Floyd Mayweather retires following Andre Berto win in September. Photo: Getty Images

The past year was packed with drama in and out of the ring, including some memorable fights, big surprises and important milestones.

Who and what stood out the most?

Find out when THE RING reveals its annual year-end awards for 2015 in January. The categories: Fighter, Fight, Knockout, Trainer, Upset, Event, Comeback, Round, Prospect and Most Inspirational.

Leading up to the announcement, we will give you the five finalists in one category each day. Day 3: Event of the Year.

The finalists (in chronological order) are.

PREMIER BOXING CHAMPIONS

The plan is to take boxing out of the pay-per-view shadows and introduce the fighters to a general audience. It’s a novel idea. A good one, too. But is it sustainable? Haymon buys network time on a bet that advertising dollars will follow. In 2015, PBC staged 46 shows on NBC, CBS, ESPN, Fox, Spike and Bounce TV. Stay tuned.

FLOYD MAYWEATHER VS. MANNY PACQUIAO

The world stops for the biggest fight in boxing but disappointing action and Pacquiao’s undisclosed shoulder injury leave a sour taste. Still, there were no flies on Mayweather who outclassed and outpointed the Filipino idol before picking up a check for $220 million (according to ESPN). Pacquiao consoles himself with a mere $150 million. The bout sets an incredible new record (4.4 million buys) for pay-per-view.

FLOYD MAYWEATHER’S RETIREMENT

Following his unanimous decision win over Pacquiao, Mayweather was committed to one more fight under his contract with American cable giant Showtime. He selected former welterweight titleholder Andre Berto as the opponent for Sept. 12 and surprised no one by posting a dominant 12-round unanimous decision. The gifted five-weight world champion retires with a 49-0, 26 KOs record. Or does he?

CANELO ALVAREZ VS. MIGUEL COTTO

In a sign of life after Mayweather-Pacquiao, Canelo staked his claim on being the game’s next star with a unanimous decision over Miguel Cotto. The victory was a newfound display of maturity in Canelo, who could encounter his biggest test against Gennady Golovkin in late 2016. The biggest takeaway: The maturing Canelo is also an emerging draw. The pay-per-view for HBO’s telecast did a reported 900,000.

TYSON FURY VS. WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO

If there was doubt that 2015 was dominated by a changing of the guard, it was eliminated on Nov. 28. Klitschko fell, losing a unanimous decision to Tyson Fury, who had more insults than Donald Trump and enough firepower to dethrone a heavyweight champ unbeaten since 2004.

Tomorrow: Comeback of the Year finalists.

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