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Top Rank Boxing

2023 was, without any debate, the best year in recent memory for the sport of boxing. Not only were dream fights made after years of failures to materialize, but the action in the ring was often outstanding.

The year produced so many tremendous fights that it required a lot of effort for the team of CBS Sports experts to dig through 12 months of action and narrow down a ballot before even beginning to debate which bouts would top our list of the best fights of the year.

Let's dig in and see what fight emerged as the CBS Sports Fight of the Year.

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Winner: Robeisy Ramirez vs. Rafael Espinoza

As mentioned, there was no shortage of great fights in 2023, but our winner for Fight of the Year went down in the final weeks of the year. Ramirez entered as a big favorite to retain his WBO featherweight title against Espinoza. It was clear from the jump, however, that Espinoza was not going to make things easy for the two-time Olympic gold medalist.

Espinoza was giving Ramirez all he could handle in those early rounds, but Ramirez flipped the fight on its head in Round 5, scoring a huge knockdown that left Espinoza on rubber legs and spilling into the ropes after climbing to his feet. Had there been any time left in the round, Ramirez almost certainly would have gotten the stoppage. Instead, Espinoza was saved by the bell and fought through the next several rounds clearly compromised.

Espinoza eventually found his footing once again and began to win punching exchanges and pile up rounds on the scorecards. With the fight very much still in the balance in Round 12, Ramirez seemed as though he was out of gas and was forced to hold on as Espinoza poured on the pressure.

Then in the final seconds of the fight, Espinoza dropped Ramirez and secured the massive upset win on the scorecards thanks to the knockdown.

Honorable mentions

Leigh Wood vs. Mauricio Lara I

In the first of two 2023 meetings between Wood and Lara, Wood proved he had the skills to handle Lara's pressure style, piling up several rounds and building a considerable lead on the scorecards. In the seventh round, Lara landed the only punch he needed, beating Wood as both men through left hooks. Lara's landed flush and Wood dropped to the canvas. While Wood beat the count and wanted to continue, his corner threw in the towel to stop the bout and award Lara the WBA featherweight title. The pair would rematch in May, with Wood dominating and winning a unanimous decision to get his title back.

Jaime Munguia vs. Sergiy Derevyanchenko

In another fight determined by a late knockdown, Munguia went to war with Derevyanchenko for 12 rounds. The action swung back and forth with both men having great moments and other times where their leaky defense caused them to get clipped cleanly by their foe. Munguia scored a knockdown in Round 12 that secured him the fight by scores of 115-112, 114-113 and 114-113.

Others receiving votes: Devin Haney vs. Vasyl Lomachenko, Katie Taylor vs. Chantelle Cameron 2, Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov vs. Joe Cordina