GBN Fighter of the Year- 'The Gypsy King' Tyson Fury

Tyson Fury has been voted GBN Fighter of the Year 2020 after a stunning victory against Deontay Wilder

'The Gypsy King' Tyson Fury has been voted as Fighter of the Year for 2020 by Global Boxing News after a tremendous year in the sport desipte only fighting once, and recording one of the greatest victories of his career completely dominating against Deontay Wilder in America to earn the WBC and Ring Magazine world heavyweight titles and set up an undisputed clash with Anthony Joshua.

Fury already has a phenomenal story in the sport, defeating Wladimir Klitschko in a dominant display back in 2015 before suffering with mental health issues such as anxiety and depression that he overcame and completed one of the most remarkable comebacks in sporting history.

Here is why he won our GBN Fighter of the Year Award for 2020 and the other nominees for the award:

1st Place- Tyson Fury

After completing a remarkable comeback from mental health, Tyson Fury came into 2020 on the back of two victories over Tom Schwarz and Otto Wallin and was eyeing the big prize, which was a rematch against his huge rival Deontay Wilder after a draw in their previous contest.

He parted ways with trainer Ben Davison and teamed up with SugarHill Steward to come up with one of the most incredible performances in recent boxing years, to overcome Deontay Wilder and stop the 'Bronze Bomber'.

The fight began with huge hype and build-up around Fury's chances but with uncertainty and concern after his struggles against Wallin in his previous fight and further problems meeting the target weight.

However, Tyson Fury showed what he has always shown in fighting spirit and warrior attitude, and came flying out from the opening bell and dominated wilder for seven rounds, using his power and physical presence to bully the American around the ring before Wilder who had lost any balance and momentum of his own was pulled out by his corner after sustaining too much damage handing Fury the victory and maintaining his undefeated record as a heavyweight fighter and earning him the WBC and Ring magazine heavyweight titles.

Not only a true fighter, Fury completes a tremendous amount of work in his local community, and has helped inspire millions across the globe with his comeback from mental health and the brink of suicide.

In a recent ITV documentary, the boxer was captured as a human being and a true fighter, with talented fighting running in the blood, but also vitally helping raise the vital awareness around male mental health.

2nd place- Teofimo Lopez

The American has had an absolutely incredible year completing what he set out to do and dethroning one of the pound-for-pound top fighters in the world in the shape of Vasyl Lomachenko and showing his potential to become one of the sport's greatest stars in recent times.

With a comprehensive boxing display in Las Vegas, 'The Takeover' backed up his talk with a dominant performance over Loma who did not look himself in the ring, but nothing should be taken away from the powerful technique and aggression that he showed executing his plan to perfection and becoming unified lightweight champion and will we see him fight Devin Haney for the final lightweight belt in 2021?

3rd Place- Canelo Alvarez

The pound-for-pound King Canelo Alvarez had a turbulent year in the sport, with an ongoing dispute with Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Alvarez threatening to throw his year into jeopardy as the pandemic caused havoc to the sport.

However he managed to resolve the argument in time to take on top super middleweight fighter Callum Smith for the unified crown who was largely considered the best fighter at the higher weight.

But what we have seen so much from the best active fighter in the world is world class skill and technique and he put on a top clinical performance against the Briton taking the fight the distance but effectively winning every round and dominating the fight, also injuring the face and arm of Smith throughout who could not cope with the sheer power and speed of the Mexican superstar.

2021 could be a much more promising year for the top athlete who may have several options for the new year, with the first fight likely to be a mandatory challenge against Avni Yildirim before we could see a fight with WBO champion Billy Joe Saunders or a trilogy of the highest quality against Gennady Golovkin at a catch-weight.

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