While the sport of boxing made a sensational comeback in 2017 with a splattering of big fights and an increase of meaningful bouts on regular cable, there wasn't a slam dunk choice when it came to declaring the fighter of the year.
Some top fighters lacked a singular conquest worthy of separating them from the pack (Vasyl Lomachenko and Terence Crawford) while others lacked a quality second act to match their finest performance of the calendar year (Andre Ward, Errol Spence Jr. and Leo Santa Cruz).
Taking into account everything that each fighter accomplished over the calendar year, here's a look at how each contender stacked up.
1. Anthony Joshua, unified heavyweight champion. Outside of perhaps Ward's surprise knockout of Sergey Kovalev in their light heavyweight title rematch for pound-for-pound supremacy, no one scored a more important victory in 2017 than Joshua's knockout of former champion Wladimir Klitschko in April. In front of 90,000 fans in his backyard of London's Wembley Stadium, Joshua joined his opponent in getting up off the canvas to complete a thrilling slugfest that's a leading candidate for fight of the year.
Even more important than Joshua (20-0, KOs) unifying titles and sending one of the division's best in history off to retirement was how important the bout was in restoring heavyweight interest among casual fans. With the division poised for a renaissance, the 28-year-old Joshua announced himself in 2017 as its leading man. Along the way, he grew his brand along with it, setting an indoor boxing attendance record in October when he overcame early adversity to stop determined mandatory challenger Carlos Takam in front of 78,000 fans in Wales. It's not a stretch to make the case that Joshua, right now, is the biggest star in the sport.
2. Vasyl Lomachenko, junior lightweight champion. The two-time Olympic gold medalist from Ukraine did everything in 2017 but record a signature victory to hang his hat on. A strong case could still be made for the oft-avoided Lomachenko, however, who raised his profile considerably among general sports fans by fighting twice in featured spots on ESPN and cemented his status as boxing's pound-for-pound king. He also snake-charmed a trio of fighters into quitting on their stool by beating the will out of them with his dazzling display of footwork and technique. Among Lomachenko's three defenses of his WBO 130-pound title, none were more impressive than his December stoppage of unbeaten Guillermo Rigondeaux when the Cuban amateur legend (like Nicholas Walters the year before) was forced to issue a "no mas" out of frustration.
3. Gennady Golovkin, unified middleweight champion. Had it not been for the horrendous scorecard of Adelaide Byrd during his much-anticipated pay-per-view clash with Canelo Alvarez in September, Golovkin (37-0-1, 33 KOs) would likely have been the unanimous choice for this award. Instead, the Kazakh slugger, known simply as "GGG", settled for a draw, with a big-money rematch likely on deck for May 2018. But Golovkin, who owns a trio of 160-pound title belts, did nothing to dissuade the thought that he's still the division's best fighter in 2017, and among the very best in the sport. The 35-year-old Golovkin's first appearance of 2017 was also impressive as he went the 12-round distance for the first time in his career to outpoint a hungry and skilled Daniel Jacobs.
4. Terence Crawford, unified junior welterweight champion. "Bud" closed out his run at 140 pounds by unifying all four recognized belts in a single weight class for just the fourth time since boxing's title system became splintered in the late 1980s. The unbeaten Crawford, 30, created an outside case for being considered the P4P best after completely dismantling Felix Diaz and Julius Indongo in a pair of stoppage wins. For all of the attention given to fighters like Lomachenko, Golovkin and Alvarez, it's Crawford (32-0, 23 KOs) who continues to quietly dazzle somewhat under the radar on his journey to big fights at 147 pounds.
5. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, junior bantamweight champion. Raise your hand if you had heard of Sor Rungvisai (44-4-1 40 KOs), who is also known by his given name of Wisaksil Wangek, before his pair of victories over unbeaten Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez in 2017. Now raise your hand if you have heard of any of the five opponents he beat in 2016, all in his native Thailand including three with losing records and two who were making their pro debuts. That's how unlikely the former 115-pound world title challenger, who had never fought outside of Asia, was to be in contention for this honor. But Sor Rungvisai, 31, made an incredible splash in a pair of bouts against the reigning P4P king. His disputed majority decision win in March announced him as a warrior who refused to take a step back. But his brutal fourth-round knockout over Gonzalez in their September rematch cemented him as a serious player in the lower weight classes and brought violent closure to their rivalry.
Honorable mentions: Mikey Garcia, Leo Santa Cruz, Andre Ward, Errol Spence Jr., Naoya Inoue, Badou Jack, Jeff Horn.
