By Jake Donovan

Milwaukee Bucks 54, Miami Heat 50.

If anyone was paying attention to the NBA game played at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, they’d have noticed that was the score at halftime.

Instead, it became the point when the foundation was laid for the biggest fight in boxing history. With such an event, the winner would seemingly gain recognition as the year’s top boxer. 

When that winner is Floyd Mayweather Jr, there comes in return a considerable amount of resistance. However begrudgingly the decision, the now-retired unbeaten superstar is recognized by BoxingScene.com as the 2015 Fighter of the Year.

The run began at courtside in the aforementioned Miami venue in late January. On the heels of a second win in as many fights with Marcos Maidana, Mayweather was still on the hunt for a serviceable dance partner for a planned May 2 headliner at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Across the court, he would find Manny Pacquiao, his longtime yet elusive rival in terms of pound-for-pound supremacy and box-office notoriety. The wildly popular Filipino southpaw was stuck in town, having served as a guest judge for the Miss Universe pageant two nights prior but unable to travel due to winter storms in the Northeast creating a backlog at the airport.

The chance encounter marked the first time that Mayweather and Pacquiao met and spoke one-on-one in person. The two had played cat-and-mouse for the previous five years, teasing the industry with thoughts of one day finalizing a long-coveted clash.

It would take another month before a deal was finally reached. From there, all somebody had to do was win the blockbuster event.

That somebody was Mayweather, doing so in the manner in which he turned away most of the 45 foes he’d previously faced (Maidana and Jose Luis Castillo coming up short twice apiece among the 47 total wins registered by Mayweather to that point).

Much talk remains of the IV that he received following the weigh-in, whether or not it was in compliance with the strict drug testing standards he professed to advocate as far back as the initial round of negotiations with Pacquiao more than five years earlier.

There was much talk surrounding the physical condition in which Pacquiao arrived on fight night. Word had eventually leaked of a shoulder injury, suffered during training camp and becoming a factor after reaggravating the wound during the course of their May 2 clash.

Whatever the case, both fighters were still tasked with carrying forth the terms of their 12-round fight, one that would once and for all determine welterweight and pound-for-pound supremacy.

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By night’s end, not even the most generous of scorecards could award Pacquiao more than four rounds on the night. Bum shoulder or not, it takes a special type of fighter to limit the Filipino buzzsaw to just 81 total punches landed on the evening.

All told it was just another night in the office for Mayweather. Statistically, he received a marginally stiffer challenge from Andre Berto, the final opponent of his 49-fight career. The bout took place in September, with Mayweather pitching a virtual shutout in what he insists is his last call.

In reality, he could have packed it in the moment he disposed of Pacquiao in May. As he emerged victorious just as most expected would be the case if and when the fight ever took place, it can be argued that the Fighter of the Year race began and ended the moment he and Pacquaio met at courtside on that winter night in Miami.

Oddly enough, the game meant little in the grand scheme of things.

The Heat –20-25 heading into the night – remained a sub .500 team for the remainder of the season and missed the playoffs.

The Bucks entered the postseason as the number-six seed in the Eastern Conference. They were eventually eliminated in six games by the Chicago Bulls. The proverbial nail in their coffin came on April 30, just two nights before Mayweather forever established himself as the best fighter of this generation and among the greatest of all time.

It was also when he officially established himself as 2015 Fighter of the Year.

HONORABLE MENTION (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)

Saul ‘Canelo Alvarez

In terms of desire, Alvarez is right there at the head of the pack. The fight he wanted ultimately came towards the back end of 2015, settling for a high-profile showcase before getting to that point.

Had his highly anticipated showdown with Miguel Cotto come in May as originally planned, perhaps an even bigger fight takes place in November – one that, with a win makes Alvarez a slam dunk choice for Fighter of the Year.

Instead, his pair of big wins helped reestablish his stance as one of the game’s biggest stars. It also put him well in discussion, but ultimately coming up just short in the eyes of the voting panel at BoxingScene.com.

The year began with his team finally giving up on a May clash with Cotto, instead shifting its attention towards a surefire shootout with free-swinging James Kirkland. The expectation heading into their May 9 event at Minute Maid Park in Houston was that the bout would be fun for as long as it lasted.

It lived up to such standards, though the younger and fresher Alvarez – despite not having fought since the previous July – proving way too much for Kirkland in scoring a thrilling, highlight reel 3rd round knockout.

The win – coupled with Cotto’s 4th round stoppage of Daniel Geale one month later – paved the way for a head-on collision which took place November 21 in Las Vegas. Alvarez once again played the role of aggressor, scoring the more telling blows over the course of 12 rounds to claim the World middleweight championship, even though the contest was conducted at a 155-pound catchweight.

There’s not much of an argument to be found with those who feel the 25-year old fighting pride of Mexico deserved top honors in 2015. The final votes dictated otherwise, although the division which he presently rules is loaded with the type of talent that – should he face and defeat – would make him a shoo-in to land this award 12 months from now.

Tyson Fury

Once upon a time, winning the World heavyweight title was in and of itself enough to claim Fighter of the Year honors. It was nearly enough for Fury in 2015, having spent most of the year just waiting on the opportunity – which ironically cost him in terms of coming out ahead in this race.

The unbeaten 6’9” heavyweight from England proved patience to be a virtue, scoring by far the biggest win of his career with a 12-round decision over Wladimir Klitschko in November. The bout was tough to watch for the most part, but with Fury providing the bulk of whatever action there was to be had in their sold-out event in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Getting to that point meant waiting out a Klitschko title defense in April, followed by a lengthy negotiation period that resulted in a deal being reached literally as the fight was heading to a purse bid hearing. The two sides agreed to terms for a bout in October, which was postponed by a month after Klitschko experienced discomfort during training camp.

All told, most of Fury’s year was spent sitting on an intended stay-busy win over Christian Hammer and waiting for the first world title shot to materialize. The championship win put the hulking Brit in discussion; perhaps one more notable win – or a stronger performance versus Klitschko – would have pushed him over the edge, but there’s always 2016.

Gennady Golovkin

The only fighter on the list to make three appearances on the year, the unbeaten knockout artist from Kazakhstan continues to provide major separation from the rest of the middleweight field.

All three fights in 2015 ended in knockout defeat, running his overall streak to 21 consecutive stoppage wins. This year’s list of victims included Martin Murray, Willie Monroe Jr. and David Lemieux.

Murray was widely regarded as a consensus Top 10 middleweight – perhaps even Top 5 – at the time of their title fight this past February in Monte Carlo. Golovkin was forced to go deeper than at any point in his career – in fact extended beyond the 8th round for the first time ever – before stopping the hard-luck Brit inside of 11 rounds.

Ten months later came his first title unification win, manhandling Lemieux before stopping the brave but outgunned Canadian slugger in eight rounds this past October. The bout played to a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden in New York City, doubling as his debut as a Pay-Per-View headliner.

Sandwiched in between came a 6th round stoppage of Monroe Jr., against whom Golovkin was upwards of a 50-1 favorite to emerge victorious.

In fact, Golovkin was a heavy betting favorite to win all three of his fights on the year. All he can do is face the opponents placed in front of him – Lemieux is the first titlist over Golovkin’s reign to accept terms for a long-coveted unification bout. There’s a case to be made that he’s perhaps a victim of his own superior skill set and that the expectation of winning big overshadows what he’s accomplished over the past 12 months.

As his drawing power has reached a point where opponents can be properly compensated for the risk that comes with facing Golovkin – who turns 34 in April – bigger fights potentially loom ahead. Talks continue of a potential Fall 2016 clash with Alvarez, whose middleweight title Golovkin serves as the mandatory challenger.

The winner of such a fight would be a strong candidate for 2016 Fighter of the Year honors. The smart money is on Golovkin, though for once in a fight where he won’t be a victim of his own superiority.
 
Badou Jack

The Las Vegas-based Swede wasn’t on anyone’s radar heading into 2015. So much, that he’s the only fighter on the list who was the betting underdog every time he stepped into the ring this year.

Some 14 months after suffering a humiliating knockout loss to Derek Edwards, Jack found himself in line for a crack at the super middleweight title. Regardless of how he reached that point (being promoted by Mayweather Promotions certainly didn’t hurt), the now 32-year old boxer made the most of said opportunity, rallying strong over the back six of his April 24th title win over previously unbeaten Anthony Dirrell in Chicago, Illinois.

Jack entered the fight as a 3-1 underdog, expected to roll over at some point and grant Dirrell the first successful defense of his super middleweight title. Instead, he turned in a career-best performance in their Spike TV headliner, one that helped ignite a company run that was capped by a Mayweather win over Pacquaio eight days later.

His lone other appearance on the year came with the expectation of a short-lived title reign. Standing in his way was George Groves, who traveled all the way from jolly old England for a third crack at super middleweight glory. Jack never showed fear, turning away his favored challenger in scoring a close but well-deserved split decision win this past September in Las Vegas.

The rest of 2015 was spent discussing a potential clash with fallen former middleweight titlist Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. The fight never came to pass, though has landed back on the negotiating table with the possibility of landing in the first part of 2016.

Even if it came in December, the likelihood of Jack emerging to top honors was as unlikely as the prediction that he’d even land on this list at all.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox