In an entertaining fight pitting heavy underdog, JONO CARROLL, against former Olympic gold medalist, ALBERT BATYRGAZIEV, for the WBA (Interim) Super Featherweight title, CARROLL started off hot over the first quarter of the fight, even buzzing BATYRGAZIEV badly in the 3rd round. However, over the remainder of the fight, BATYRGAZIEV delivered a systematic beatdown to CARROLL, battering CARROLL to the head and body, and ultimately ending the Irishman’s night in the 9th round with savage body shots.
In the fight’s aftermath, CARROLL quipped, “I’ll have to put me modeling career back awhile.” That’s an understatement considering the boxing makeover that BATYRGAZIEV gave CARROL. For CARROLL’s bravery, and his ability to persevere despite having both eyes nearly swollen shut — the likes we haven’t seen since GUERRERO vs. BERTO in 2012 – CARROLL earned the number 4 spot on our list.
Photo © Jae C. Hong/AP
No. 3. GUTSIEST PERFORMANCE
Photo © NETFLIX
🥉3rd PLACE: AMANDA SERRANO
• Date: NOVEMBER 24, 2024
• Venue: AT&T STADIUM (ARLINGTON, TX)
Our 3rd place finisher, AMANDA SERRANO, pushed it to the max in TAYLOR VS. SERRANO – II (Women’s Boxing’s consensus FIGHT OF THE YEAR), fighting KATIE TAYLOR with a nasty gash over her right eye for the final 3 rounds. Although SERRANO fought TAYLOR nip-and-tuck throughout their 10 rounder, it was SERRANO’s ability to ratchet up her performance in the clutch that stood out — with the Boricua legend rattling off 285 of her 734 punches thrown (39%, per COMPUBOX) after receiving a headbutt from TAYLOR in round 8. And with 4 World Titles on the line, and despite contending with blood consistently trickling into her eye during the championship rounds, SERRANO proved here mettle once again coming up a hair short in controversial decision loss to TAYLOR (scorecards: 95-94 [thrice]) — a fight that many believed SERRANO winning.
No. 2. GUTSIEST PERFORMANCE
Photo © Esther Lin/PBC
🥈RUNNER UP: SEBASTIAN FUNDORA
• Date: March 30, 2024
• Venue: T-Mobile Arena (Las Vegas, NV)
Checking in at number 2 on our countdown is late fill-in, SEBASTIAN FUNDORA, who edged former WBO world champ, TIM TSZYU, by split decision in March, serving as one-half of 2024’s bloodiest battle, TSZYU vs. FUNDORA.
Photo © Esther Lin/PBC
Despite sustaining nasty cuts and bleeding that covered his face and body, and blurred his vison at times, including FUNDORA’s nose and mouth leaking like a faucet — ‘THE TOWERING INFERNO’ managed to fire off over 700 of the combined 1100 punches exchanged in this bout. Equally important, FUNDORA’s history-making win, in which he edged TSZYU by split decision to become a unified Super Welterweight World Champ (WBC/WBO), helped to produce an instant FIGHT OF THE YEAR candidate that was well-deserving of a second-place finish. A matchup that left fans clamoring for a rematch of this ‘bloody-good’ affair.
No. 1. GUTSIEST PERFORMANCE
Photo © @MIKAELALAUREN76/Instagram
🏆WINNER: MIKAELA LAUREN
• Date: November 30, 2024
• Venue: Hotel InterContinental (Vienna, AUST)
Finally, 2024’s gutsiest performance came from former World Champ, MIKAELA LAUREN, of Sweden. In a November championship bout versus reigning titlist, MICHAELA KOTASKOVA, the 48-year-old LAUREN proved that she is indeed “a Warrior”, fighting until the final bell despite suffering horrific facial swelling. LAUREN’s swelling reportedly stemmed from a crack in her skull, which resulted from a handful of accidental headbutts that were delivered as early as the 1st round.
Making matters worse, the younger KOTASKOVA laid a beating on LAUREN with the cumulative effects of KOTASKOVA’s punches, and the inadvertent head clashes, leaving LAUREN’s face virtually unrecognizable after the bout, resembling a character out of central casting for the movie, The Elephant Man.
Although LAUREN quipped post-fight that she “look[ed] like a Freak Show”, her courage is undeniable, having taken on an undefeated and prime world-ranked contender 13 years her junior, at an age where more people are more worried about their 401Ks than they are about trading leather. And it’s for these reasons, as well as the significant physical toll endured by MIKAELA LAUREN that she tops the list with the GUTSIEST PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR!
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Paul R. Jones! is a longtime boxing writer and ringside photographer for Boxing News 24. A scientist by day and writer by night, he covers the humorous, offbeat, and absurd from the sport of boxing. His articles, photographs, and commentaries have appeared on many online outlets (such as Boxing News 24/7, Round by Round Boxing, Boxing Insider, and Medium.com), as well as in print and scholarly journals.
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