Ranking the Top Contenders for 2015 Fight of the Year Right Now

Any ranking is going to come down to matters of opinion, and this is particularly the case when judging contenders for Fight of the Year. Evaluating an entire fight on its "greatness" ends up being a lot like judging a work of art. 

You'll notice and celebrate individual details, but ultimately, you're considering the effect it had on you in its entirety. 

The primary qualities that make a fight great to me are emotional intensity, courageous action and gritty endurance. I look for dramatic momentum swings brought on by both tactical intelligence and pure bulldog aggression. 

I don't necessarily look for a case of the fighters playing Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots, and I think a fight can easily qualify as great, even when there are lulls in the action.

Still, it goes without saying that by the time everything is settled, I want to see plenty of leather flying, in desperate and punishing bursts. 

6. Jorge Linares TKO 10 Kevin Mitchell, May 30

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This was Kevin Mitchell's third attempt to capture a world title. If he never ends up winning a belt, this fight will still stand as a testament to the fact that he is a fighter worth remembering. 

Fighting in his native country, Mitchell put on an intelligent but highly emotional performance against visiting WBC lightweight champion Jorge Linares. Mitchell started fast and dropped Linares hard in Round 5. 

But Linares recovered and fought his way back into the fight, opening a gruesome cut over Mitchell's eye that he targeted like an assassin. Linares sent Mitchell to the canvas in Round 10, motivating a justified stoppage by the referee.

At the time of the fight's ending, Mitchell was up on two cards and even on the third.  

5. James DeGale UD Andre Dirrell, May 23

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So far this is the banner moment in what has been a very good year for British boxing. James DeGale became the first British boxer in history to win an Olympic gold medal and a world title as a pro, traveling to Boston to capture the vacant IBF super middleweight title with a unanimous decision over Andre Dirrell. 

This was not an extremely busy fight, as the punch stats provided on Boxing Scene make clear. But there were moments of high drama, and each fighter was forced to dig in and attack with a sense of tactical desperation at times. 

This was a tremendous opportunity for both fighters. DeGale entered 2015 as one of the hottest fighters in the super middleweight division, but he had yet to win a world title or emerge from the shadow of countrymen such as Carl Froch and George Groves.

Dirrell came back from a nearly disastrous Round 2, when DeGale dropped him twice with brilliantly placed hooks. Hoping to revive what was once among the sport's most promising careers, Dirrell rallied and looked to be taking control of the fight entering the fight's final rounds. 

DeGale was forced to rally himself and sealed the fight with a gritty Round 11. Both fighters jawed and postured throughout the fight but after the decision congratulated each other in the ring and showed a high level of mutual respect. 

4. Jean Pascal UD Yunieski Gonzalez, July 25

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This fight was the consolation prize on the undercard of last month's ridiculous mismatch between Sergey Kovalev and Nadjib Mohammedi. Looking to keep himself in the conversation for another shot at Sergey Kovalev, Jean Pascal found himself in the ring against a determined Yunieski Gonzalez.

A former Cuban amateur, Gonzalez put his punching power on display in the first round, grabbing Pascal's attention. In Round 2, he continued to throw bombs, forcing Pascal to trade out of pure desperation. Before the round was over, both men had landed heavy power shots. 

In the third, Gonzalez all but dropped Pascal. In Round 4, both men traded furiously again. Both fighters gave and absorbed heavy shots in Round 6. Pascal buckled Gonzalez early in Round 7, but Gonzalez recovered and re-launched his attack. 

Both fighters weighed in a couple of pounds over the 175-pound light heavyweight limit, and they were both close to 190 pounds by the night of the fight. That puts them at around the same size of heavyweight greats such as Rocky Marciano and Floyd Patterson. 

These were big, powerful athletes trading heavy punches. Only the slackening of the pace in the final rounds prevents this one from ranking higher on this list. 

I was disappointed in the decision, as well. Gonzales forced the pace of the fight and landed more truly damaging shots, to my eye. I had him winning 97-93, in contrast to all three judges, who scored 96-94 for Pascal. 

3. Saul Alvarez KO 3 James Kirkland, May 9

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A week after Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao let down a nation of casual fans by virtue of being exactly the defensive shutout any informed buyer should know to expect from a Mayweather pay-per-view, Saul Alvarez and James Kirkland turned in exactly the kind of shootout fans were hoping for. 

This was a huge opportunity for Kirkland, an extremely entertaining and popular fighter who has seen his career stall out due to injuries and legal problems. "The Mandingo Warrior" came out at the opening bell against Canelo looking to get things started in a hurry. 

And Canelo was more than ready to accommodate him. After weathering a brief storm, Alvarez dropped Kirkland to the canvas. 

Kirkland survived the round and came hard in Round 2, once more briefly seizing the high ground in the fight. But once again, Alvarez dropped him. 

Round 3 was a massacre. Kirkland once more attempted to carry the fight. But he had little left, and Alvarez hammered him, landing one power punch after another. The punch that ended it spun Kirkland all the way around, dropping him onto his back. 

2. Lucas Matthysse MD Ruslan Provodnikov, April 18

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The moment this fight was announced, boxing fans everywhere started counting down the days. Both fighters are offensive-minded warriors. Ruslan Provodnikov had nearly stopped Timothy Bradley on three different occasions while dropping a unanimous decision in the best fight of 2013.

Lucas Matthysse came back from two knockdowns to stop John Molina in Round 10 of what was a lot of people's choice for Fight of the Year in 2014.

In all likelihood, Matthysse vs. Provodnikov will top many lists as the top fight of 2015. It was no less than the all-out war everybody expected. 

Ultimately, Matthysse was able to use a technical boxing advantage to win a majority of rounds on two cards. But Provodnikov's pressure in the face of Matthysse's fire power allowed him to muscle his way into position to deliver heavy punishment, especially to the body. 

At some point in the next couple of years, I've got to believe that this one happens again. 

1. David Lemieux UD Hassan N'Dam, June 20

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I still don't understand how HBO failed to broadcast this fight. If not for Gennady Golovkin, David Lemieux would be the hottest fighter in the middleweight division. 

In the only loss of his career, Hassan N'Dam had climbed off from the canvas six times to wage a highly competitive fight against Peter Quillin in 2012.

So there was every reason to expect a great fight in this one. 

Once again, Lemieux put his impressive offensive ability on full display, and once again, N'Dam showed he is one of the most resilient and durable fighters in the sport. 

N'Dam was dropped once in Round 2, twice in Round 5 and a fourth time in Round 7. Lemieux pounded him with a relentless body attack throughout the fight.

Yet, this was about more than N'Dam merely surviving. This was a very competitive fight, minus the knockdowns. Two judges scored it seven rounds to five, and the third had it seven rounds each.