Miss GB Natasha Jonas has been announced as the British Boxing Board of Control‘s ‘Fighter of the Year’ for 2022.
Jonas was presented with the award at the BBBoC’s annual awards ceremony on Sunday afternoon.
2022 saw the Liverpudlian climb three weight divisions to challenge for the vacant WBO super-welterweight title against Uruguayan Christian Namus in February.
Despite the obvious jump in size, Jonas handily dispatched of Namus inside two rounds in Manchester to claim her first world title.
The 38 year old wasted no time however and opted to unify in her first fight back against WBC champion Patricia Berghult seven months later.
A wide unanimous decision win, which saw Jonas win all ten rounds on two of the three judge’s scorecards, saw the 2012 Olympian crowned as unified champion at 154lbs in her home city of Liverpool.
Yet Jonas still had room left for one more unification before the year was out.
Canada’s Marie Eve Dicaire travelled to Manchester’s AO Arena in November, the same venue Jonas had obliterated Namus nine months prior.
Dicaire offered a sterner challenge for Jonas than Namus and Berghult given her size and physicality, but Jonas dealt with her handily to add the IBF belt to her growing collection via unanimous decision.
Twelve months earlier, Jonas faced uncertainty regarding her future in the sport after losing narrowly to lightweight champion Katie Taylor.
One last throw at the dice saw Jonas switch to the new kid on the block in Ben Shalom, whose promotion BOXXER had just signed an exclusive deal with Sky Sports.
Now, three months into 2023, Jonas sits comfortably with three of the four major super-welterweight belts around her waist and shows no signs of slowing down as she locks onto targets in 2023.
Featured image: Lawrence Lustig/BOXXER.
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