Boxing Reporter at BBC Sport, Kal Sajad was named 2024 Sports Journalist of the Year.
Journalists and broadcasters joined actors and presenters at the 12th ceremony, which celebrates achievements in a range of categories in TV, radio, stage, online and creative media.
The ceremony is supported by the University of Salford and took place at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate on Friday October 25.
Kal was presented his award by Premier League referee Sunny Gill Singh.
Kal has covered some major title fights in the past year.
On stage he praised fellow nominees including host Miriam Walker-Khan.
He said: “When you look at some of the talent and some of the other sports journalists, I feel like I am experiencing imposter syndrome.
“I just love boxing. I like talking about boxing. I like writing about boxing.”
And joked: “To all those teachers that said fighting will get you nowhere…”
Kal has established himself as one of the leading boxing journalists in the country. He has covered several super-fights across the globe, including Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s homecoming in Mexico, and in Wroclaw, Poland for a Usyk title defence.
In May, he was ringside in Riyadh as Oleksandr Usyk took on Tyson Fury in arguably the biggest boxing fight of the decade.
He has produced pieces exploring Saudi Arabia’s influence on boxing amid accusations of sports-washing; looked at Tyson Fury’s controversial moments outside of the ring; and covered a number of doping scandals which have rocked the sport.
He has also interviewed fighters at all levels, including Team GB Olympic boxers for network television and digital website videos.
Kal regularly offers analysis and expertise pre and post-fight across multiple BBC platforms, and has spoken at BBC Outreach events aimed at promoting sports journalism careers to youngsters.
