golovkin64 By Gav Duthie: The first six months of 2015 have went past in the blink of an eye but it has been action packed in the world of boxing.

The year previous had been somewhat disappointing with many potential fights passing us by and lots of controversial decisions. For me 2015 has started brighter despite the this era’s fight of the century (Mayweather v Pacquaio) failing to ignite. Lets look so far at my personal highlights and debate the results as well as looking onto to the back end of the year.

A changing landscape

Al Haymon has went from one of the big players in 2014 to boxing kingpin in 2015. To his credit whether you like what he is doing or not he is changing things. There has been more boxing on terrestrial television and the worry that his fighters would only face one another has been dismissed. Eddie Hearn in the UK has found him easy to work with and he has such a big stable we have already seen some great fights like Broner v Porter and Garcia v Peterson which were for no titles. These kind of bouts would be difficult to make in the past. De La Hoya and Bob Arum have been working together to bridge the gap making some good fights like Matthyse v Provodnikov. Ok so boxing politics isn’t perfect and it never will be but there are certainly causes for optimism.

Best fight – Omar Figueroa W UD 12 Ricky Burns

One of my most anticipated fights of the current scene was a showdown with Lucas Matthyse and Ruslan Provodnikov. In 2014 the differences seemed irreconcilable between Golden Boy and Top Rank. The departure of Schafer made for a better relationship between supremo’s Oscar De La Hoya and Bob Arum. The fight was decent but Matthysse was just too good for me to make it a classic. The Russian Rocky was game and landed plenty of big shots hurting the Argentinian but for the most part Matthysse boxed and moved. As a result for me the Figueroa-Burns war was the most captivated i’ve been this year. It was a proper popcorn fight to just sit back and enjoy with hardly a backward step by either fighter. Figueroa got the win and Burns earned plenty of respect also.

Best knockout – Zolani Tete W KO 7 Paul Butler

There will likely be some disagreements here but this was my personal favorite. It wasn’t a fight I was expecting to end in a knockout being at Super Flyweight and at world level. It was all there for Butler to win. He was the star, the hometown favorite and had already won a world title in the bantamweight division. With Tete having lost three times Frank Warren would have seen this as a safe route. As Butler was firing in behind on the cards Tete landed a perfect straight left down the middle leaving Butler sprawling on the canvas. Canelo v Kirkland also gets a mention. The feint to the body and big right hand was reminiscent of Hearns against Duran.

Best story – Deontay Wilder champion

Personally the return of Kell Brook after a career threatening injury was my favourite but an American winning a heavyweight crown was great for the sport. The ratings for the Wilder-Stiverne fight and Klitschko-Jennings show that heavyweight is still king if the product is there. Deontay didn’t look great in his first defence against Molina but on the night he won the title it seemed all the potential was real as he outboxed a tough champion. For the sake of the future popularity of the sport we need a big heavyweight division post Mayweather so guys like Wilder, Joshua and Parker to step up.

Biggest upset – Badou Jack W UD 12 Anthony Dirrell

It’s not that we considered Anthony Dirrell to be a great champion it was more that why was Jack getting a title shot in the first place. Anthony tried to take an easy voluntary avoiding George Groves and the Swede fit the bill. Jack had been knocked out in only 1 round against B-level contender Derek Edwards. On the night though Jack was a worthy winner, he was fitter, stronger and pushed Dirrell back the entire fight.

Controversial decision – Danny Garcia W MD 12 Lamont Peterson

Their have probably been worse, last weekends between Wade and Soliman was pretty bad but at the highest level the Garcia-Peterson decision was very poor. Danny ‘Swift’ Garcia has flattered to deceive in his last few outings and most thought Peterson dominated especially in the second half of the fight. He raised the tempo in the later rounds and perhaps took the wrong decision to jab and move in the beginning but you would have had to score all the early action for Garcia to justify a win. Garcia has now decided to move up to 147lbs and faces Paulie Maliggnaggi on August 1 with no dates or opponents lined up for Peterson.

Biggest disappointment – Floyd Mayweather WUD12 Manny Pacquaio

The eyes of the world were once again on this fight with the spotlight on boxing once again. Many have spoken about the demise of the sport with the influx of MMA/UFC etc and a great fight between the best two pound for pound fighters of the last decade was the way to change that. The bout failed to provide the spark and many casual fans would have been turned off boxing once again. For me and the hardcore boxing fan it was still a defining moment. Mayweather needed this win for his legacy and by the end of the fight he showed us there was no need for all the fuss. He is the best and nobody else comes close. In time he should gain more respect from the historians but boxing in general took a hit that night.

Best prospect – Errol Spence Jnr

The heavyweight duo from opposite ends of the planet Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker are making a big name for themselves. Both are soaring up the rankings especially the WBC with Wilder firmly in their sights. The best prospect for me so far in 2015, however, is Errol Spence Jnr. He has stepped up in class this year already and Floyd Mayweather Jnr is looking for him to step up again. He faced Sammy Vargas in April and Phil Lo Greco in June. Both had only lost one fight previously but Spence made it look easy with 4th and 3rd round knockouts respectively. Mayweather wants him to face Thurman or Porter in September but whatever he does he looks like a top class fighter.

Fighter so far – Gennady Golovkin

Again in 2015 the key to Golovkin’s success is a high level of activity. He is one of the few top fighters to have already fought twice this year. As of yet he is still chasing the big names but has added the scalps of Martin Murray and Willie Munroe Jnr to his already impressive resume. Their has been some criticism from certain quarters about the amount of punches he has taken in these last two fights but he never looks hurt and he continues to get the victories by stoppage. Next up looks to be Tureano Johnson. Any chance of a big showdown with Cotto or Canelo will have to wait until 2016.

The rest of 2015

So what would make 2015 the perfect year for boxing. Here is some of my wish list.

Floyd Mayweather v Kell Brook – Amir Khan keeps saying I’m not giving Brook a payday and he is practically stalking Mayweather. I’m surprised Floyd hasn’t issued a restraining order. It would be hilarious if he chose Brook over Khan.

Anthony Crolla to win a world title – Crolla fractured his skull during the Christmas period and feared his career would be over on the eve of his title shot against Richar Abril. Only 6 months later he is back fighting for the same title although the opponent is now Darleys Perez. It would be a great story if he could win.

The biggest fights – It would have to be Cotto v Canelo and Kovalev v Stevenson. I think the former might happen but in the light heavyweight division the man that seems to be making the most noise at present is Artur Beterbiev.

No return for Oscar – Perhaps he fancies a return to the heavyweight division. He is unfit, out of shape and looked terrible 7 years ago. He is still a big fan favourite and doesn’t need the money so I hope he does not return.

Carl Froch decision – Getting a bit fed up of his ‘should I stay or should I go now’. He needs to either fight Golovkin or get on with retiring.

A big fight for Andre Ward – It was great to see one of the best fighters in the sport in the ring again. He proved ring rust was minimal but we would love to see him face a big name at 168 or 175lbs.

*** So what is everyone else’s list and wishes for the second half of 2015 ***