The Year's Best in Philippine Boxing

As the year of 2015 comes to a close, we take a look back at the highlights of our proud Filipino warriors competing in the Sweet Science.

FIGHTER OF THE YEAR: Donnie Nietes

The two-division Filipino world champion had a pretty busy year, competing in a total of three fights this 2015. Now the longest reigning Filipino world boxing champion in history, the former world minimumweight champion and current lineal light flyweight champion trampled hard hitting Mexican Gilberto Parra in March, Francisco Rodriguez in July and Juan Alejo in October.

Setting activity aside, what secured the fighter of the year praise for Nietes is how he manhandled such dangerous foe in Rodriguez. Rodriguez, a two-time world minimumweight champion was the no. 1 contender for Nietes' strap and was seen as a legitimate threat to Nietes' world title reign.

Rodriguez showed up as the bigger, stronger fighter come fight night, but Nietes' superior technique and boxing skills were simply too much to handle for the Mexican challenger. Nietes threw textbook combinations, blocked punches with his gloves and elbows, jabbed, bobbed and weaved, dipped and slipped and countered his way to a clear as day unanimous decision victory — proving once more that he's one of the most well rounded and dominant champions in boxing today.

FIGHT OF THE YEAR: Jonathan Taconing vs. Jomar Fajardo

Followers of the local boxing scene knew that a fight of the year candidate type of matchup is about to ensue the very moment that the fight between world rated and defending OPBF light flyweight champion Jonathan Taconing and gritty Jomar Fajardo was announced. The bout was held in a small venue, had no live TV coverage, yet the fight more than lived up to the hype for those who knew what's in store for them.

Taconing has long been one of the most exciting pugilists in the light flyweight division, a come forward lefty who throws combinations with bad intentions and has little to no regard if he gets hit himself in the process. Fajardo, on the other hand, is an all action, pressure fighter who made a reputation for himself when he took two-time world minimumweight champion Francisco Rodriguez to deep waters in a fight that ended in a disputed draw.

Both fighters immediately went at it as soon the opening bell rang, Fajardo went straight to throwing bombs to the head and body while Taconing remained calm, weathered the storm, and unleashed sneaky counterpunches that landed clean multiple times at Fajardo.

The bout turned out to be a war of attrition as rounds went by, Taconing managed to land his best shots at Fajardo only to see the challenger dig even deeper and pressure more harder. An accidental headbutt in round 5 drew a cut near Taconing's eye. Sensing blood, Fajardo further stepped up his already relentless tempo, throwing hard right hands and wild combinations from all angles.

Another accidental headbutt took place in round 10 that opened a separate cut on top of Taconing's left eye which forced referee Virigilio Garcia to halt the contest upon the ringside physician's advice. Taconing won the slugfest and kept the OPBF title around his waist, while Fajardo walked away with his ninth professional defeat but not without cheers and applauds from the crowd in attendance for his galant effort.

UPSET AND KNOCKOUT OF THE YEAR: Eden Sonsona TKO2 Adrian Estrella

Eden Sonsona was a 122-pound fighter, didn't hold a reputation of being a power puncher, and had to move up two weight divisions to battle fast-rising Mexican prospect Adrian Estrella for the vacant WBC international super featherweight title.

Little did the people know that Sonsona flew to Mexico to swing for the fences, looking to put Estrella to sleep with a single hit of his wild haymakers. Sonsona's intentions were clear from the very first round: knock Estrella out, collect his paycheck then take the belt home to the Philippines.

While Sonsona looked to land his left hand all night, it was a right hand that did the job for the Filipino. Barely 20 seconds into the second round, Sonsona slipped Estrella's right straight, threw a left hand followed by a counter right hook that landed clean as a whistle at the Mexican's jaw, dropping the latter face first to the canvass. The badly hurt Estrella managed to get back on his feet but was deemed unable to continue by the referee. The stoppage time was 0:27 of round two.

COMEBACK OF THE YEAR: Nonito Donaire Jr.

I've always believed that a comeback is more than just returning inside the ring and winning. A successful comeback, to me, is proving that a fighter can still excite and deliver noteworthy performances after falling hard in the past. And that is exactly what Nonito Donaire Jr. did this year.

After suffering his first knockout defeat at the hands of Nicholas Walters last year, Nonito Donaire was deemed 'done' by experts, citing how he could no longer bounce back from such nasty defeat. After two confidence booster fights in March and July respectively, Donaire was back into the world championship stage this December when he fought the hard-hitting, world rated Cesar Juarez of Mexico.

Donaire was clearly ahead in the early going, even dropping the game Juarez twice in the fourth round. But after hurting his left foot along the bout, Donaire's boxing and movement were reduced significantly, forcing him to let go of the game plan and instead get into a slugfest with Juarez.

Donaire dug deep, fought hard and motivated even while looking exhausted in the championship rounds. Donaire's fighting heart carried him to the final bell as he defeated Juarez by unanimous decision to bag the vacant WBO world super bantamweight title.

EVENT OF THE YEAR: Pacquiao vs. Mayweather

The highly talked about matchup for years between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather may have disappointed inside the ring, but it surely lived up to the hype when it comes to being the biggest fight in history. The bout literally shattered financial records in boxing history, the sad part though, was that our countryman was on the losing end of the contest after twelve rounds. Nevertheless, having a Filipino in the main event of a record breaking event is both a boost and honor to Philippine boxing.

PROSPECT OF THE YEAR: Albert Pagara

The 21-year-old Maasin City native Albert Pagara is a much needed breathe of fresh air in Philippine boxing. A fighter who can both box and bang it out, the young Pagara is quickly rising through the ranks as he is now rated in the world top 10 in three of four major sanctioning bodies (WBC, IBF and WBO) in boxing.

Pagara is not your typical Filipino fighter; he's flashy and has no problem talking tough to his opponents. Just like his stablemate Donnie Nietes, Pagara fought three times this year, winning all of them by stoppage. His power, speed and technique have yet to fail him inside the ring, holding an unbeaten record of 25-0 with 18 knockouts.

ALA Promotions is slowly but surely stepping up his competition too, so it remains to be seen where Pagara's character, charisma and exciting fighting style would take him. Suffice it to say, Pagara looks to have a bright future ahead of him.

PROMOTER OF THE YEAR: ALA Promotions

ALA Promotions' dominance in the local boxing promotion and entry at the world stage couldn't be denied. In March, the Cebu-based company had put up an event that featured two of the greatest fighters in Philippine boxing history (Nonito Donaire and Donnie Nietes) on the same card.

Seven months later, spearheaded by its young, visionary president Michael Aldeguer, ALA Promotions promoted its first event in US soil when they brought Filipino boxing to Carson, California — making the company the first ever promotion from the Philippines to do so.

TRAINER OF THE YEAR: Nonito Donaire Sr.

Nonito Donaire Sr. was responsible for grooming his son, Nonito Donaire Jr. to stardom when they defeated the then unbeaten and defending world flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan by knockout in 2007. Their relationship fell apart along the way, but they're now back together as a team stronger than ever.

Nonito Sr. is the soft spoken trainer who holds the punch mitts, willingly to be on the receiving end of his son's out of this world power punches. He devices the game plan each and every fight, and guided his son to be become a world champion once again just like the old times.

JM Siasat is a sportswriter, co-anchor of Fight News Hour on Sports Radio 918khz, a former amateur boxer, and a student of the sweet science. The resident combat sports correspondent for GMA News Online, follow @jmsiasat on Twitter or email him at jmsiasat@ymail.com.