1920s
- 1922 -
Harry Greb W 15 Gene Tunney - 1923 - Jack Dempsey KO 2
Luis Firpo - 1924 - Gene Tunney KO 15
Georges Carpentier - 1925 - Harry Greb W 15 Mickey Walker
- 1926 - Gene Tunney W 10 Jack Dempsey I
- 1927 - Gene Tunney W 10 Jack Dempsey II - see The Long Count Fight
- 1928 - Tommy Loughran W 15 Leo Lomski
- 1929 -
Max Schmeling KO 9 Johnny Risko
1930s
- 1930 -
Jackie Kid Berg W 10 
Kid Chocolate I - 1931 -
Max Schmeling KO 15 Young Stribling - 1932 - Tony Canzoneri W 15 Billy Petrolle II
- 1933 - Max Baer KO 10 Max Schmeling
- 1934 - Barney Ross W 15
Jimmy McLarnin I - 1935 - Joe Louis KO 4 Max Baer
- 1936 - Max Schmeling KO 12 Joe Louis I
- 1937 - Joe Louis W 15 Tommy Farr
- 1938 - Henry Armstrong W 15 Lou Ambers I
- 1939 - Joe Louis KO 11 Bob Pastor II
1940s
- 1940 -
Ceferino Garcia D 10 Henry Armstrong - 1941 - Joe Louis KO 13 Billy Conn I
- 1942 - Willie Pep W 15 Chalky Wright I
- 1943 - Beau Jack W 15 Bob Montgomery II
- 1944 - Bob Montgomery W 15 Beau Jack III
- 1945 - Rocky Graziano KO 10 Red Cochrane I
- 1946 - Tony Zale KO 6 Rocky Graziano I
- 1947 - Rocky Graziano KO 6 Tony Zale II
- 1948 - Marcel Cerdan KO 12 Tony Zale
- 1949 - Willie Pep W 15 Sandy Saddler II
1950s
Sugar Ray Robinson, being held aloft by Gene Fullmer and Carmen Basilio in 1965. Basilio engaged in five consecutive 'fight of the year' contests, three of them coming against either Robinson or Fullmer.
- 1950 - Jake LaMotta KO 15 Laurent Dauthuille II
- 1951 - Jersey Joe Walcott KO 7 Ezzard Charles III
- 1952 - Rocky Marciano KO 13 Jersey Joe Walcott I
- 1953 - Rocky Marciano KO 11 Roland La Starza II
- 1954 - Rocky Marciano KO 8 Ezzard Charles II
- 1955 - Carmen Basilio KO 12 Tony DeMarco II
- 1956 - Carmen Basilio KO 9 Johnny Saxton II
- 1957 - Carmen Basilio W 15 Sugar Ray Robinson I
- 1958 - Sugar Ray Robinson W 15 Carmen Basilio II
- 1959 -
Gene Fullmer KO 14 Carmen Basilio I
1960s
- 1960 -
Floyd Patterson KO 5 
Ingemar Johansson II - 1961 - Joe Brown W 15 Dave Charnley II
- 1962 - Joey Giardello W 10 Henry Hank II
- 1963 - Cassius Clay W 10 Doug Jones
- 1964 - Muhammad Ali KO 7 Sonny Liston I - see Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston
- 1965 - Floyd Patterson W 12
George Chuvalo - 1966 -
José Torres W 15 Eddie Cotton - 1967 -
Nino Benvenuti W 15 
Emile Griffith I - 1968 -
Dick Tiger W 10 Frank DePaula - 1969 - Joe Frazier KO 7 Jerry Quarry I
1970s
Muhammad Ali, who engaged in more 'fight of the year' contests than any other fighter in boxing history; six spanning almost two decades.
- 1970 - Carlos Monzón KO 12 Nino Benvenuti I
- 1971 - Joe Frazier W 15 Muhammad Ali I - see Fight of the Century
- 1972 - Bob Foster KO 14 Chris Finnegan
- 1973 - George Foreman KO 2 Joe Frazier I
- 1974 - Muhammad Ali KO 8 George Foreman - see The Rumble in the Jungle
- 1975 - Muhammad Ali TKO 14 Joe Frazier III - see Thrilla in Manila
- 1976 - George Foreman KO 5 Ron Lyle
- 1977 - Jimmy Young W 12 George Foreman
- 1978 - Leon Spinks W 15 Muhammad Ali I
- 1979 - Danny Lopez KO 15 Mike Ayala
1980s
- 1980 - Matthew Saad Muhammad KO 14
Yaqui Lopez II - 1981 - Sugar Ray Leonard KO 14 Thomas Hearns I - see Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns
- 1982 - Bobby Chacon UD 15 Rafael Limon IV
- 1983 - Bobby Chacon W 12
Cornelius Boza Edwards II - 1984 - José Luis Ramírez KO 4 Edwin Rosario II
- 1985 - Marvelous Marvin Hagler KO 3 Thomas Hearns - see The War
- 1986 - Stevie Cruz W 15 Barry McGuigan
- 1987 - Sugar Ray Leonard W 12 Marvelous Marvin Hagler
- 1988 - Tony Lopez W 12 Rocky Lockridge I
- 1989 -
Roberto Durán W 12 Iran Barkley - see Roberto Durán vs. Iran Barkley
1990s
- 1990 - Julio César Chávez TKO 12 Meldrick Taylor I
- 1991 - Robert Quiroga W 12 Akeem Anifowoshe
- 1992 - Riddick Bowe W 12 Evander Holyfield I - see Evander Holyfield vs. Riddick Bowe
- 1993 - Michael Carbajal KO 7 Humberto González I - see Michael Carbajal vs. Humberto Gonzalez I
- 1994 - Jorge Castro KO 9 John David Jackson I
- 1995 -
Saman Sorjaturong KO 7 Humberto González - 1996 - Evander Holyfield TKO 11 Mike Tyson I - see Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield
- 1997 - Arturo Gatti KO 5 Gabriel Ruelas
- 1998 - Ivan Robinson W 10 Arturo Gatti I
- 1999 - Paulie Ayala W 12 Johnny Tapia I
2000s
Arturo Gatti at post-fight press conference on June 7, 2003 after his third fight with Micky Ward
- 2000 - Erik Morales W 12 Marco Antonio Barrera I - see Barrera vs. Morales trilogy
- 2001 - Micky Ward W 10 Emanuel Augustus
- 2002 - Micky Ward W 10 Arturo Gatti I
- 2003 - Arturo Gatti W 10 Micky Ward III
- 2004 - Marco Antonio Barrera W 12 Erik Morales III - see Barrera vs. Morales trilogy
- 2005 - Diego Corrales KO 10 José Luis Castillo I - see Diego Corrales vs. Jose Luis Castillo
- 2006 - Somsak Sithchatchawal KO 10 Mahyar Monshipour
- 2007 - Israel Vázquez TKO 6 Rafael Márquez II
- 2008 - Israel Vázquez W 12 Rafael Márquez III
- 2009 - Juan Manuel Marquez KO 9 Juan Diaz I
2010s
- 2010 - Giovani Segura KO 8 Ivan Calderon I
- 2011 - Victor Ortiz W 12 Andre Berto
- 2012 - Juan Manuel Marquez KO 6 Manny Pacquiao IV - see Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Márquez IV
- 2013 - Timothy Bradley W 12
Ruslan Provodnikov - 2014 - Lucas Matthysse KO 11 John Molina, Jr.
- 2015 - Francisco Vargas TKO 9
Takashi Miura