Four current BoxingScene.com writers — Manouk Akopyan, Tris Dixon, Kieran Mulvaney and Eric Raskin — and former BoxingScene writers Sean Nam and Cliff Rold have been recognized in this year’s “Bernies” competition, which honors the best boxing writing among members of the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Akopyan received an honorable mention in the news story category for “Jake Paul's Multi-Platform Distributed PPV vs. Nate Diaz Shows Fighters The Power Of Controlling Their Careers.”

Dixon, BoxingScene’s editor-in-chief, earned an honorable mention in the category for feature stories longer than 1,500 words for an article originally published by Boxing News.

Mulvaney was awarded two honorable mentions. His article, “Felix Verdejo: From Talented Contender to Cold-Blooded Murderer,” was recognized in the column category. And his piece, “Interviewing Roberto Duran,” got the nod for feature stories longer than 1,500 words. Both articles originally appeared on ProBoxTV.com. 

Raskin picked up an honorable mention for his article, "The Only Good Decision Is No Decision," which makes the slightly satirical case to go back to the old days of “no decisions” and “newspaper decisions,” rather than letting random/bad judging put wins and losses on fighters’ records. The article originally appeared in Ringside Seat magazine.

Nam earned an honorable mention in the investigative reporting category for “ABC Head Justifies Florida’s Decision to Allow Return of Conor Benn, Questions Transparency of BBBofC.”

Rold earned an honorable mention in the category for feature stories shorter than 1,500 words for “Terence Crawford/Naoya Inoue: Nine Years Converge.”

BoxingScene.com congratulates its current and former contributors, as well as all of the other talented boxing writers whose work in 2023 was deservingly recognized.

The following is the official news release from the Boxing Writers Association of America:

Elliot Worsell of Boxing News captured three first-place prizes for the 2023 Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) Bernies, Recognizing Excellence in Boxing Journalism. Worsell’s awards makes him and his publication the biggest winners.

Boxing News, a magazine founded in 1909, finished in the top three positions of first, second or third in six categories.

Worsell secured first place in the categories of Boxing Event Coverage, Boxing Feature (under 1,500 words) and Boxing Feature (over 1,500 words). 

He also placed second in the Boxing Investigative Reporting category.

In the category of Boxing Event Coverage, Jimmy Tobin (Hannibal Boxing) finished second while Joseph Santoliquito (The Ring) finished third.

For the Boxing Column category, first place went to Jose Corpas (NYFight.com), second went to Donald Stradley (Donstradley.blogspot.com) and third went to Jimmy Tobin (Hannibal Boxing).

In the Boxing News Story category, Don Stradley was the winner as Greg Bishop (Sports Illustrated) came in second and Matt Christie (Boxing News) claimed third place.

For the Boxing Feature category (under 1,500 words), Jose Corpas finished second behind Worsell while Donald Stradley came in third.

In the Boxing Feature category (over 1,500 words), Jack Hirsch (Boxing News) and Norm Frauenheim (The Ring) finished in second and third place, respectively behind Worsell.

The Boxing Investigative Reporting category saw Thomas Hauser (Boxing News) capture first place, while Worsell finished second and Oliver Fennell (Boxing News) and Don Stradley tied for third.

The judges for the 2023 BWAA Bernies were: RON BORGES, (former) Boston Globe and Boston Herald and member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF); TOMMY DEAS, USA Today Sports Network; BERNARD FERNANDEZ (retired) Philadelphia Daily News, former president BWAA, member IBHOF; WALLACE MATTHEWS, Nat Fleischer Award winner, former BWAA President, member IBHOF; JAKE DONOVAN, BoxingScene, Senior Writer, ANTHONY CARTER PAIGE, (retired) WFAN Radio and former BWAA President.

The following is the complete listing of winners and the Honorable Mentions: 

2023 BWAA BERNIES AWARD WINNERS 

BOXING EVENT COVERAGE

First Place

ELLIOT WORSELL, “Work of Genius: Masterful Terence Crawford Shows Us That in Las Vegas Even ‘The Truth’ is Not the Truth,” Boxing News, July 29, 2023 

Second Place

JIMMY TOBIN, “Enough is Not Enough: Naoya Inoue Annihilates Stephen Fulton,” Hannibal Boxing, July 25, 2023

Third Place

JOSEPH SANTOLIQUITO, “Naoya Inoue Proves He is the World’s Best Pound for Pound by Stopping Stephen Fulton in Eight,” The Ring, July 25, 2023

Honorable Mention: Greg Bishop, Sports Illustrated; Matt Christie, Boxing News; Alan Dawson, Business Insider; Thomas Hauser, The Guardian; Dan Rafael, danrafael.substack.com; Don Stradley, Donstradley.blogspot.com; David Weinberg, 973ESPN.com 

BOXING COLUMN

First Place

JOSE CORPAS, “Never in the Finals, the Unattached Fighter,” NYFights.com, June 30, 2023

Second Place

DON STRADLEY, “Nick Charles Hall of Famer,” Donstradley.blogspot.com, December 21, 2023

Third Place

JIMMY TOBIN, “Stopping Short of the End: On Saul Alvarez,” Hannibal Boxing, May 9, 2023

Honorable Mention: Matthew Aguilar, NYFights.com; Thomas Hauser, The Guardian; Keiran Mulvaney, ProBoxTV; Ryan O’Hara, NYFights.com; Eric Raskin, Ringside Seat; Joseph Santoliquito, The Ring; Elliot Worsell, Boxing News

BOXING NEWS STORY 

First Place

DON STRADLEY, “Another Tainted Star in the IBHOF,” Donstradley.blogspot.com, December 31, 2023 

Second Place

GREG BISHOP, “Roiman Villa is Fighting for Family in Career-Defining Bout with Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis,” Sports Illustrated, July 7, 2023 

Third Place

MATT CHRISTIE, “A Man of Great and Rare Integrity,” Boxing News, February 16, 2023

Honorable Mention: Manouk Akopyan, BoxingScene.com; Thomas Hauser, Boxing News;  Dan Rafael, danrafael.substack.com; Michael Rothstein, ESPN.com; David Weinberg, 973ESPN.com 

BOXING FEATURE (Under 1,500 words) 

First Place

ELLIOT WORSELL, “How to Lose: There are Many Ways to Lose in Boxing and Sometimes Losing Feels Like Winning,” Boxing News, November 23, 2023 

Second Place

JOSE CORPAS, “A Simple Gesture: Remembering Corpas vs. Laporte,” NYFights.com, July 14, 2023 

Third Place

DON STRADLEY, “Adieu, Boo Boo,” Donstradley.blog.spot.com, November 22, 2023 

Honorable Mention: Matt Christie, Boxing News; Oliver Fennell, Boxing News; Norm Frauenheim, 15 Rounds; Thomas Hauser, The Guardian; Mark Kriegel, ESPN; Dan Rafael, danrafael.substack.com; Cliff Rold, BoxingScene.com; Michael Rothstein, ESPN.com; David Weinberg, 973ESPN.com 

BOXING FEATURE (Over 1,500 words) 

First Place

ELLIOT WORSELL, “The Intervention: Froch vs. Groves, 10 Years On,” Boxing News, November 23, 2023

Second Place

JACK HIRSCH, “The Ultimate Survivor,” Boxing News, August 3, 2023 

Third Place

NORM FRAUENHEIM, “David Benavidez: An Unlikely Journey from Unknown to Unbeaten,” The Ring, April 2023 

Honorable Mention: Matthew Aguilar, NYFights.com; Jose Corpas, NYFights.com; Tris Dixon, Boxing News; Oliver Fennell, Boxing News; Josh Katzowitz, Forbes.com; Diego Morilla, RingTV.com; Kieran Mulvaney, ProBoxTV; Michael Rothstein, ESPN.com; Lewis Watson, Boxing News Magazine 

BOXING INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING

First Place

THOMAS HAUSER, “A 50-Point Primer on Boxing and Performance Enhancing Drugs,” Boxing News, September 19, 2023 

Second Place

ELLIOT WORSELL, “I Am the Referee: An Investigation of the British Boxing Board of Control’s Process for Appointing New Referees,” Boxing News, February 20, 2023 

Third Place (Tie)

OLIVER FENNELL, “Man in the Middle: Ian John-Lewis Reflects in His Career as the Third Man in the Ring,” Boxing News, March 23, 2023

DON STRADLEY, “The Legend and the Lies,” Ring Magazine, September 2023Honorable Mention: Hector Franco, NY Fights.com; Sean Nam, BoxingScene.com; Ryan O’Hara, NYFights.com; Michael Rothstein, ESPN.com