Living up to its billing—and then some—boxing's best bout in 2022 is a no-brainer.
As 2022 winds down, Sports Illustrated is looking back at the themes and teams, storylines and throughlines that shaped the year.
Transport back to April, to Madison Square Garden, to a 10th round that featured two champions standing inside a ring and never straying from each other, as if tethered to the moment and what it meant. The crowd rose and roared. Flurries were delivered without pause. The exchanges never stopped. A full 142 punches were doled out in that final two-minute stanza alone.