By Cliff Rold
It came down to a choice between two memorable affairs. Both had that one special ingredient that separates the best of nominees when we’re talking about the premiere fight of a given year:
Escalation.
There are many wonderful fights each and every year. Occasions where two warriors beat each other silly for our entertainment, taking our breath away with each lash of leather landed. Fights of escalation are a different breed.
They build, round by grueling round, the momentum swinging. We think we’ve seen the most we can from both men and then they give us more. Digging into reserves of conditioning and character that we shouldn’t expect of fellow mortals, they battle until one man can give no more.
No other fight displayed these attributes with greater fury and passion than the staff choice for 2015’s Fight of the Year. It was an honor to watch it.
2015 Fight of the Year: Franisco Vargas TKO9 Takashi Miura (11/21/2015)
On paper, it looked like it had a chance to steal the show on the undercard of Canelo Alvarez-Miguel Cotto. It did just that. Vargas, the challenger, came into the bout undefeated and riding a three-fight knockout streak. Miura, the WBC 130 lb. titlist, was attempting his fifth title defense and hadn’t lost since being stopped by WBA 130 lb. beltholder Takashi Uchiyama in 2011. Miura had won nine straight and, like Vargas, was riding a streak of three knockouts.
One man would run their streak to four, with both appearing close along the way. Ultimately, it was Vargas battling through a closed eye with the Gatti-esque finish to the best fight at 130 lbs. since the modern day fabulous four of Pacquiao, Marquez, Morales, and Barrera made the division their own.
As reported by Jake Donovan here at BoxingScene:
Miura was nearly stopped in round one after catching a straight right hand on the chin. How he managed to remain on his feet is a mystery, but Vargas didn't waste any time in going for the kill. The unbeaten boxer from Mexico City was unable to put him away and nearly paid the price.
After catching heavy leather through two-plus rounds, Miura turned the tide late in round three. Thudding body shots and sharp left hands upstairs began to take a toll on Vargas, who was forced to contend with a cut under his right eye.
One round later, he was forced to contend with the first knockdown of his boxing life. Never down as a pro or amateur, Vargas hit the deck courtesy of a straight left as Miura treated the cut as a bullseye. The wound developed into a gusher, as Vargas was forced on the defensive while Miura unloaded his offensive arsenal.
The trend continued over the next few rounds, with Vargas' eye worsening. He enjoyed a rally in round eight, only to get caught late in the frame and suddenly forced to deal with cuts now under and over his right eye.
Whatever speech was given in between rounds needs to be put to print and framed in gyms around the world. Vargas came out with both clips reloaded, dropping Miura early in round nine. The sequence proved to be the beginning of the end, as Miura was never able to regain his legs.
Vargas sensed blood in the water and went in for the kill. Miura threw back just enough to allow referee Tony Weeks to extend the bout further, but an ensuing flurry by the challenger prompted the third man to intervene.
The official time was 1:31 of round nine. Miura was ahead on two scorecards - 77-74 and 76-75 - while the third judge had the fight even at 75-75 at the time of the stoppage.
Runner-up
Krzysztof Glowacki KO11 Marco Huck (08/14/2015): For months, this was the leader in the clubhouse for many fight aficionados. For all the grief heavyweight has received for its lack of classic battles in the last decade or so, the next biggest boys in boxing have continued to thrill. Huck has been a big part of that, involved in several memorable cruiserweight clashes. None was ever better than this and, unfortunately for him, that spelled doom.
Like Vargas-Miura, this was a fight that saw the action escalate multiple times. It would look like it was over and then the next twist in the story would unfold. When it was over we had a big upset and a new entrant in the category of best cruiserweight fight not featuring Evander Holyfield and Dwight Muhammad Qawi.
In the give and take cruiserweight bout, Glowacki came out strong in the early rounds beating Huck with his power and speed on the inside. Huck started to find his rhythm in the middle rounds and out of nowhere put Glowacki on the canvas in the sixth with a punishing left hook to the temple. Glowacki recovered quickly and was able to finish the round.
Both men stayed busy for the remainder of the later rounds with the judges heeding favor to Huck by the end of the 10th. However, Glowacki came out in the 11th and late in the round put Huck on the canvas with a hard left right combination. Huck beat the count only to have Glowacki jump on him immediately, throwing a series of punches that forced the referee to stop the fight at 2:39 in the round. Glowacki shocked the boxing world with a devastating 11th technical knockout of the 8-1 favored Huck.
Others Receiving Honorable Mention (in date order)
Roman Martinez-Orlando Salido I & II (04/11/2015 and 09/12/2015): They did it twice. It should have been no surprise. Both men have been involved in wars over the years. Placed together, they couldn’t help but engage in 24 rounds of thrilling savagery. The first time, Salido entered as the WBO titlist at 130 lbs. and lost his title on the road. The second time, as the highlight of the Floyd Mayweather-Andre Berto show, Martinez was lucky to escape with the belt. Picking between them was tough work, so the choice is made to honor them together.
Jake Donovan recapped the action the first time:
Although the headlining bout of the independent Pay-Per-View carried the marquee of "The War," Martinez opted to make it a boxing match early on. Coming in as a former two-time titlist, the local favorite was steady with his jab, disrupting Salido's rhythm.
Salido adjusted in round two, bringing the action to within phone booth's distance, his normal preference. The strategy backfired, however as Martinez didn't wilt. Instead, the Vega Baja native bit down and floored Salido for the first of two times on the night, the sequence coming in round three courtesy of a right hand.
Martinez struck again two rounds later, flooring Salido towards the end of round five. Ever the warrior, the visiting titlist peeled himself off of the canvas and forced a war with his much younger foe. Both fighters had their say, although Salido was doing damage with body shots in the second half.
A key moment in the fight came in round 11, when Salido was docked a point for a low blows. To most observers, it appeared to be the nail in the coffin for the fight and his stay as a 130 lb. titlist. It hardly prevented the two from throwing down for the remainder of the bout, much to the delight of the capacity crowd on hand.
Scores of 114-111, 115-110 and 116-109 (the latter two a bit too wide for the action that took place) were in favor of Martinez, who improves to 29-2-2 (17KOs). With the win, the Puerto Rican boxer now becomes a three-time 130 lb. titlist, with previous reigns ending at the hands of Ricky Burns and Mikey Garcia.
Mr. Donovan handled the honors for the sequel as well:
The evening's chief support was a rematch to one of the best fights of 2015, between Roman Martinez and Orlando Salido. The super featherweights somehow managed to outdo the original, going to war for 12 taxing rounds, only for the slugfest to end in a three-way stalemate.
Scores were 115-113 Salido, 115-113 Martinez and 114-114 even. Most observers had Salido winning the fight, although this particular reporter was content with the draw verdict.
Martinez dropped Salido twice in their first fight, in which he claimed a unanimous decision to begin his third reign as a super featherweight titlist. This time both fighters hit the deck, each in a wild round three.
They managed to outdo that frame with a free-swinging 10th round that saw Martinez recover from a mid-rounds slump to go toe-to-toe with Salido, who at age 34 and now 19 years as a pro looked reborn after coming out to a deliberate start. The former two-division champ threw well over 1,000 punches, landing over 100 more than Martinez, who rallied late to pull out the three-way draw.
Jean Pascal UD10 Yunieski Gonzalez (07/25/2015): There is room to argue about whether the judges got this one right. There is no argument about the quality of this light heavyweight scrap. Making his first start since being stopped by unified titlist Sergey Kovalev four months earlier, the former lineal 175 lb. king Pascal was trying to get a rematch. Gonzalez was trying to take his place in the ranks.
BoxingScene's man in charge, Rick Reeno, took the wheel:
All three judges had it 96-94 for Pascal. The fans in attendance were very upset at the decision. Most of the press at ringside, and HBO, had Gonzalez winning the fight.
Gonzalez came out with a lot of pressure in the first round, letting his hands go and unloading at times when he pinned Pascal against the ropes. Pascal stood his ground in the second round and they were to war with the punches flying from both fighters at close range. Both guys got off with hard shots and Gonzalez had the edge in connects.
Gonzalez was digging to the body early in the third, and continued to land the better shots. Pascal was firing back, but missing much more than he was landing. Pascal came roaring back in the fourth, where he started to outland Gonzalez during fierce exchanges. The action slowed down during the fifth round, with Pascal possibly shading it slightly.
The action was once again close in the sixth, with Pascal likely stealing it with a rally of shots in the final twenty seconds. Pascal started strong in the seventh with some hard accurate punches, but it was Gonzalez who battled back to get the former champ on the run. The eight was once again close as the pace slowed down again. Both were tired by those point and breathing heavy.
Pascal was either dead tired or took a round off, because Gonzalez dominated the majority of the action in the ninth. Gonzalez continued to push the action the tenth, taking the fight to Pascal and forcing the veteran to trade at close range. They went down swinging to close out the fight.
Andrzej Fonfara UD12 Nathan Cleverly (10/16/2015): If he’d done nothing else in 2015, Fonfara’s stoppage of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. would have been enough to earn gratitude from fans of serious professionals. It wasn’t all he did. This light heavyweight war featured an absurd number of punches thrown and landed. It furthered Fonfara’s place as one of the best contenders in class. It redeemed a Cleverly who’d looked listless since losing the WBO belt to Sergey Kovalev in 2013.
Scores were 115-113, 116-112, and 116-112 in favor of Fonfara.
The amount of punches thrown, and landed, set a CompuBox record at 175-pounds. Fonfara threw 1414 punches and Cleverly threw out 1,111 of his own.
The fight was very active from the early going. Cleverly was not taking a step back and had choosing to bang away with the hard punching Fonfara. With neither fighter using much head movement and choosing to trade on the inside, both were landing a lot of hard shots and the rounds were becoming hard to score.
Cleverly was letting his hands fly in the fifth, winding up the combinations and sticking his tongue out at Fonfara, who replied back with hard shots in return.
They were trading body shots in the final minute of the sixth - until Fonfara let his hands fly with hard combinations. During the seventh, Fonfara may have broken the nose of Cleverly as he was battering him with very hard shots. Fonfara pretty much dominated the action with big combinations as Cleverly hung tough with some return fire.
In the eighth, Cleverly suffered a bad cut, and tear, on his left ear. Fonfara continued to apply the pressure with big punches. Cleverly would not go away and would let his hands go when Fonfara took breaks to catch a breather.
In the championship rounds, Cleverly was doing his best to rally late with quick counter-combinations. Fonfara was landing the harder, more damaging punches.
The 12th and final round was no different from the previous eleven. They were trading punches from start to finish with the crowd sitting on the edge of their seats.
Edwin Rodriguez TKO3 Michael Seals (11/13/2015): This was sort of a poor man’s Frankie Liles-Tim Little, a super middleweight title classic in the 1990s. A former title challenger in that class, Rodriguez now makes his home at light heavyweight. Seals almost played the big bad wolf that blew that home over. There were knockdowns in every round with both hitting the floor in the first. Seals showed fire but it was the guts of Rodriguez, refusing to be finished in the first, which made the story in this violent, shoot out.
They got off to a monstrous start in the first. First it was Seals on the floor, courtesy of left to the shoulder and head area just thirty seconds into the round. Before the fight was a minute old, Seals returned the favor with a perfect short right to put Rodriguez on the floor. Not two minutes would pass before Seals sent Rodriguez to the floor inside ten seconds with huge right hand. Rodriguez struggled up before the toll of ten and the bell sounded before Seals could do more damage.
Off the stool for the second, Rodriguez was still within range of Seals and looking for a big shot. Both men were careful of each other, Seals looking for another counter right hand. Instead, he ate a massive right in the final minute of the round, dropping in a heap only to beat the count for the second time. The bell sounded with Seals in the corner and both men slinging power punches.
Moments into the third, another big right hand took what was left of the legs of Seals. He pirouetted into the ropes and spun to the floor. Fighting to get up, Seals could not beat the count and Steinwinder waved it off at :24 of round three.
Nonito Donaire UD12 Cesar Juarez (12/11/2015): Donaire, a four-division titlist once considered among the very best in any weight class, has been a roller coaster ride since 2013. An outclassing at the hands of Guillermo Rigondeaux cost him the lineal crown at 122 lbs. He won a belt at 126 but was promptly knocked out by Nicholas Walters. Against Juarez, he had a chance to win back a vacant WBO belt at 122 but got more than he could have bargained for in the most thrilling fight of his career.
Scores were 116-110 (twice) and 117-109 in favor of Donaire, who scored a pair of 4th round knockdowns, but had to overcome cuts, injuries and strong second half surge from Juarez to prevail.
For five-plus rounds, Donaire did everything he expected to do in a bout he was heavily favored to win. Juarez looked every bit the massive underdog he was perceived to be, as he was beaten to the punch and taking punishment to the point where it seemed like a matter of time before the fight would be stopped.
An early night seemed well in the works after Donaire floored Juarez twice in round four. A right hand shot produced the first knockdown of the night, with Juarez being sent right back to the canvas moments later courtesy of a left hook.
Juarez managed to survive the round. What followed was eight rounds of two-way brutality that turned a perceived mismatch and rout into a bona fide Fight of the Year candidate.
Donaire slowed down just enough in round five to allow his wounded prey to shake loose the cobwebs. Juarez slowly began to make his presence felt, picking up the pace in round six and never looking back.
What once seemed like a knockout win soon became a race against the clock for Donaire. The 33-year old Fil-Am star had a left eye that was beginning to swell shut and a cut over his right eye. Another scare came late in the round, when he arose from a slip hobbling on his ankle.
More concerning was the fact that his energy level dramatically decreased in the second half of the fight. Despite just 20 fights to his name heading in, Juarez was wise enough to pick up on his opponent's declining stamina, going to the body as he began to wear down Donaire.
You can take your pick from a number of rounds in the second half in which to honor come year-end awards seasons. Rounds eight, nine and ten were particularly brutal, with Donaire laying along the ropes, doing his best to pick off the incoming but catching plenty of right hands and left hooks for his troubles.
All that was keeping the former four-division in the champ was his fighting heart and occasional counter left hook. Juarez threw caution to the wind in order to land his shots, which meant leaving himself open on the occasions Donaire was able to return fire.
While momentum dramatically shifted, the underdog brawler from Mexico still needed a knockout to win heading into the 12th and final round. It never threatened to happen, no matter how hard he tried. That's because Donaire dug deep to throw more than the occasional counter shot, landing hard left hooks and right hands to remind Juarez why he was favored to win.
It was enough to finish the fight on his feet and - with the win - begin a second tour as a super bantamweight champ.
Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member the Yahoo Pound for Pound voting panel, and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
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