With 2012 all but finished, it’s time to look back on the best of boxing’s signature ending…the knockout. There were plenty of fighters rendered unconscious during the calendar year and below is a short collection of 10 of the most memorable. Feel free to add on your own favorites that I might have missed.
10. TERRANCE CRAWFORD TKO5 ANDRE GORGES
This beatdown took place on Top Rank’s pay-per-view undercard for Brandon Rios vs. Richard Abril. Gorges was getting thrashed almost from the very start and every power shot seemed to badly rattle him. By the fifth round he was a shambling mess and Crawford’s overhand shot ended the carnage.
KO SEQUENCE STARTS AROUND THE :50 SECOND MARK
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTEME8qBB28&feature=youtube_gdata_player]
9. ALFREDO ANGULO KO1 RAUL CASAREZ
Take a look at Raul Casarez’s face after Alfredo Angulo plants him on the canvas with a perfect counter hook. It’s the look you normally have when you’re awakened suddenly from a good sleep. In this case, Angulo’s power placed him in a bad nightmare.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ9iIWd9xLA&feature=youtube_gdata_player]
8. ADONIS STEVENSON KO1 JESUS GONZALEZ
I think Jesus Gonzalez was reaching for the angels to come take him home after eating this massive left hook from Adonis Stevenson. If you watch the whole video, you’ll note the late, great Emanuel Steward working Stevenson’s corner. Damn good hang time on the post-fight celebration jump from Stevenson, too.
KO at 1:40 MARK
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGX3_1I944w&feature=youtube_gdata_player]
7. JOSE CASTRO KO1 CARLOS ACEVEDO
Trust me, the whole round is worth watching as it was bombs away in this one. Castro hit the deck first off a short hook inside and returned the favor with a massive hook that made Acevedo nearly do a full tumble roll on the canvas. The final knockdown came courtesy of a left hook that had Acevedo resemsbling the death throes of a mortally wounded animal.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elfMFgMVGXc&feature=youtube_gdata_player]
6. DANNY GARCIA KO4 ERIK MORALES
If Erik Morales ever considers returning to the ring, I hope he takes a look at this video. Even months later this KO still makes me wince.
1:13 MARK
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItOokL6doWM&feature=youtube_gdata_player]
5. LUCAS GERMAN PRIORI KO3 PEHUEN ROBERTO CORREA
This was a beautiful KO that most of us discovered courtesy of @Sweetboxing. Everything about this KO is amazing from the placement of the shot to the way Correa falls in slow motion to the canvas. Makes sure you watch the video to the end (or skip to the last minute after the initial KO) to get the full effect of the impact from Priori’s shot.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w9YAcXmPrc&feature=youtube_gdata_player]
4. MIKKEL KESSLER TKO4 ALLAN GREEN
This is the best KO of Kessler’s career and likely the one that signals the end of Allan Green’s career as a serious contender.
KO AT 14:05 MARK
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_2Fl7CzeNw&feature=youtube_gdata_player]
3. RANDALL BAILEY KO11 MIKE JONES
Randall Bailey escaped what looked to be a sure-fire decision loss starting with a hard right cross knockdown two rounds earlier and then turning Jones’s lights out in the 11th with a crushing right uppercut. Simply a murderous shot.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWeAzDS7XVM&feature=youtube_gdata_player]
2. SHINSUKE YAMANAKA KO7 TOMAS ROJAS
Was that an overhand left or a hammer that hit Tomas Rojas? He sure fell like he had been cracked with a mallet. A perfect example of “rag doll physics.”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShspBBSAob4&feature=youtube_gdata_player]
1. JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ KO6 MANNY PACQUIAO
Let’s be clear — if Pacquiao is foolish enough to get back in with Marquez straight away for a fifth fight with no tuneup, we’ll likely see this same result if not worse. Marquez, even as he nears 40, showed why he’s still one of the best counter-punchers in the game. Pacquiao never saw it coming and neither did most of us. Since HBO is still being very aggressive in removing any clips of the original KO, we’ll have to settle for watching it again in the company of a tearful Filipino family (Oh my God, he’s dead!)
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJyewjF1PXE&feature=youtube_gdata_player]
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 