Ranking the Best Boxing Fights in the First Half of 2015

To sports fans in general, 2015 will go down as the year that "The Fight of the Century" finally took place, between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. Unfortunately, that fight will be remembered as a dud. Pacquiao was unable to get close to Mayweather and was picked apart from the outside.

It ended up being the same type of anti-climatic unanimous decision we have seen in so many Mayweather fights.

But true boxing fans know that there has been much more to 2015 than the Mayweather-Pacquiao boondoggle. In fact, forget about Mayweather and Pacquiao, a showdown between two stars, both past their prime.

This has been a year about boxing's future, as the sport has returned to network television and new basic cable channels, all while exciting new stars have emerged.

With the year half over now, we've already seen some very good fights.  

10. Sammy Vasquez UD Wale Omotoso, June 21

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This was one of two fights from the past weekend that slipped onto this list just under the deadline. On Father's Day, from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Sammy Vasquez gave his father and trainer, Sam Sr., a nice present, turning in a gutsy and intelligent unanimous decision in his biggest test to date, against Wale Omotoso.

On the scorecards, this one wasn't particularly close, as Vasquez did an outstanding job of controlling the pace and distance in the fight. Yet Omotoso made him earn the win, battling in every round and landing his own hard shots. 

Vasquez received a nasty cut from an accidental head butt and had to battle much of the fight wearing a crimson mask. But for a combat veteran who has literally had bullets fly by his head, missing by mere inches, it was easy enough to dig in and hang tough. 

Vasquez has the ready-made story to become a popular star in the sport. In this fight, he showed the talent to earn the big fights. 

9. Sergey Kovalev TKO 8 Jean Pascal, March 14

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First off, let's be clear about something: Luis Pabon's decision to wave off this fight in Round 8 was not remotely controversial. It was an excellent stoppage and very likely saved Jean Pascal from permanent damage.

Pascal had already taken tremendous punishment in the fight and had just stumbled across the ring and into the corner, where Kovalev hit him with a clean right hand as he slumped defenseless. Kovalev is one of the sport's most dangerous punchers. He's already killed one opponent. 

But I don't fault Pascal for complaining about the stoppage. For one thing, being knocked senseless means that, well, you've been knocked senseless. I can testify from personal experience that when you get knocked out, you are the last person in the room who knows it. 

Beyond that, Pascal is a born warrior with no quit in him. He showed that in this bout, coming back from some devastating early damage to make things extremely exciting in the middle rounds. 

At this point, I see no reason for a rematch between these two. But at some point it might make sense. Due to the excitement of the first bout, it will be highly anticipated if it happens. 

8. Keith Thurman UD Robert Guerrero, March 7

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Credit an overmatched Robert Guerrero for making this one more exciting than it might have been. Keith Thurman won by a shutout on one card and 10 rounds to two on the others. He knocked Guerrero down in Round 9. 

A fight this uncompetitive is rarely compelling to the degree this one was. Guerrero pushed hard to put himself in position to win in every round. After the knockdown, Guerrero dug in and turned the fight into a slugfest in the championship rounds. 

Guerrero has been in multiple Fight-of-the-Year quality battles. This one didn't quite make it to that level, but he did give everything he had against a younger, bigger and stronger opponent. 

Thurman is one of the sport's most promising young stars. This was the kind of tough fight that should help him keep developing. 

7. Omar Figueroa UD Ricky Burns, May 9

This fight was much closer and more competitive than the scorecards would make it seem. Judges Don Griffin and Kathy Leonard had Figueroa winning eight of 12 rounds and Nelson Vazquez had it nine to three.

The margins of victory for Omar Figueroa were further increased by two ridiculous point deductions by referee Laurence Cole.

It's too bad, because an exciting fight ended up being overshadowed a bit by what can only be generously called "home cooking" for Figueroa, who was fighting near his hometown, in Hidalgo, Texas. 

It's not that an argument can't be made for Figueroa winning this fight. I had it six rounds each, with Figueroa the winner due to the questionable deductions. While the overall punch stats favored Burns, Figueroa landed the harder shots. 

Burns was coming off from a loss to Terence Crawford and a draw with Raymundo Beltran that should have been a loss. It was reasonable to speculate that he was a fighter in the waning portion of his career. But after this fight, fans will be happy to see him back in action again. 

6. Andy Lee Split-Decision Draw Peter Quillin, April 11

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Outside the ring, this fight between Andy Lee and Peter Quillin highlighted a lot about what is wrong with boxing. Quillin was challenging Lee for the WBO middleweight belt, a title he had already abandoned, when he refused defend it against Matt Korobov, a deserving challenger. 

That had allowed Lee to step in and win the vacant belt, with a sensational stoppage of Korobov. With a more marketable fighter now in position with the strap, Quillin suddenly had a change of heart and decided he wanted the trinket after all. 

But then Quillin failed to make weight, an unprofessional move that is an epidemic in boxing right now. 

Still, in the ring, where it mattered, this fight fully delivered. Once again, Quillin showed he is an explosive and athletic fighter, dropping Lee in the first and third. 

And Lee once again showed that he is one of the sport's gutsiest competitors, digging his way out of the early hole and battling hard to come back, even dropping Quillin in Round 7. 

In the end, all three judges scored the fight differently, though each one reflected an incredibly close fight. Quillin won on one card 113-112. Lee won on another card by same score, and the third card had the fight even at 112-112. 

5. Jorge Linares TKO 10 Kevin Mitchell, May 30

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These have been heady times for British boxing. Within the past calender year, Carl Frampton, Lee Selby, Lee Haskins, Kell Brook and James DeGale have all brought world titles back to the United Kingdom.

Kevin Mitchell made a valiant effort to add his own name to this list, when he challenged WBC lightweight champion Jorge Linares at the end of May at the 02 Arena in London. The fight can only be described as a violent and bloody chess match.

Mitchell made a heroic stand in his third attempt to win a world title, even dropping the champion in Round 5. But Linares was able to pick Mitchell apart with precision combinations and slowly turned his face into a gruesome mask.

By Round 10, the cuts over Mitchell's eye were too deep for the fight to be continued. It had to be a disappointment for the longtime lightweight contender, but there's no way he should hang his head after showing such heart.  

4. James DeGale UD Andre Dirrell, May 23

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After an outstanding 2014 campaign, in which he knocked out three fellow contenders, James DeGale captured the vacant IBF super middleweight title with this victory over Andre Dirrell. It made the Brit a true star in the sport. 

For Dirrell's part, he turned in one of the year's gutsiest performances, coming back from two knockdowns in Round 2 to make a competitive fight. Judges Howard John Foster and Daniel Fitzgerald actually had the fight even in terms of rounds, with DeGale winning due to his two knockdowns, 114-112. 

Alan Davis gave DeGale nine rounds. I thought he won eight. 

This was a bruising, bitter fight, with both men trash talking throughout. Yet by the end of the fight, each one had seen enough from the other to have only respectful things to say in the post-fight interview. 

I'd like to see DeGale fight Andre Ward. But I'd also welcome a rematch between DeGale and Dirrell. 

3. Saul Alvarez TKO 3 James Kirkland, May 9

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This fight started pretty much exactly how everybody expected it to start, with James Kirkland coming immediately forward to press the action and engage. And Canelo Alvarez did pretty much exactly what everybody expected him to do in response. He dug in and looked to exchange in the pocket. 

This fight wasn't quite Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns, but it might have been the closest thing we are going to see in 2015. 

Kirkland and Alvarez traded bombs from the opening seconds, with Kirkland going down before the end of the first frame. Kirkland hung tough until Round 3, when the fast-paced battle of attrition finally caught up with him and he went down for good. 

The violence of the knockout was shocking enough to leave Alvarez visibly concerned for his fallen opponent. It was the perfect fight to renew boxing the week after the disappointing Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao bout. 

2. Lucas Matthysse MD Ruslan Provodnikov, April 18

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The moment this fight was signed, boxing fans everywhere circled their calendars. Some pairings are can't-miss fights. It was obvious that Lucas Matthysse vs. Ruslan Provodnikov would be exactly that kind of war. 

With a 36-3 record and 34 KOs, Matthysse was the irresistible force. Known as the "Siberian Rocky," Provodnikov was the immovable object, as rugged as the harsh climate that shaped him. 

Matthysse used a jab and just a bit of movement to outbox Provodnikov and earn the decision. But there was no way he could keep the come-forward Provodnikov completely off from him, and every round contained fierce exchanges, with momentum shifts throughout the fight. 

I was lucky enough to be front row in the press section for this one. After the fight, Provodnikov's promoter, Artie Pelullo, told us he thought the decision was reasonable, but that a rematch was clearly in order. 

Matthysse's promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, said he thought his fighter won cleanly and that he was more interested in getting him a big star for his next bout, "like a Pacquiao or a Mayweather." 

I'd be interested in seeing Matthysse fight either of those two, particularly Manny Pacquiao. But I'd also love to see him against Provodnikov in a rematch. 

And my hunch is that we will indeed see a sequel between these two all-action brawlers. 

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

There's a good chance most readers in the United States still haven't seen this fight for the vacant IBF middleweight belt. It's unfortunate that it wasn't broadcast on HBO or another network. On paper, it was a pretty sure bet for a great fight. 

David Lemieux is a knockout artist. If not for Gennady Golovkin, he'd be the hottest fighter in the middleweight division. 

Former WBO champion Hassan N'Dam is as tough and resilient as any fighter in the sport, a fact he proved against Peter Quillin in 2012, when he suffered six knockdowns and still forced an incredibly competitive fight. 

Lemieux dialed in with his left hook in the first round and landed it consistently all night, to both the body and head. The fight nearly ended in the second, when Lemieux dropped N'Dam hard and then pressed the action with aggressive flurries for the final 50 seconds of the round. 

It was particularly remarkable that N'Dam managed to survive Round 5. Lemieux floored him twice and landed another huge punch at the bell, sending N'Dam stumbling back to his corner. N'Dam went down for a fourth time in Round 7. 

But just as he did against Quillin, N'Dam continued to get up and come back. He wasn't merely trying to survive the fight, he was trying to win, throwing his own big rights, even as it left the opening for Lemieux's punishing left hook. 

N'Dam's conditioning is phenomenal. Despite getting hammered to the body all night long, he was still on his toes, moving well until the end of the fight. 

Lemieux demonstrated he's among the most dangerous fighters in the division. With GGG probably locked out for now against Miguel Cotto and Saul Alvarez, let's hope he can make a unification fight with Lemieux.