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Top 10 Knockouts Of 2017

Written by Keeran Rajan on 14th November 2017.

10) Eubank Jr KO 3 Avni Yildirim

At the start of the Super Middleweight World Boxing Super Series, many had overlooked the chance Eubank had to be the last man standing in the tournament. However, ‘CEJ’ made an emphatic statement in his opening bow in the tournament; brutally dispatching Avni Yildirim in the third round of their quarter-final in Stuttgart, Germany.

After a strong opening, Eubank established himself as the fighter with the superior skillset and stepped up the gas in the third round. Eubank repeatedly found his mark scoring to the body and to the head. With his back to the ropes, Eubank Jr unloaded his arsenal moving the action back into the ring centre and unfurled a left hook which left Yildirim flat on his back and out for the count, thus setting up a huge domestic grudge match with longtime rival WBA Super Middleweight champion, George Groves.

9) David Benavidez KO 8 Rogelio Medina

Much has been made of Benavidez’s ability after becoming the youngest super-middleweight champion in ring history, but before winning the WBC Super Middleweight Title via unanimous decision in a thrilling encounter with Ronald Gavril. Benavidez put all of the major contenders at 168lbs on notice, when he stopped Rogelio Medina with a blistering fusillade of blows in May.

Medina was tried and tested at the championship level, having gone the distance with IBF Super Middleweight champion James DeGale and José Uzcátegui, to name a few. However as the fight wore on, it became clear that the speed of Benavidez was too much for Medina to handle and was systematically chopped down.

Benavidez’s brutal bodywork played a pivotal role in slowing down the durable Medina, a stinging left uppercut to the body had brought Medina’s guard down. It was at that moment Benavidez brought his attack back upstairs and unfurled a rapid-fire flush six-punch combination which caused Medina’s head to be snapped in multiple directions before he groggily collapsed under the bottom strand of rope.

8) Murat Gassiev KO 3 Krzysztof Włodarczyk

Murat Gassiev is slowly amassing a reputation as one of the most fearsome punchers in the sport of boxing and the cruiserweight World Boxing Super Series was the perfect stage for Gassiev to demonstrate his concussive knockout ability. In Gassiev’s opener in the tournament, at the quarter-final stage against 2-time champion, Krzysztof Włodarczyk showed just why he is a force to be reckoned with…

Gassiev had asserted his control over the bout in the fight’s opening two rounds, forcing an almost petrified Włodarczyk onto the backfoot from the opening bell. In the third round, Gassiev was increasingly aggressive and his effectiveness at cutting off the ring space forced his adversary against the ropes. Gassiev landed a sharp left uppercut to Włodarczyk’s head and immediately followed up by bringing the left-hand downstairs which sapped the energy from Włodarczyk’s legs and left him helpless on all fours.

https://youtu.be/OuM9BMNzcjs?t=11m36s

7) David Lemieux KO 3 Curtis Stevens

David Lemieux and Curtis Stevens had garnered reputations as arguably the two most concussive punchers in the middleweight division. Both combatants had sought to rebuild their names again following gruelling stoppage losses at the hands of the middleweight kingpin, Gennady Golovkin, so there was a lot on the line when the two faced off in New York in March.

The former IBF middleweight champion, Lemieux started as the aggressor, initiating the early exchanges and forcing the equally dangerous Stevens into retreat. Lemieux had pressed Stevens into a compromising position on the ropes in round three and after throwing a dangerous right hand, Lemieux masterfully brought his right foot forward, which allowed him to square up in front of an opponent with nowhere to go and really turn his weight into an evil left hook which left Stevens out cold and in need of assistance from the emergency services.

6) Mikey Garcia KO 3 Dejan Zlatičanin

Much has been said of Mikey Garcia, he showed the promise of a future great, going on to claim two world championships between 2012 and 2013. However promotional disputes with Top Rank threatened to derail his career as he was inactive for almost a two year period, leaving many to question whether Garcia could indeed realise his full potential.

Garcia made the startling decision to step up into his third weight class and once again compete at world championship level following only one bout in three years against Elio Rojas. His opponent was the WBC Lightweight Champion, Dejan Zlatičanin.

Garcia surprised many controlling the tempo of the bout with ease from the opening bell; in round three Garcia found the opening he had been waiting for. The brutal end came after Garcia landed an uppercut which momentarily buzzed Zlatičanin and left him frozen in his tracks, he was however still open for a final right hook and Garcia unfurled a venomous hook which dropped him to the floor, unable to continue.

5) Jermell Charlo KO 1 Erikson Lubin

Erikson Lubin and Jermell Charlo were being earmarked as the two most ferocious contenders the Jr Middleweight division had to offer. Both combatants came to the ring boasting undefeated records and both were coming off emphatic knockout victories against Charles Hatley and Jorge Cota respectively.

Charlo noticed a tendency Lubin had to lean to his right when he pawed at him with the jab, there is a common phrase we hear ‘no second chances’ and Charlo proved that was the case as he unfurled a strong right uppercut that he caught Lubin leaning into. The fight was waved off inside 141 seconds from the opening bell with Lubin incoherent on the canvas and in desperate trouble struggling to return to his feet.

https://youtu.be/C6WlchYN4ec?t=2m43s

4) Terence Crawford KO 3 Julius Indongo

There was a lot on the line when Julius Indongo and Terence Crawford collided in August. There had not been a single undisputed champion for a lengthy 12 year period since Jermain Taylor defended the undisputed middleweight crown against Bernard Hopkins in 2005.

Julius Indongo had built quite a reputation as a formidable adversary and had defeated stellar opponents such as Ricky Burns, but ‘Bud’ who is credited with being at the top of many respected pound-for-pound rankings easily dismissed the challenge posed by the Namibian. Crawford concluded matters when he sunk an evil left hand into Indongo’s right side which left him out for the count, Indongo said afterwards “When he hit me like that, my mind was gone”.

https://youtu.be/DSXPHMaUluM

3) Andre Ward KO 8 Sergey Kovalev

There was a lot of bad blood going into this highly anticipated rematch in June. Kovalev insinuated he lost because of corrupt judges who were protecting an American hero and 2004 Olympic gold medal winner.
Kovalev vowed to kayo Ward ahead of their rematch and even threatened that he would end his career.

Ward himself wanted to silence the many doubters who questioned if he truly deserved the victory in their 2016 meeting.

Kovalev was a fearsome puncher and nobody throughout his entire career had been able to stand and trade opposite the ferocious Russian and live to tell the tale. That all changed however on June 17th, when Andre Ward made an almost symbolic statement to stand up to the bully and he did gradually chop his menacing foe down.

It had been widespread that Kovalev had a strong appetite for alcohol and Ward had revealed he had knowledge of his tendency to drink to excess and aimed to focus his gameplan around draining Kovalev’s energy and going to the body.
The body assault eventually took its toll in the eighth round when Sergey’s legs began to fail him and it became readily apparent the pace of the bout was taking its toll and he was looking for a way out.

2) Anthony Joshua KO 11 Wladimir Klitschko

The heavyweight division has traditionally been the sport’s glamour division and April 29th seemed to mark the return of the division back into mainstream sport’s entertainment circle; It was marked as a changing of the guard fight between the rising star and the decorated, seasoned pro.

It was a titanic battle of the ages which saw both men having to dig deep to haul themselves off the canvas after suffering heavy knockdowns. Anthony Joshua showed his first real glimpses of greatness when he obliterated Klitschko with a dynamite uppercut in round 11 and demonstrated his killer instincts when he cut the ring off effectively and pounded the former 2-time heavyweight kingpin into submission. With this victory, Joshua added the IBO and WBA (Super) titles to his IBF world championship.

https://youtu.be/RqcFZqtra3o?t=1h1m23s

1) Srisraket Sor Rungvisai KO 4 Roman Gonzalez

Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez was widely credited with being the standout pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, the 4-weight world champion Nicaraguan found sizeable acclaim as he punched his way to four world titles with his fan friendly, all offence style of fighting.

However, when he met Srisraket Sor Rungvisai, everything changed and Gonzalez surrendered his WBC super flyweight crown in a gruelling encounter. He lost a lot of blood during a fight where he was overawed with his bigger opponents advantages in the strength department. However many believed the result of the first fight was down to a fluke and Gonzalez was going to demonstrate his greatness as an all-time great by recapturing the throne…

The second bout began much like the first and Sor Rungvisai was having sustained success with his pressuring style, the second time around Gonzalez didn’t seem to be demonstrating the same resistance he had put up in the first encounter.

A short left hook signalled what was to come as Gonzalez crashed to the canvas, looking badly shaken. Rungvisai didn’t let his opponent get a rest. The Thai slugger once again turned up the pressure following the knockdown, attacking with a barrage of punches and a crisp right hand left him almost lifeless on his back, with his eyes open which was eerily reminiscent of Manny Pacquiao’s stunning 2009 knockout of Ricky Hatton.