Mayweather, Golovkin earn top billing for 2015’s first half

By Lyle Fitzsimmons

It’s already been kind of a big June. And it’s fixing to be a pretty sizable July, too.

But seeing how we’re in sort of a down week between marquee-level events, it’s a pretty good opportunity to regather, take a deep breath and reflect on the first six months of Boxing 2015.

In this space, we do that in the form of awards.

A quick look back at my pre-year prediction column has revealed almost nothing worth rehashing – Stiverne by KO over Wilder, really Lyle? – so we’ll go ahead and greet the halfway mark instead by proclaiming the best of the best of what we’ve seen since December pages flipped to January.

Without further ado, here goes…

COMEBACK OF THE MID-YEAR: Andre Ward

All Andre Ward really had to do was show up.

In fact, just seeing the now-31-year-old in a boxing ring after 19 months and four days created enough of a buzz to render his return opponent – twice-beaten super middleweight title challenger Paul Smith – almost irrelevant when they got to the ring for their June 20 bout at Oakland’s Oracle Arena.

But once the bell rang, it was as if the long-time 168-pound kingpin had never left. He dominated nearly every second of every round against the rugged, but outgunned Smith, and eventually prodded his foe’s corner to hurl the white towel in symbolic surrender midway through the ninth.

Such an impressive return immediately reinserted Ward into discussions at both 168 and 175 pounds, and, providing he gets back to action sooner than springtime 2017, it won’t be long before his tagline transfers back from “inactive” to “undisputed.”

UPSET OF THE MID-YEAR: Andrzej Fonfara TKO 9 Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

Truth told, we all should have seen this coming.

Not only had legend progeny Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. been little better than pedestrian since a stirring final round against Sergio Martinez three years ago, but the guy he was in with after a 13-month sabbatical – rugged light heavyweight Andrzej Fonfara – was not a guy to take lightly.

Problem was, that’s exactly what “JC Jr.” seemed to do.

Fonfara greeted him with tough-guy reality from the start, dropped him for the first time in his career in the ninth round and ultimately out-landed him – 285 to 118 – before the wannabe Mexican superstar chose an exit ramp from his stool rather than resuming the fray for the final nine minutes.

KNOCKOUT OF THE MID-YEAR: Canelo Alvarez KO 3 James Kirkland

It was too good a recipe not to satisfy.

The in-ring mix of a rugged and skilled Canelo Alvarez with a willing and powerful James Kirkland made an instant classic almost a foregone conclusion when the two got together for a post-Mayweather-Pacquiao palate cleanser at Minute Maid Park on May 9.

As it turned out, the only thing that prevented a fight of the year candidate was Alvarez himself.

The charismatic Mexican proved the value of prudent matchmaking, battering his foe to the floor in the first and getting the better of a rough-and-tumble second before scoring two conclusive knockdowns in the third – including a show-stopping right hand that sent Kirkland to an ambulance.

FIGHT OF THE MID-YEAR: Lucas Matthysse MD 12 Ruslan Provodnikov

Once again, this one was visible a few miles away.

Both Lucas Matthysse and Ruslan Provodnikov had developed reputations as action-first fighters and heavy punchers, and once they got together to share a ring at Turning Stone Casino in mid-April nearly everyone with a pulse anticipated tumult. And they got it.

Provodnikov was bloodied and out-boxed by his Argentine foe in the early stages of the fight, but his patented second-half charge translated to an offensive onslaught of his own that left Matthysse clearly wobbled at several stages and fortunate to remain vertical for the duration.

The majority decision was close and generated the typical raft of robbery-centric Twitter silliness, but it wasn’t enough to dilute the quality of the product.

CO-FIGHTERS OF THE MID-YEAR: Gennady Golovkin/Floyd Mayweather Jr.

One guy continued a devastating march at 160 pounds, while the other won the most talked-about fight of all time. And the likelihood that one of them will get consensus year-end affirmation is high.

As of June 30, both deserve a nod.

Gennady Golovkin was avoided by many and doubted by some as the year began, and he’s gone a long way toward silencing critics and intimidating foes while grinding Martin Murray and Willie Monroe into mulch across 17 rounds of IBO/WBA middleweight title defenses.

Meanwhile, all Mayweather did was win 26 of 36 rounds on three scorecards against a foe whom many were convinced he’d never fight, and set himself up for a mega-attention encore this September in what he insists will be his career swan song.

Though many have had a solid six-month start to 2015, no one’s have been better than these two.

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This week’s title-fight schedule:

SATURDAY
WBC light flyweight title – Mazatlan, Mexico
Pedro Guevara (champion/No. 1 IWBR) vs. Ganigan Lopez (No. 1 contender/No. 5 IWBR)
Guevara (25-1-1, 17 KO): Second title defense; Unbeaten since 2012 (7-0, 4 KO)
Lopez (25-5, 16 KO): First title fight; Unbeaten since 2012 (5-0, 2 KO) 
Fitzbitz says: Younger incumbent has had more exposure to the top level in the weight class, and has been more successful with it along the way. That should continue here. Guevara by decision

Last week's picks: 2-0 (WIN: Ruenroeng, Dunn)
2015 picks record: 44-10 (81.4 percent)
Overall picks record: 683-233 (74.5 percent)

NOTE: Fights previewed are only those involving a sanctioning body's full-fledged title-holder – no interim, diamond, silver, etc. Fights for WBA "world championships" are only included if no "super champion" exists in the weight class.

Lyle Fitzsimmons has covered professional boxing since 1995 and written a weekly column for Boxing Scene since 2008. He is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter – @fitzbitz.