The Ring Magazine Awards London 2024

The Ring Magazine held its annual awards ceremony in London—the event, which was a result of Turki Al-Sheikh's new ownership of the magazine. Oleksandr Usyk secured Male Fighter of the Year. In Usyk's acceptance speech, he playfully referenced Tyson Fury "My Friend Greedy Belly," Usyk received this award due to 2 victories over Tyson Fury and becoming the first fully unified heavyweight champion in May 2024. Usyk was nominated for 3 awards and won all 3. 

Michael Buffer when interviewed called it "The Oscars of boxing".

Other award winners were:

• Female Fighter of the Year - Gabriela Fundora
• Fight of the Year: Raymond Ford vs. Otabek Kholmatov
• Knockout of the Year: Daniel Dubois
• Trainer of the Year: Robert Garcia
• Event of the Year: Usyk vs. Fury I
• Lifetime Achievement Award: Don King
• Prospect of the Year: Moses Itauma

Moses Itauma was interviewed on the red carpet with stablemate and heavyweight contender Fabio Wardley:

Moses took the mic and playfully asked Fabio "Who is the next victim".

There is talk of Moses already going for the WBO interim title and when asked about the recent Telegraph article on himself, he simply replied "I don't read articles, there is too much on there". 

Moses Itauma at only 20 years old is touted for greatness by not only journalists around the world but also elite fighters. 

On the red carpet when asked about him Devin Haney stated "He's going to be a star in boxing"

When Haney was asked about his next bout he responded "There are question marks and unfinished business". This was regarding Ryan Garcia and he also stated it could happen at a "catch-weight 44-43" meaning they could both agree on around 143-144 pounds for the weigh-in. He ended by stating "We are planning something". So don't be surprised to see something announced after Garcia's ban is over...

After a brief altercation with Conor Benn, Ryan Garcia stated "It's been hard watching everyone get a fight" and his "Target date was May". Before leaving, Benn had some choice words for Garcia about a potential matchup and before that Garcia stated "Very likely, very close" regarding the Haney rematch and "Big plans man, ready to take on tough challenges". Also, he added, "They've got to drop the lawsuit amongst other things". 

When asked about upcoming fights Conor Benn stated "I stay in the gym, I stay ready". Also, he was ready to face Mario Barrios or Chris Eubank Jr next. 

Chris Eubank Jr was also ready for a big bout stating he wanted "3 fights this year" looking at "World titles and massive fights"

When asked about finalising Benn Vs Eubank promoter Eddie Hearn stated "We will move forward tonight" after Kugan Cassius read a text stating "I'll pay you what you want" regarding Hearn messaging Chris Eubank Jr. 

Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez also attended the event and had a short interview about what people had been speculating and he simply stated "Criticism is part of the success".

Joe Parker attended and when asked about his upcoming fight Vs Daniel Dubois, Parker stated he was consuming 10,000 calories per day and was "Losing weight still". He was currently between 121-127kg. He was originally fighting heavyweight Zhilei Zhang in a rematch but got the opportunity to become a two-time world champ Vs Dubois on Sat Feb 22nd in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Parker ended by stating he was going up in weight originally for Zhang but now wanted to be leaner to "Maintain weight and speed" to face Britain's Daniel Dubois for the Heavyweight Championship of The World in just over 5 weeks. 

Sources: Talksport, IFLTV and Ring Magazine.