If there was any doubt as to who the face of boxing was entering 2019, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez answered it. The 29 year-old Mexican beat two quality opponents last year, outpointing Daniel Jacobs to defend his world middleweight championship in May, then jumping up two weight classes to stop WBO light heavyweight titlist Sergey Kovalev in November. So naturally, Alvarez was the overwhelming choice of the Boxing Writers Association of America as the 2019 Fighter of the Year, joining Ring, ESPN, The Athletic and Sports Illustrated in that selection.

 

This is the first time Alvarez (53-1-2, 36 KOs) is the BWAA’s Fighter of the Year. It also marks the first time in 32 years that a Mexican fighter won the award since Hall of Famer Julio Cesar Chavez won the honor in 1987.

 

Team Alvarez achieved another victory with Eddy Reynoso being selected as the Trainer of the Year. Reynoso is the second Mexican to earn the distinction, joining Abel Sanchez (2015 TOY). One special feature the Alvarez-Reynoso combination will receive is the first all-Mexican fighter-trainer team to be chosen in the same year in the BWAA’s 94-year history.

 

Alvarez, who garnered 81% of the vote, closed 2019 as the #1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world according to the BWAA, Ring and ESPN. In the BWAA’s election, he beat out Naoya Inoue, Manny Pacquiao, Errol Spence Jr. and Josh Taylor.

 

“This is a great honor and privilege, and something that I'm very proud to accomplish,” Canelo said. “It's something I've waited for a while to achieve. I'm so happy to be a part of history as the second Mexican to win this. I'm overwhelmed with the news that Eddy received Trainer of the Year. I've worked with Eddy since I was at a young age. All of the hard work and sacrifices got us to this point. I'm happy that we've accomplished this together.”

 

In December, the BWAA announced that Katie Taylor was the 2019 Female Fighter of the Year. In 2019, Taylor extended her unbeaten record to 15-0 (with 6 knockouts), successfully defended three lightweight titles in March, unified all lightweight titles with a majority-decision victory in June over fellow pound-for-pound member Delfine Persoon, then followed that up with a 140-pound title in November, making her a two-division champion.

 

Taylor, 33, from Bray, Ireland, becomes the third recipient of the BWAA’s Christy Martin award, following Cecilia Braekhus (2017) and Claressa Shields (2018).

 

The Christy Martin award is chosen by a select group of women’s boxing experts. “I’m honored and delighted to be receiving this,” Taylor said. “This is one of the more prestigious awards in boxing. To receive it at the end of an amazing year is an even bigger honor.”