Winning the Ring Magazine ‘Fighter of the Year’ award is by no means an easy task.
The award would officially begin in 1928 when Gene Tunney won the first-ever edition of the accolade. It would then go on to be won by the greatest heavyweights of all time such as Muhammad Ali (x6), George Foreman (x2), and Evander Holyfield (x3).
Other multiple winners of the award include Rocky Marciano, Dick Tiger, and Joe Louis.
However, since the turn of the century, only four fighters have been able to pick up the award on multiple occasions. Fighters like James Toney and Floyd Mayweather would pick up two awards on either side of the year 2000, but not twice in the same century.
This means that the exclusive four-man list only consists of the absolute best.
Manny Pacquiao – 2006, 2008, 2009
Philippine fighter Manny Pacquiao is one of the greatest lightweight boxers of all time and has the record for the most world titles in different weight divisions.
This means it may not come as a surprise that the boxing legend won three ‘Fighter of the Year’ awards in the span of four years.
In 2006, ‘Pac-Man’ earned the award thanks to wins over two wins over Erik Morales, and Oscar Larios.
2008 would see a treble of victories for Pacquiao, defeating Juan Manuel Marquez, David Diaz, and Oscar De La Hoya.
Finally, he would win his third ‘Fighter of the Year’ award in 2009, as Pacquiao got an incredible knockout over Ricky Hatton and a stoppage over Miguel Cotto.
Tyson Fury – 2015, 2020
Before retiring at the start of 2025, Fury was able to pick up two of the Ring Magazine’s prestigious awards.
He was first given the accolade in 2015 when he followed up a win over Christian Hammer with an epic triumph over Wladimir Klitschko in Germany.
The ‘Gypsy King’ would then be ineligible to win the award again until 2018, as he took a career break. However, his second award would come in 2020.
It would take just one outing in 2020 to win the award for the second time. An incredible performance in the rematch with Deontay Wilder would earn the ‘Gypsy King’ the accolade, as many fights were halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, Fury did share the award with Teofimo Lopez in 2020.
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Canelo Alvarez – 2019, 2021
As a fighter who has been a world champion for over 10 years, Canelo Alvarez has easily established himself as one of the greatest boxers of the 21st century.
Alvarez’s achievements were recognized in both 2019 and 2021 when the boxing magazine awarded the Mexican their ‘Fighter of the Year’ award.
A brace of impressive victories over Daniel Jacobs and Sergey Kovalev would earn him the award for the first time.
Then, a ninth-month spell in 2021 would see Alvarez defeat Avni Yilidrim, Billy Joe Saunders, and Caleb Plant all by stoppage in world super middleweight title fights, as he unified the division.
Oleksandr Usyk – 2018, 2024
The latest man to join the elite list is Ukranian-great, Oleksandr Usyk.
The former undisputed cruiserweight and heavyweight champion was given the honor twice in his career, six years apart from one another.
Back-to-back wins over Mairis Briedis and Murat Gassiev, before an epic performance against Tony Bellew would earn him the 2018 honor.
As for 2024, an incredible double over rival Fury would see him become the undisputed heavyweight champion, as well as the Ring Magazine ‘Fighter of the Year’.