KO of the Year in 2011
What was the best knockout of the year in 2011? There were a handful of memorable, concussive choices to consider. But one stands alone at the top of the heap. Here’s the 2011 knockout of the year in boxing.
Nonito Donaire TKO2 Fernando Montiel
Out of the several worthy contenders for Knockout of the Year, Nonito Donaire’s early kayo of Fernando Montiel stands out for a handful of reasons. The fight was arguably the most important bout of the year that ended in a knockout, being a clash between the rising former flyweight champ, Donaire, and veteran WBC-WBO bantamweight champ Montiel.
Furthermore, Nonito Donaire is a young, exciting Filipino, and therefore the person most likely to pull some of Manny Pacquiao’s rabid fans into other fights. The result of this bout was quite a shock, as few picked Donaire by knockout and (to my knowledge) no one expected the fight to end so early, making the fight another classic example of the boxing maxim “A fight can end at any time.”
Finally, the knockout was visually spectacular. The true knockout blow was a wrecking ball left hook, the kind of shot clearly visible from all angles. It sent Montiel crashing to the canvas, where he rolled over and involuntarily thrashed around for a second before rising to his feet. The referee should have stopped the fight at that point, because Montiel clearly couldn’t defend himself, and the fight was stopped after only a couple more punches from Donaire.
—-> Don’t forget to check out the rest of our 2011 boxing awards for dozens of different year-end awards and honors!
Runner-Up: Rico Ramos KO7 Akifumi Shimoda was a very close second. Ramos was losing badly when he pulled out a knockout win and saved his title. The knockout blow was the visual equal of Nonito Donaire’s, and produced a real, count-out KO instead of a TKO.
Honorable Mentions: Jessie Vargas KO2 Walter Estrada, Robert Helenius KO9 Sam Peter and Kendall Holt TKO3 Julio Diaz.
