A GUIDE TO THE NEW YEAR: FIVE FIGHTERS TO WATCH IN 2024

Jaron Ennis, right, could be fighting top opponents now that he has the IBF welterweight world title. Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Boxing's pound-for-pound best delivered some worthy performances in 2023.

Artur Beterbiev kicked off the campaign by keeping his perfect KO ratio intact with a thrilling TKO defeat of Anthony Yarde to retain three light heavyweight titles.

Three months later, a well-placed body shot by Gervonta Davis stopped Ryan Garcia in the year's biggest commercial fight. In July, Naoya Inoue dominated Stephen Fulton in his 122-pound debut and displayed his generational talent, before unifying titles to become undisputed champion in a second division with another impressive KO win over Marlon Tapales on Dec. 26.

And Devin Haney won every round and even dropped Regis Prograis to become a two-division champ on Dec. 9.

The best performance of all, of course, belonged to Terence Crawford, who dismantled Errol Spence Jr., in a tour de force victory to cement welterweight supremacy.

But what about all the fighters that sit just outside ESPN's pound-for-pound top 10? There are many boxers with a genuine opportunity to inch closer to that recognition in 2024.

Here are five such boxers we believe are appointment viewing in 2024 (in no particular order):

TIM TSZYU COULD FACE ERROL SPENCE, TERENCE CRAWFORD OR CANELO ALVAREZ

No Limit Boxing 

A potential big-money, career-defining fight could be on the cards for Tim Tszyu if the recently elevated WBO junior middleweight champion is able to overcome Brian Mendoza this weekend on the Gold Coast.

Tszyu (23-0, 17KOs) will return to the scene of his June demolition of Carlos Ocampo, where he showcased power, precision and efficiency before flooring the Mexican after just 77 seconds. The dominant performance was expected to finally land Tszyu a highly-anticipated fight against Jermell Charlo for the American's quartet of belts at 154 pounds.

"He's the man, I'll give him that, and I'm just under," Tszyu said of Charlo after his win over Ocampo. "I've got this interim belt, but I'm not satisfied. It's not just the belts, I want the name Charlo on my wrist."

Tszyu and Charlo had initially been slated to fight in January, but those plans were scuppered when Charlo suffered a broken left hand during training camp. By mid-year, the WBO had mandated Charlo to fight Tszyu before September 30, but the bout again failed to eventuate with Charlo instead opting to face Canelo Alvarez at supermiddleweight - a fight he would ultimately lose via a lopsided decision.

The WBO has since promoted Tszyu from interim champion to regular champion and this weekend he will defend that strap and title for the first time. There already appears to be plenty at stake for the Australian.