By Simon Hirst:
Fighter of the Year
Saul Alvarez – In looking at all the possible fighters who could have claimed this award, you could make strong arguments as to why they shouldn’t be. These reasons would include strength of opposition and how they performed against how they were expected to perform. Alvarez fought fire with fire against Kirkland and produced a KOTY in stopping him. It has become obvious that Kirkland just isn’t the same fighter when he is not trained by Ann Wolfe, but Canelo was superb that night. This set up a fighter against future Hall of Famer Miguel Cotto who was enjoying something of an Indian summer to his career and the bout was a genuine 50-50 fight. Alvarez won the fight, pride for Mexico and the WBC middleweight title.
Honourable mentions: Arthur Abraham, Badou Jack, Gennady Golovkin
Fight of the Year
Ruslan Provodnikov vs Lucas Matthysse – The fight we all hoped for and knew had potential to be FOTY lived up to its billing with an absolute slugfest. Matthysse boxed more intelligently and rightly got his reward, but beating Providnikov is no easy feat! Plenty have ducked both of these fighters and its not hard to see why! Both demonstrated power in each fist and good chins and engines. When you think how much they got paid in comparison to the ‘Fight of the Century’ and which one entertained more, it’s a travesty.
Honourable mentions: David Lemeuix vs Gennady Golovkin, Orlando Salido vs Roman Martinez II
Most Disappointing Fight of the Year
An easy choice was made much more difficult by the late candidate for the World Heavyweight titles, but it still remains Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao. A few reasons confirm its spot here. Firstly, in the Heavyweight title fight, the underdog won which was a surprise at least. Secondly, this fight was billed as the ‘Fight of the Century’ – and as such, boxing fans hoped it would live up to the billing. In hindsight, it was the fight we all feared it would be. Why would it be any different? Mayweather isn’t known for trading with his opponents, so the hope was left on Manny Pacquiao forcing him too, but alas, was unable to do so. It significantly underwhelmed and any potential new boxing fans would be instantly turned away.
Honourable mentions: Wladimir Klistchko vs Tyson Fury,
Most Disappointing Fighter of the Year
Amir Khan – Such a hard category to select a ‘winner’ but I chose Amir Khan in the hope that 2016 is a much better year for him. Khan is rarely in a bad fight, but can write this year off in his career as a disappointment. An exciting, close fight against Chris Algieri was the only fight of the year for him after chasing Mayweather and Pacquiao for so long. It was meant to prove anything Pacquiao can do, he can do better but he hardly demonstrated this. His last fight that seemed competitive on paper came in 2012 against Garcia and Peterson, so it is little wonder he cant grab a big fight. The thing that makes it even more disappointing is for a fighter as exciting as Khan, he is hardly short of options. Thurman, Porter, Garcia, Peterson, Brook are all realistic options for Khan, yet he seems unwilling to commit to any of these fights.
Honourable Mentions: Danny Garcia, Adonis Stevenson, Peter Quillin
Prospect of the Year
Anthony Joshua – They say you judge a sport by its top division which in the case of boxing is the Heavyweights. For so long, the Klitschko’s have ruled supreme and this has momentarily changed with the emergence of Fury as champion. Whether he can repeat his feat, we shall see in the rematch. As far as prospects go, all eyes seem to be on London’s Olympic Gold Medalist Anthony Joshua. His impressive stature goes hand in hand with his in-ring performances with all but one of his career fights lasting less than three full rounds. Some vulnerabilities were shown against Dillian Whyte, a big puncher in his own right and another great prospect we should see floating around world class in a few years time. Joshua took a few punches before composing himself and out-boxing Whyte before stopping him with a superb uppercut that rounded off one of the most entertaining fights of 2015. One to watch next year and most likely to fight for a world title in 18 months.
Honourable mentions: Errol Spencer Jr, Artur Beterbiev, Callum Smith
Robbery of the Year
Nicholas Walters v Jason Sosa – Perhaps not as mainstream as previous robberies, How Walters was robbed of a decision here is mind-boggling. Admittedly, he was not as impressive as he had been in previous victories, but perhaps found motivation difficult going into this contest. Most observed Sosa’s effort and the quantity of punches thrown, but it is the ones that land that are crucial. Walters landed with much more accuracy and power and this should have been what won him a competitive but relatively comfortable fight. Instead, two of the judges ruled the contest a draw and the other miraculously scored Sosa the winner! Personally, I didn’t give Sosa a round. The result put a bit of a dampener on the excitement that was building between a potential Walters vs Lomachenko fight. Christmas came early for Sosa who blemishes Walters record for the first time.
Honourable mentions: Jean Pascal v Yunieski Gonzalez
KO of the Year
Anthony Joshua vs Dillian Whyte – There have been stunning knockouts this year as you will see beneath in honourable mentions, but I think the bad blood between these two needed this type of conclusive finish to match the hype. Joshua ripped in a beautiful uppercut to a staggered Whyte to wipe his senses. You knew immediately at the sight of Whyte on the floor the fight was over after a pulsating fight that you couldn’t take your eyes off.
Honourable mentions: Marco Huck vs Krzysztof Glowacki, Zolani Tete vs Paul Butler, Saul Alvarez vs James Kirkland
Performance of the Year
Anthony Crolla vs Darleys Perez II– After his terrible injuries sustained last year that seemed to have cost him a chance of a World Title shot, you would have forgiven Crolla for easing his way back into the ring. However, Crolla is made of strong stuff and took on Darleys Perez for the WBA lightweight title on his return. Crolla boxed superbly and seemed to win in convincingly, especially given Perez had two points deducted. Against the grain in which UK fighters are perceived to be given the home advantage on the scorecards, Crolla was handed a controversial draw. A rematch was arranged, but the feeling was Crolla had given his career best performance whilst Perez had underperformed. If Perez could improve, he should retain his title. In the fight, Crolla continued where he left off and refused to let it go to the scorecards, destroying Perez to the body with a vicious left hook that Perez down for the full 10.
Honourable mentions: Danny Jacobs vs Peter Quillin, Tyson Fury vs Wladimir Klitschko,
Upset of the Year
A few contenders for this, but despite being one of the worst fights of the year, very few gave Fury any chance against Klitschko. Fury was able to execute mind games throughout the build of the fight with his unpredictable personality. Once in the ring, Fury remained confident and imposed all the advantages he could muster in showboating, switching and out-hustling Klitschko in winning a very ugly, lacklustre viewing. The feat is even more of an upset when Klistchko has dominated for the past ten years with no-one really getting too close to dethroning him.
Honourable mentions: Luke Campbell vs Yvan Mendy, Marco Huck vs Krzysztof Glowacki
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