By Jake Donovan

It was a single right hand in Germany that produced the leading candidate for knockout of the year and perhaps the leading candidate to any middleweight with alphabet hardware.

Sebastian Sylvester made an emphatic splash into the upper echelon of the middleweight division with a brutal 12th round knockout over former linear junior middleweight champion Javier Castillejo Saturday in Neubrandenburg, Germany. 

Things didn’t go so swimmingly for the German early on, as Sylvester suffered a cut after an accidental headbutt in the second round. It would go from a cut to multiple cuts in a span of a couple of rounds, with Sylvester’s corner furious over the excessive (though unintentional) headbutting offered from Castillejo, who managed to keep it close in the first five rounds.

Sylvester permanently turned the tide in his favor in the sixth, a round where Castillejo barely escaped by the skin of his teeth. The Spaniard appeared to have the fight beaten out of him as the rounds wore on. Sylvester continued to pile up points from rounds seven through eleven, with the cuts around his eye (and swelling underneath) serving as the only threat of the bout ending any sooner than he desired.

Way ahead going into the final round, Sylvester could’ve easily coasted to the finish line and settle for a lopsided decision win. He instead elected to make a statement, and literally went out with a bang. A big right hand knocked Castillejo out – and we do mean out, as he remained on the canvas for several minutes before leaving the ring under his own powers.

The official time was 1:53 of the 12th and final round.

Sylvester moves to 29-2 (14KO) with the win, his eighth straight. The squat German boxer isn’t generally known for his power, but for the third time in his career scores a stoppage in the championship rounds, which speaks volumes of his effectiveness late in a fight.

The win earns Sylvester the right to challenge countryman and current middleweight titlist Felix Sturm, against whom Castillejo was hoping to land a rubber match in 2008. This being boxing, anything’s possible, but from a merit perspective, tonight appeared to be the last call for the 40-year old. He falls to 62-8 (43KO) with the loss, his second (officially) in his last four fights, and suffering only the second knockout loss of his career.

Regardless of what Sylvester goes on to do in 2008, his being on the delivering end of this highlight reel guarantees his name will be remembered come year-end award time.

Jake Donovan is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the Tennessee Boxing Advisory Board. Jake can be reached for comments at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.