Terence Crawford won Best Fighter at the 2026 ESPYS, announced July 15, 2026, in the first combined boxing and MMA fighter category since 2018. The retired boxer beat UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje, whom Kalshi had at 92% the night before the show. Kalshi and Polymarket both settled Crawford Yes on July 16.
Resolved July 15, 2026.
Terence Crawford won Best Fighter at the 2026 ESPYS on July 15, 2026, and the market had the other man. Kalshi closed the night before the show with UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje at 92% and Crawford at 6%. The fan vote went to the boxer who beat Canelo Alvarez for the undisputed super middleweight title and then retired unbeaten.
ESPN announced four Best Fighter nominees on June 25, 2026: boxers Terence Crawford, Gabriela Fundora and Claressa Shields, and Justin Gaethje from the UFC. It was the first year since 2018 that boxers and MMA fighters shared one ESPY category. From 2019 through 2025 the show handed out separate boxing and MMA awards. Fans voted on ESPN.com, with voting for this category closing at noon ET on July 15. ESPN's official winners list named Crawford after the 8 p.m. ET show on ABC from the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York.
Kalshi listed the four nominees plus a Tie contract. It closed the event at 10:04 a.m. ET on July 16 and settled Crawford Yes and the other four contracts No at 10:34 a.m. ET. Polymarket's "2026 ESPY Awards: Best Fighter" event closed its Crawford market at 1:37 a.m. ET on July 16 and resolved it Yes. The Gaethje, Shields and Fundora markets resolved No, along with six placeholder slots ("Athlete A" through "Athlete E" and "Other") that never traded.
Kalshi's event drew about 75,400 contracts, and about 46,600 of them traded on Gaethje. Polymarket's event drew about $2,600.
Crawford's case was one fight. On September 13, 2025, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, he beat Canelo Alvarez by unanimous decision (116-112, 115-113, 115-113) to take the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO super middleweight titles. He announced his retirement on December 16, 2025, so he won the award without fighting again.
Gaethje's case was more recent. He beat Paddy Pimblett over five rounds at UFC 324 on January 24, 2026. On June 14, 2026, at UFC Freedom 250 on the South Lawn of the White House, he stopped Ilia Topuria at the end of the fourth round, according to ESPN's fight results. It was Topuria's first professional loss, and it made Gaethje lightweight champion 11 days before the nominations came out.
Shields and Fundora were the other two boxers on the ballot. Neither closed above 10% on Kalshi after listing day.
Kalshi listed the category on June 30. The table uses Kalshi's midnight ET closes plus one intraday reading on show day. "About" marks a bid/ask midpoint where the last trade sat outside the quote.
| Kalshi (ET) | Justin Gaethje | Terence Crawford |
| Jul 1 close | 84% | about 14% |
| Jul 4 close | 60% | 31% |
| Jul 12 close | 70% | 29% |
| Jul 14 close (night before) | 92% | 6% |
| Jul 15, 2 p.m. | about 18% | 82% |
Gaethje led at every daily close before the show. Crawford's best close was 31% on July 4. Over the last three days Gaethje climbed from 70% to 92% while Crawford slid to 6%.
The book flipped on show day, before the telecast. Voting closed at noon ET on July 15. By 2 p.m. ET Crawford had jumped to 82%, and by 3 p.m. ET he was bid at 98%, five hours before ABC went on the air. Gaethje's contract traded about 34,600 contracts that day as it fell to 1%.
Polymarket listed its event on July 6 and saw little trade at first. Its nominee prices only separated from a flat 50% on July 10, when it had Gaethje at 65% and Crawford at 32%. At the midnight ET mark before the show it had Gaethje at 90% and Crawford at 18%. Both venues made Gaethje a heavy favorite the night before, and both were wrong.
No 2027 ESPYS market is listed yet. Gaethje's hold on the belt trades on the 2026 UFC lightweight champion board, and the UFC pound-for-pound year-end board prices who finishes 2026 at the top of the rankings.
Other 2026 ESPYS boards include 2026 ESPYS Best Golfer, won by Scottie Scheffler, 2026 ESPYS Best Single-Game Performance, won by Shohei Ohtani, and 2026 ESPYS Best Team, won by the New York Knicks. More awards boards are on the entertainment hub.
Resolved to the nominee named Best Fighter at the 2026 ESPYS, presented July 15, 2026 at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York and broadcast at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. ESPN set the four-nominee field and fans voted on ESPN.com, with voting for the category closing at noon ET on July 15. On Kalshi, each nominee contract resolved Yes if that fighter won the award, and a separate Tie contract covered a shared award. Polymarket listed no Tie contract: a tie, or no winner declared by August 31, 2026, would have resolved to the listed nominee whose name comes first in alphabetical order, with the ESPYS broadcast and ESPN's website as the resolution source. Each contract paid $1 per share on a Yes. Kalshi closed the market at 10:04 a.m. ET on July 16, 2026 and settled Crawford Yes and all other contracts No at 10:34 a.m. ET. Polymarket's Crawford market closed at 1:37 a.m. ET on July 16 and resolved Yes.
Terence Crawford won it. ESPN named him on July 15, 2026, ahead of Justin Gaethje, Claressa Shields and Gabriela Fundora.
Kalshi closed the market at 10:04 a.m. ET on July 16, 2026, then settled Crawford Yes and the other four contracts, including Tie, No at 10:34 a.m. ET. Polymarket's Crawford market closed at 1:37 a.m. ET on July 16 and resolved Yes.
Kalshi had Justin Gaethje at 92% and Crawford at 6% at the close on July 14, the night before the show. Polymarket's much thinner book had Gaethje at 90% and Crawford at 18% at the same hour.
The fan vote on ESPN.com, which closed at noon ET on July 15, 2026. Crawford's case was his unanimous-decision win over Canelo Alvarez on September 13, 2025, and Gaethje's was his June 14, 2026 stoppage of Ilia Topuria.
No 2027 ESPYS market is listed yet. Gaethje's belt trades on the 2026 UFC lightweight champion board, and the UFC pound-for-pound board prices the year-end No. 1 for 2026.