Lucas Ketelle: Rudy Hernandez. I will sound like a broken record, but I treat the trainer of the year award not unlike if I voted for the MVP in the NBA or NFL. The best player on the team with the best record always merits that award for me. So, often by default, the trainer of the best fighter should reap the benefits. Nakatani has had the best year so far, and Hernandez trains him. He also trains WBO flyweight titleholder Anthony Olascuaga. Hernandez is an old-school head coach who is a key factor in the development of one of the best modern fighters in Nakatani.
Other notable ones are Derek “Bozy” Ennis, who trains his son, Jaron “Boots” Ennis, and led Stephen Fulton Jnr to becoming a two-division titleholder. Lamont Roach Snr, who guided his son, Lamont Roach Jnr, to a draw against Gervonta Davis, as well as the very underrated Marc Farrait, who trains Edgar Berlanga, Najee Lopez, Darrelle Valsaint, and Dominic Valle. Hector Bermudez deserves mention for his work with welterweight Rohan Polanco.
Eric Raskin: I’m glad Lucas wrote his contribution to this roundtable before I did, as I might not have thought of Bozy Ennis on my own. But to me, he has to be the pick. He had Stephen Fulton boxing so confidently and precisely against Brandon Figueroa in February — the kind of performance I wasn’t sure “Cool Boy Steph” still had in him. And Bozy’s son Jaron “Boots” Ennis, coming off a disappointing 2024, was as dominant as ever against Eimantis Stanionis in April. The trainer definitely deserves some credit when his top two guys look that sharp in quick succession.
Tris Dixon: I don’t think you can really make a call this early, but I’d like to give Joe Gallagher his props. He’s bringing through a new generation of fighters, breathing new life into Zelfa Barrett, has got Callum Johnson high up in the cruiser rankings and has been bringing through fighters in Saudi Arabia. All this while planning camps, life, and fights around chemotherapy having been diagnosed with Stage Four cancer.
Jake Donovan: Allow me to add Manny Robles to the mix. A rare trainer that often lands on the right side of massive upsets (Andy Ruiz-Anthony Joshua I, anyone?), he resumed that role with Armando Resendiz’s stunner over Caleb Plant (arguably THE 2025 Upset of the half year). Elias Espadas held heavily favored Sadriddin Akhmedov to a draw. Robles also has Serhii Bohachuk, lineal and WBO 115lbs champ Mizuki “Mimi” Hiruta and is now tasked with transforming former two-division titlist Brandon Figueroa.
Declan Warrington: Derek “Bozy” Ennis. His son, Jaron “Boots,” convincingly established himself as the world’s leading welterweight when he stopped Eimantas Stanionis in April, two months after Stephen Fulton Jnr, whose best days were considered a thing of the past, revived his career with an impressive victory over Brandon Figueroa, and two months before Andy Cruz defeated Hironori Mishiro to become the mandatory challenger to the IBF lightweight champion Raymond Muratalla. At the rate at which “Boots” Ennis and Cruz are developing, Ennis also looks capable of becoming the world’s leading junior middleweight, and Cruz of posing the biggest threat to Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta “Tank” Davis at 135lbs.
Jason Langendorf: I always struggle with how much credit to give a trainer for the performance of their fighting pupil, and to cut that scope of work down to a fight or two for a speculative midseason award feels that much more arbitrary. Several of the names mentioned above (perhaps especially that of Bozy Ennis) could be deserving.
I’ll say this, though: Don Charles, who already deserves heaps of credit for his part in reviving the career of Daniel Dubois, will immediately move to the front of the queue if he can help guide Dubois to an upset of unified heavyweight champ Oleksandr Usyk and even their score July 19 at London’s Wembley Stadium.
