Boxing 2023: Bad Left Hook’s Fight of the Year of the Week of the Year

Just under the wire to qualify as a 2023 Year in Review award here in the USA and some parts of Western Europe… It’s time to honor the annual Fight of the Year of the Week of the Year!

If you’re a regular Bad Left Hook reader or podcast listener, you’re well acquainted with the concept of a Fight of the Year of the Week, and you’ve no doubt been frantically refreshing the home page all week, waiting for this prestigious award to drop.

But, for the benefit of the unfamiliar? A Fight of the Year of the Week is one that delivers fun and excitement, minus one or two of the usual elements found in an actual Fight of the Year contender.

If nobody got up from a knockdown, if the action was hot but the swings in momentum were limited, or if the distance was a little too short for the drama to fully blossom? That’s a Fight of the Year of the Week. All the in-the-moment heat of a Fight of the Year, but without all the final ingredients to qualify for the ultimate honor. Some weeks may have more than one, and months can pass without a single Fight of the Year of the Week.

In the spirit of the award, main events from major promoters are not eligible. Neither are undercard fights for top level belts. Either can be a Fight of the Year of the Week, but neither can win Fight of the Year of the Week of the Year.

Last year’s winner was a tremendous eight-rounder between Lindolfo Delgado and Omar Aguilar. What claims the honor this year? Read on and find out!

This is actually Mbilli celebrating a win over Vaughn Alexander. Not a lot of photos for most of the FotYotWotY finalists this year!

Photo by SEBASTIEN SALOM-GOMIS/AFP via Getty Images

HONORABLE MENTION: Christian Mbilli vs Carlos Gongora

Main Event: Mbilli vs Gongora, March 24

Where can I (legally) watch it right now?: ESPN+ (referee instructions end around 4:13:30)

What did Bad Left Hook have to say about it?

“A tough fight… Another standout 2023 fight”

In a weaker year, this one could have been an outside contender for full Fight of the Year just based on the thrilling 8th round alone. Instead, it’s been lost in the shuffle of a bumper harvest of exciting fights.

This was a main event, so you can make the case that it shouldn’t be in consideration for this particular end-of-year prize. But, it was an Eye of the Tiger main event, on a Friday night from French Canada, which isn’t exactly the brightest of spotlights on the biggest of stages. After extensive deliberation with myself, it was determined that this was a fight so good, but so low profile, that it needed to be included as an honorable mention.

That also gives me good cause to spotlight another weekday main event, Richard Vansiclen vs Manuel Gallegos, an electric ProBox main event that we described at the time as “a…