Boxing Knockout of the Year Award
The past year was a great one for lovers of the knockout. And what fight fan doesn’t love a big KO? So while the competition was stiff, we went back and watched all the memorable kayoes of the year to see which one was the best of the best. Here’s are choice for the 2015 Knockout of the Year in boxing.
Knockout of the Year: Gabriel Bracero KO1 Danny O’Connor
The Danny O’Connor vs. Gabriel Bracero fight this October was actually a rematch. Bracero had won a decision over O’Connor in 2011 when both were undefeated. Since, O’Connor became the bigger name, while Bracero became inactive and never made it beyond the New York circuit.
This was seen as a chance for O’Connor to turn the tides and move onto bigger things. Expect he never got the chance.
All it took was one huge right hand down the pike and O’Connor was out before he hit the canvas, dropping like a sack of potatoes. Just a beautifully placed and landed shot.
Does this make Bracero into a legit contender? Who knows, but we’ll certainly be seeing him again after that explosive display.
Knockout of the Year Runner Up: Mairis Briedis KO5 Manuel Charr
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvVPIKv_lPg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvVPIKv_lPg
Mairis Briedis made a name for himself in 2015 thanks to his big knockout power. He put that on display against Manuel Charr. In the 5th round, he caught Charr with a perfectly pinpointed right uppercut on the inside, which Charr never knew was coming. That uppercut looked to do most of the damage, but as Charr was on his way down, a left hook came in and left him unconscious and careening straight down to the canvas. A quick two punch combination and a monster kayo.
Briedis is now 18-0 with 15 knockouts and is positioned to continue rising up the rankings in the year. He should be an interesting one to watch and hopefully we’ll see him stateside soon.
More Great Knockout of the Year Candidates from 2015
Claudio Marrero KO3 Rico Ramos
One big sweeping, overhand left came in and caught Ramos at the start of the 3rd round. Ramos went flying back and the referee came in and waved it off before ever starting a count. This one was unexpected, it came from nowhere and then boom, Ramos was done.
Canelo Alvarez KO3 James Kirkland
Canelo’s kayo of James Kirkland was from an absolute monster of a right hand. Kirkland got sent spiraling around before landing on the canvas, and the referee mercifully waved off the action. One thing that takes this down a notch was that Kirkland had already been down before this, and appeared to be all but finished already. So while it’s a beauty of a one punch kayo, the work that came before it made it more inevitable.
Also in the mix: Luis Ortiz’s knockouts of Bryant Jennings and Matias Vidondo, and Krysztof Glowacki’s KO of Marco Huck.
