Ringside pass – John Dennen
Best fight you’ve seen
Kevin Mitchell versus Jorge Linares. It had all the ingredients for a great fight, ascendancy swung from one to the other and, though he was doomed to lose, seeing Mitchell fight his way out of a corner with a huge swelling over one eye will stay with me.
Best fighter you’ve seen
Floyd Mayweather. I was fortunate enough to be ringside to see his fight with Manny Pacquiao. The mastery with which he controlled his closest rival can’t be denied.
Best punch
It’s hard think of a more thunderous blow than the uppercut Anthony Joshua used to smash Dillian Whyte through the ropes and out of their British title fight.
Best atmosphere
The shows at the O2 this year had a tremendous atmosphere but the Wladimir Klitschko-Bryant Jennings fight was the first time I’d been to see boxing at Madison Square Garden. The Ukrainian diaspora had turned out in force and the whole evening was mesmerising. With hindsight it could be Klitschko’s last victory.
Worst fight
Vasyl Lomachenko versus Romulo Koasicha wasn’t the worst fight ever it’s just a shame a talent like Lomachenko finished such a low key year with such a low key opponent. Tony Jeter wilting near instantaneously against Chris Eubank Jnr was a lowlight.
Most memorable moment
I’ll remember Manny Pacquiao bursting into life, slugging Floyd Mayweather with a left in the fourth round to get himself into the contest.
Ringside pass – Nick Bond
Best fight
Has to be Miura-Vargas on the fantastic Cotto-Canelo show in Las Vegas. Just a sensational, brutal fight with so many twists, turns and shifts in momentum. One that will be talked about for many years.
Best fighter
Canelo Alvarez showed many improvements in his arsenal against the brilliant Miguel Cotto. He was able to nullify Cotto’s famed left hook and by edging the Puerto Rican legend, he appears to be in his prime and boxing’s premier attraction. The Golovkin (whom he pips for my vote here) fight is a mouth-watering prospect.
Best punch
The right hand Canelo landed on James Kirkland takes some beating. He spun the Texan around almost 360 degrees with that shot!
Best atmosphere
The O2 for Anthony Joshua-Dillian Whyte was rocking. Joshua looks set to have many more exhilarating nights at the big Greenwich tent on the Thames.
Worst fight
There can be only one. Yes, Mayweather is a master boxer and no, nobody expected a Gatti-Ward-type war, but it was still hugely disappointing considering the magnitude of the occasion. Cotto-Canelo showed us that you can have skill and excitement in a big fight. Sadly, Mayweather-Pacquiao was a tame showcase of Mayweather’s defensive brilliance, yet also highlighted his lack of desire to put on an exciting show. Pacquiao also deserves to shoulder (no pun intended) some of the blame for his poor showing.
Memorable moment
At the Cotto-Canelo weigh-in when posing for the camera’s, Canelo’s baseball cap was shadowing his face, Cotto – the old pro that he is – noticed the photographer’s unhappy with their shots, with a gesture of his hands, told the Mexican to turn his cap around and like a naughty teenager, Canelo duly obliged. Was a subtle insight into the unspoken communications that occur between two soon-to-be opposing warriors.
Ringside pass – Matt Christie
Best fight you’ve seen
It was starting to look like an impossible task for Francisco Vargas inside the Las Vegas Mandalay Bay in November. His best efforts were being repelled by Takashi Miura, he had been dropped heavily, his bloody face was swollen, and his vision eroding rapidly. And then, just as I was writing that referee Tony Weeks should stop the fight, he found the kind of Hollywood turnaround that fantasy fights are made of.
Best fighter you’ve seen
Topping that bill was the wonderful Canelo Alvarez-Miguel Cotto contest. While Alvarez deserved to win via his superior strength and output, Cotto oozed class and brilliance at times. Watching him go about his business at an advanced age, against a naturally bigger opponent, was a joy. The Puerto Rican is undoubtedly one of the greatest fighters of his generation.
Best punch
There were several that stand out. Manny Pacquiao’s left hand that made Floyd Mayweather stumble in the fourth round was – oh so briefly – truly exhilarating; Anthony Joshua’s stunning blast that knocked out Dillian Whyte; Zolani Tete flattening Paul Butler; and perhaps the most memorable was Anthony Crolla’s title-winning thump against Darleys Perez which I witnessed on a tiny monitor in America among several US journalists all united in their desire to see the Englishman triumph.
Best atmosphere
The Mayweather-Pacquiao weigh-in was the stuff that dreams are made of. I have never experienced anything like it in all my 38 (and-a-half) years.
Worst fight
When heavyweight Ferenc Zsalek folded himself into a tight ball at the opening bell in Brighton and invited Nick Webb to pummel his way to a quick victory was particularly farcical.
Most memorable moment
Again, several. Bernard Hopkins pleading for some clarification over exactly why the white ball was more ‘powerful’ than the black ball in pool during an interview will stick long in the memory; the aforementioned Mayweather-Pacquiao weigh-in was glorious; the silence that descended over the MGM Grand media room when Thomas Hauser’s doping investigation broke ahead of the Mayweather-Andre Berto contest in September. But unquestionably that moment when Tyson Fury was declared the winner over Wladimir Klitschko was the most memorable of 2015.
Ringside pass – Paul Wheeler
The best fight you’ve seen
The Jazza Dickens-Josh Wale clash for the vacant British super-bantamweight title in Liverpool was a gruelling war of attrition.
The best fighter you’ve seen
Gennady Golovkin was brilliant against Martin Murray in Monte Carlo, as was Zolani Tete against Paul Butler in Liverpool, but it has to be Floyd Mayweather, who was masterful against Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas.
Best punch
Tete’s irresistible left uppercut that finished off Butler in Liverpool. An honourable mention goes to Mitchell Smith for his spearing right to the solar plexus that compelled Dennis Tubieron to collapse to the canvas in Wembley.
Best atmosphere
The atmosphere at the Mayweather-Pacquiao weigh-in in Las Vegas was electric. The immense excitement and anticipation in the crowd was palpable.
Worst fight
The opening three frames of the Chris Pearson-Said El Harrak fight on the Mayweather-Pacquiao undercard were painfully dull. Thankfully, the super-welterweights increased their activity somewhat as the 10-rounder progressed.
Most memorable moment
When the opening bell tolled in the Mayweather-Pacquiao megafight, and the two biggest stars in boxing strode towards each other, ready for action. It was spine-tingling stuff.
Ringside pass – Danny Flexen
The best fight you’ve seen
Dave Ryan v John Wayne Hibbert on May 30 was an absolute barnburner that swung both ways.
The best fighter you’ve seen
Liam Smith has really impressed me this year with his clinical dismantling of various opponents. Gennady Golovkin is up there for the same reasons.
Best punch
Zolani Tete’s uppercut finish against Paul Butler was devastating – both for me because I like Butler and the shot itself was a fight-ending corker.
Best atmosphere
Liverpool’s Echo Arena was buzzing for Derry Mathews’ thriller with Tony Luis for the WBA Interim lightweight belt in April.
Worst fight
The one that stays in the memory is Butler’s recent win over Silvio Olteanu. I felt it was a premature but sympathetic (to the fans) stoppage.
Most memorable moment
Visiting Tyson Fury in his caravan outside a manor house in the North West as he prepared for Wladimir Klitschko. He was so downbeat it was hard to imagine him dethroning the champion two months later.
Ringside pass – George Gigney
The best fight you’ve seen
Francisco Vargas sensationally stopping Tikashi Miura. What a warm-up that was to Cotto-Canelo. I was half-asleep at the time, but that fight quickly woke me up as those two warriors put it all on the line. Vargas looked spent, but stormed out for the ninth to produce one of the best comeback wins you’ll ever see.
The best fighter you’ve seen
Roman Gonzalez. I’ll admit, I didn’t know too much about the Nicaraguan sensation at the start of 2015, but I was aware he was a top fighter. Once I saw him dismantle Edgar Sosa, I was sold. Then he dominated Brian Viloria who, by the way, performed better than most thought he would. Watching Gonzalez fight is a real pleasure.
Best punch
The right uppercut Anthony Joshua used to separate Dillian Whyte from his senses was sickening, beautiful and borderline-criminal all at the same time. I was lucky enough to be ringside and he threw it right in front of us in press row. Special mention to the right hand Canelo Alvarez exploded onto James Kirkland’s chin in May to end their fight.
Best atmosphere
It was at York Hall, when popular Southampton fighter Joe Pigford made his ring walk. He had loads of support, and as he came out, the ring announcer yelled: ‘It’s time to release the pig!’ as a Madness track blared on the speakers and Pigford’s fans donned pig masks and suits, and just went off-the-wall crazy. It just sums up how brilliantly passionate fans get. You can’t beat an atmosphere like that.
Worst fight
Guillermo Rigondeaux outpointing Drian Francisco over 10 horrible rounds. Also on the Cotto-Canelo undercard, it was a glaring polar opposite to Vargas-Miura. Rigo is obscenely talented, but that doesn’t make him fun to watch.
Most memorable moment
Interviewing Carl Froch on the day he announced his retirement was pretty memorable. He was candid, funny and had some great stories to tell.
