Ranking the 10 Best Boxing Fights in 2015

There are some promising fights still on the schedule for December, but most of the great boxing moments of 2015 are now in the history books. And there have been some fantastic fights.

Ranking fights is largely as subjective as ranking songs or movies. But a high level of action is a prerequisite, along with displays of courage, heart and stamina by both men. 

Beyond that, such elements as atmosphere and relevance contribute to a fight's epic grandeur, with thrilling finishes and dramatic momentum swings separating the very best from the rest.  

10. Leo Santa Cruz MD Abner Mares, August 29

Danny Moloshok/Associated Press

This is a fight that seemed destined to happen. Leo Santa Cruz and Abner Mares are both talented and charismatic young Mexican fighters, based out of Southern California. 

The fight lived up to expectations, as both men fought at a hard pace. It was a brave and bloody affair, with accidental head butts opening up cuts above the eyes on both men. 

But ultimately, the biggest story of this fight was the blossoming of Leo Santa Cruz into the fighter so many had hoped he would become. In recent years, Santa Cruz had received fair criticism for the weak quality of his resume. 

Mares was the kind of opponent fans had wanted to see Santa Cruz tested against. The three-division world champion has beaten some of the best bantamweights and super bantamweights of recent years. But Santa Cruz showed wrinkles he'd never been required to display before, using his length advantage to work a terrific jab and largely control the pace of the fight. 

This was a competitive bout, but it wasn't ultimately that close. It's hard to see how one judge scored it a draw. 

9. Jean Pascal UD Yunieski Gonzalez, July 25

John Locher/Associated Press

This was one of the year's worst decisions, but it was a terrific fight. While this was a light heavyweight bout, both Jean Pascal and Yunieski Gonzalez rehydrated to nearly 190 pounds, making them the same size as many great heavyweight champions from earlier eras.

So this was two big, athletic dudes chin-checking each other. Heavy damage was inflicted and endured on both sides.

The pace slowed late, with both men showing justifiable fatigue, or else it would rank higher on this list.

While Gonzalez did not significantly out-land Pascal, the Cuban was the far busier fighter, pushing the pace of the bout. He threw over 200 more punches than Pascal, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN.com. Gonzalez also landed more quality punches.

But somehow, all three judges handed Pascal the win, 96-94. It was good enough to earn Pascal a rematch in January 2016 with Sergey Kovalev.

A rematch with Gonzalez would probably be more appropriate. I had the Cuban beating Pascal with a score of 97-93. 

8. James DeGale UD Lucian Bute, November 28

IBF super middleweight champion James DeGale took his belt on the road for his first defense, travelling to Quebec City, Canada, to face former champion Lucian Bute in Bute's own backyard. Bute had previously held the IBF strap for nearly five years, before losing it to DeGale's countryman, Carl Froch, in 2012. 

The fight fans in Quebec province are a rabid group, and the atmosphere they created in the newly opened Centre Videotron certainly added to the excitement of this fight. DeGale and Bute gave them a show worthy of their enthusiasm. 

Bute looked as good as he has in years in this fight, but DeGale was just a little too quick and sharp for him, using the ring better and more often controlling the tempo. Both men put in terrific work to the body and landed thudding shots upstairs. 

Many of the rounds were extremely close and scores anywhere from 115-113 to 117-111 for DeGale make sense. He's a champion who is still getting better.

For Bute's part, the aging veteran showed he still has a lot left in the tank. 

7. Jorge Linares TKO 10 Kevin Mitchell, May 30

Ben Hoskins/Getty Images

This was Kevin Mitchell's third attempt to capture a world title, and he put everything he had into the effort. The Brit started with a fury, taking the fight to the WBC lightweight champion and dropping Jorge Linares to the canvas in Round 5.

But Linares hung tough, showing great courage by battling his way back into the fight. He opened a gruesome cut over Mitchell's eye and targeted it like an assassin. 

In Round 10, Linares dropped Mitchell and forced a stoppage to the fight. At the time, Mitchell was up on two cards and even on a third. 

6. Roman Martinez D Orlando Salido, September 12

Steve Marcus/Associated Press

Orlando Salido and Roman Martinez had already turned in a terrific battle in April, when Martinez knocked Salido down twice and won a unanimous decision to capture the WBO super featherweight title. 

Their rematch  was an undercard consolation prize for enduring the suspenseless sparring exhibition between Floyd Mayweather and Andre Berto on pay-per-view in September. 

Knowing it could be his last chance to reign as a champion, Salido brought everything he had with him as he attempted to reclaim his crown. The hard-knocks Mexican warrior threw over 1,000 punches in the fight, landing more overall punches than Martinez—and more power shots. He put in impressive work to the body. 

Salido clearly did enough to earn the win here, but Martinez was back and forth with him in nearly every round. The champion also dropped Salido in Round 3 and had him in trouble in the fourth.

It's hard to justify calling this one a robbery, though I had Salido winning. But one thing is for certain. There should definitely be a rematch in early 2016.

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

HBO missed the boat by not broadcasting this fight, in which David Lemieux claimed the vacant IBF middleweight title that he later dropped to Gennady Golovkin. On paper, this one might not appear to have been close, due to the fact that Lemieux dropped Hassan N'Dam four times.

But it was a high-action, back-and-forth battle, with N'Dam once more showing that he's one of the sport's most durable athletes. 

Without the four knockdowns, Lemieux would merely have escaped with a majority decision. It takes a special kind of toughness for a fighter to sustain the kind of damage N'Dam did and still rally to win rounds. 

Lemieux's offense was relentless, and he hammered N'Dam with jolting hooks upstairs and heavy work to his body. But despite the pounding Lemieux put into his torso, N'Dam was still up on his toes, fighting on close terms, even at the end of the fight. It was a tremendously gritty performance.

4. Lucas Matthysse MD Ruslan Provodnikov, April 18

Alex Menendez/Getty Images

I've actually seen commenters on this site and other social media refer to this fight as "boring." That's one of the more bizarre claims I've seen this year. There was nothing boring about this back-and-forth battle between Lucas Matthysse and Ruslan Provodnikov. 

However, the expectations were so high for this one, perhaps some absurd overreaction in the other direction was inevitable, when the bout proved to be merely great, rather than one of the best fights of all time. 

But make no mistake, this was a great fight and one of the top five of the year. Each round was closely fought, with both men putting in solid work. Momentum swung back and forth, with the two men trading rounds throughout the bout. 

Matthysse was consistently able to use a jab and a bit of movement to rough Provodnikov up from the outside and middle distance. However, the Siberian Rocky refused to be discouraged and continued to wade forward, where he put in some heavy blows to Matthysse's body. 

I was ringside for this fight and scored it even, though if I had to pick a winner, it would definitely be Matthysse. I have to believe we'll see a rematch of this one at some point. 

3. Andrzej Fonfara UD Nathan Cleverly, October 16

Kamil Krzaczynski/Associated Press

One of the biggest stories in boxing over the past few years has been the development of the light heavyweight division. It might just be the most exciting and talent-laden division in the sport. 

The depth and potential fireworks of the division were on full display on October 16, when former WBO champion Nathan Cleverly of Wales travelled to Chicago, the adopted second home of the hard-nosed Polish contender Andrzej Fonfara. 

This was a slugfest from the opening bell, with Cleverly starting the bout on fire and building an early lead. But by the middle rounds, the lanky Fonfara was landing the heavier blows and shifting the momentum in his direction. Fonfara busted Cleverly's nose with a vicious uppercut and busted open his ear. 

Despite the shellacking he was taking, Cleverly continued to fight at an all-out pace. It was a remarkable display of guts for Cleverly to finish the fight. 

In the end, this fight broke the records for punches thrown in a light heavyweight bout, with both men throwing over a 1,000 each, according to Compubox. Their combined total was 2,524, with 936 total landed. 

2. Krzysztof Glowacki KO 11 Marco Huck, August 14

Elsa/Getty Images

Marco Huck came into this fight as one of boxing's longest-reigning champions. He'd held the WBO cruiserweight strap since August 2009. 

His opponent, Krzysztof Glowacki, was undefeated but also largely unknown, so there was little reason to suspect the Polish upstart would provide a significant challenge to Huck. 

But Glowacki took the fight to the champion from the opening bell, rocking him in Round 1 and hurting him again in the third. Huck rallied and seemed to take control of the fight in the middle rounds, though the action remained back and forth and competitive.

Huck dropped Glowacki in Round 6, but the Pole recovered quickly and came back to arguably win Round 7. 

By the championship rounds, Huck seemed positioned to escape with a close, hard-fought defense. But then Glowacki sent the champion tumbling to the canvas in Round 11, with a brilliant right hook. Huck made it back to his feet, but a follow-up barrage knocked him through the ropes.

It was a thrilling, knockout finish for the new champion. 

1. Francisco Vargas KO 9 Takashi Miura, November 21

John Locher/Associated Press

This fight was on the undercard for the much anticipated showdown between Saul Alvarez and Miguel Cotto, so it was tough for this one not to get lost in the shuffle. However, Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura did everything they could to stand out and steal the night. 

As great fights go, this one had everything. There was a thrilling finish and non-stop action. There were big momentum swings, and both men displayed tremendous physical courage and stamina. 

Vargas hurt Miura badly in the first round and looked like he might actually make it a quick night. But Miura is one of the most durable pound-for-pound warriors in the sport. He willed himself to remain on his feet in the first and then willed himself back into the fight, pressing forward relentlessly and slowly taking control of the action. 

Vargas fought valiantly to match Mirua's pace, but the champion began to build a lead in the middle rounds. Vargas' right eye was a gruesome mess, with cuts both above and below it. 

At the end of Round 8, Miura rocked Vargas. If more time had remained in the round, he would very likely have been able to put Vargas away. 

But Vargas recovered between rounds and sent the champion tumbling to the canvas shortly into Round 9, with a perfectly timed right-left combination. Miura made it to his feet and courageously attempted to hang on but had no ability to defend himself intelligently. 

The victory made Vargas the WBC super featherweight champion and a rising star in the sport.