Carl Frampton already was a world champion at the start of this year, but his accomplishments in 2016 placed him at the top of the entire boxing universe.

The 29-year-old native of Belfast, Northern Ireland, reached a level of success this year that most boxers could only dream about, traveling to two countries to win world titles in two weight divisions against a pair of undefeated champions-with the second victory coming in a Fight of the Year contender.

Reaching such heights made Carl Frampton (23-0, 14 KOs) an overwhelming unanimous decision by the staff of Premier Boxing Champions as PBC’s Fighter of the Year.

“I’m in this game to win fights and to win titles,” Frampton said, “but when you’re picking up awards like Fighter of the Year when there are so many good fighters around, obviously it’s a huge achievement, and I’m very, very grateful.”

Other fighters considered for the award were Jermall Charlo, Robert Easter Jr. and Keith Thurman. All three world champions had tremendous years of their own, but none achieved more in the squared circle in 2016 than Frampton.

“The Jackal” opened the year on February 27 by taking on fellow 122-pound world champion Scott Quigg in a title unification bout on the Englishman’s home turf at Manchester Arena.

Although the bout took several rounds to heat up, the 5-foot-5 Frampton initiated most of the action as he worked effectively behind his jab and landed the cleaner punches throughout the fight.

Even though the highly anticipated contest took place just 15 miles from Quigg’s hometown of Bury, Lancashire, much of the sellout crowd of 21,000 voiced their support for Frampton, who broke Quigg’s jaw on his way to gaining a split decision just six days after his 29th birthday.

“I’m absolutely delighted to have won. Over the moon,” Frampton said after two of the judges gave him a 116-112 edge and the third scored it 115-113 for Quigg. “The fight went very much to plan, and I thought I had won it by quite a distance. I’m really surprised one judge gave it to him.”

Rather than defend his 122-pound titles, Frampton elected to relinquish them and move up in weight. Not only that, he immediately went after one of the best 126-pound fighters in the world, traveling to Brooklyn, New York, on July 30, when he challenged unbeaten 126-pound world champion Leo Santa Cruz for his title at Barclays Center.

The bout was electrifying almost from the opening bell as both fighters attempted to press the action. In the second round, Frampton sent Santa Cruz staggering backward into the ropes with a short left hook to the temple to gain the early edge.

Although he never did knock down the champion, Frampton continually beat Santa Cruz to the punch, landing perfectly placed counter shots as he fired from all angles to thwart the Mexican-American’s high-volume attack.

Frampton, who was competing for just the second time in the United States, won the Fight of the Year candidate by majority decision, earning winning scores of 117-111 and 116-112, while the third judge surprisingly had it even at 114-114.

The victory made Frampton just the second Irishman after Steve Collins to win world titles in two weight divisions, and the first from Northern Ireland.

Frampton now has a chance to get an early jump on 2017 Fighter of the Year honors with a rematch against Santa Cruz set for January 28 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

“I never ever thought I would win a world title in two different weight divisions when I turned professional,” Frampton said.

“The goal was to become world champion-and to win a second world title, it’s a bonus really. … 2016 couldn’t have went any better if I’m being honest.”

It was a fight that was as competitive as it was engaging, a championship bout in which both participants put it all on the line until the final bell sounded. In the end, there would be only one winner in the world title fight between Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter, but there certainly was no loser.

Keith Thurman defeated Shawn Porter by unanimous decision to retain his 147-pound world championship at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on June 25 in a back-and-forth battle between two fighters in the prime of their careers.

Considering the importance and the competitive quality of the bout, Thurman vs Porter was selected by the staff of Premier Boxing Champions as PBC’s Fight of the Year for 2016.

The Thurman-Porter showdown edged out a thrilling cast of contenders that included Leo Santa Cruz vs Carl Frampton, Adonis Stevenson vs Thomas Williams Jr. and Robert Easter Jr. vs Richard Commey.

Although Thurman won by identical scores of 115-113 from all three ringside judges, the discrepancy in arriving at the final result showed just how even the fight truly was. The judges were in complete agreement on just six of the 12 rounds (giving four to Thurman), and the six disputed rounds were split down the middle for each fighter.
Also underscoring the competitiveness of those 12 rounds is the fact Porter landed just one more total punch (236-235) than Thurman, although the champ connected with more of his power shots (203-177).

Thurman-Porter was the first prime-time fight on CBS since Leon Spinks defeated Muhammad Ali in February 1978, and it proved worthy of the big stage as it gained a peak audience of nearly 4 million viewers.

The fight didn’t take long to heat up as Porter bulled his way inside in the early rounds against Thurman, who relied on his footwork and counterpunching in his attempts to neutralize the former world champion.

Thurman finally broke through with some big shots in the closing seconds of Round 3, landing with both hands while backed against the ropes. He rocked Porter again late in the fourth with a pair of left hooks to gain the early advantage.

Porter roared back and controlled the next three rounds as he used his physical approach to work effectively inside. Then he tagged Thurman in Round 8 with a potent left hook to the body that caused the champ to retreat so he could recover.

The bout reached a crescendo in the ninth and 10th as the longtime friends engaged in consecutive Round of the Year candidates in which they stood toe-to-toe and exchanged leather with unrelenting ferocity.

Although there were no knockdowns, the intense competitiveness and ebb and flow of the fight made it an instant classic.

While there is no guarantee of a rematch since Thurman is now scheduled for a March 4 title unification bout against unbeaten Danny Garcia, the prospect of a Thurman-Porter II is certainly a welcome one.

“I would give him a rematch,” Thurman said. “It was a great fight. He was a great opponent.”

Said Porter: “We need that rematch. I know the fans want that rematch. … If he gives me another chance, I’m going to work hard and [this time] leave with his title.”

Coming Friday: the PBC Fighter of the Year. For all of our year-end honors, follow our Best of PBC 2016 entries.

As the rounds went by, Deontay Wilder waited like a lion in the grass watching a herd of gazelle, anticipating the right time to strike against Artur Szpilka.

Making the third defense of his world heavyweight title on January 16 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, Deontay Wilder continually pressed forward looking to score his 35th knockout in 36 professional fights.

Artur Szpilka was the first southpaw to face Wilder in nearly three years, and the Polish challenger kept the “Bronze Bomber” largely at bay early in the bout using his mobility and working behind his jab.

As the fight progressed, though, Wilder’s desire to land a crushing blow never wavered-and he finally found his opening late in Round 9.

With the round winding down, Szpilka lunged forward and ducked his head as he attempted to blast Wilder with a wide left hook. As Szpilka let his punch go, the champ promptly countered with a mammoth straight right that caught his opponent square on the jaw and sent him flailing to the canvas.

Wilder danced across the ring in celebration without even looking back at Szpilka, who ended up flat on his back with his arms outstretched over his head and his eyes staring blankly toward the arena rafters.

“It was a devastating right hand,” Wilder said in his locker room after the fight. “I knew from the time it landed that it was over.”

The lights-out punch continued Wilder’s reign as heavyweight champion. It also gained the nod from the staff of Premier Boxing Champions as PBC’s Knockout of the Year for 2016.

The crushing KO beat out Thomas Williams Jr.’s second-round blast of Edwin Rodriguez on April 30, Adonis Stevenson’s fourth-round stoppage of Williams on July 29 and Murat Gassiev’s first-round finish of Jordan Shimmell on May 17.

“[Szpilka] was trying to be a little slick, doing his job of moving, so it took a little bit longer than I expected to adjust to him,” Wilder said after the fight. “But no fighter can withstand my right hand for a long period of time. It just took the right moment.”

After the spectacular knockout, Szpilka was carried out of the ring on a stretcher and taken to a hospital for further examination before being released.

“When you get hit solid with this right hand, it’s bad news,” Wilder said. “When I got his coordination down, where he was going to be when I threw a punch and where he was going to put his head, it was over.”

Coming Thursday: the PBC Fight of the Year. For all of our year-end honors, follow our Best of PBC 2016 entries.

Entering the late stages of a competitive, action-packed fight with a vacant 135-pound world title at stake, Robert Easter Jr. and Richard Commey upped the ante in a thrilling three minutes that brought out the best in both men.

After Commey gained a questionable knockdown of Easter in the eighth round of their September 9 bout at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania, there was complete uncertainty to which fighter had the edge on the judges’ scorecards.

With a date with greatness up for grabs, Robert Easter Jr. and Richard Commey wasted no time going back at it in Round 9, which the staff of Premier Boxing Champions has selected as PBC’s Round of the Year for 2016.

Easter-Commey beat out three other worthy candidates: Round 9 of Keith Thurman vs Shawn Porter, Round 2 of Leo Santa Cruz vs Carl Frampton and Round 4 of Adonis Stevenson vs Thomas Williams Jr. It was a closely contested round, with two of the judges siding with Easter and and one giving Commey the nod, which factored into Easter winning a split decision.

Just 10 seconds into Round 9, Easter and Commey moved into close quarters, exchanging heavy blows with both hands for nearly 30 seconds with little pause.
The fighters backed off nearly a minute in as they regrouped from the heated exchange and resumed a more measured approach working primarily with their jabs.

Commey, however, quickly ramped the action back up about 90 seconds into the round as the Ghana native began to let loose with his right hand coming behind the jab.

With a minute left in the round and a partisan crowd filled with family and friends from his hometown of Toledo, Ohio, rooting him on, Easter appeared to gain the upper hand as he pinned Commey against the ropes and landed a couple of solid rights during a flurry of punches.

After escaping the barrage, though, it was Commey’s turn to return fire as he landed a couple of rights before Easter responded with a head-turning left hook.

In the final 25 seconds, both fighters again exchanged rapid-fire blows before backing off just before the bell so that not only they could catch their breath, but that everyone watching could as well.