BoxingScene Year End Awards: Knockout of the Year

By Cliff Rold

The skill.

The physical chess match.

The artistry.

All are reasons to tune in to a great boxing match.  None are the first, the real, reason though, are they? 

The first reason remains the same, now and forever.  When fans tune into a fight, what they want to see more than anything else is the knockout.

And what they really, really want isn’t just a run of the mill stoppage.  No matter the thrill, a referee stopping a bout in a flurry along the ropes is never as satisfying as the lights out, can’t get up by the count of ten moment.

It can never happen enough.  Its purest form happens rarely. It is the priceless moment where the perfect punch lands that fighter and viewer alike know, as the defeated trails towards the floor, that the night has reached its conclusion.

We know it when we see it and we saw it in 2010.  Along with the BoxingScene staff vote for Fighter of the Year, the best knockout of 2010 was a unanimous vote.

It is little surprise to find the same man receiving votes once again.

Knockout of the Year: Sergio Martinez KO2 Paul Williams

In casting his ballot, BoxingScene writer Ryan Songalia offered, “Sergio Martinez sent the Devil down to Georgia on Williams.”  Williams is still living with that Devil somewhere down around Augusta.  The fans that saw him suffer the mightiest blow of the year simply live with the images it created.

In recent fistic history, it’s hard to imagine any single photograph, any slow motion replay, as haunting as the sight of Williams on the mat on November 20.  He’d pitched face forward, landing and lying on the side of his face.  His eyes, blank, separate form all sense, stared blankly across the canvas.

He didn’t move for ten seconds. 

Had the referee had reason to count to 100, the stare might well have continued that long.  As recounted by Jake Donovan in the aftermath of the contest:

Martinez seemingly couldn’t miss with his left hand in the opening round, though it was surmised that such a strategy might perfectly play into the hands of Williams, who can bang as well as he can box. Both fighters enjoyed offensive success in the first, though Martinez’ straight lefts and right hooks were clearly the difference.

Despite falling behind after three minutes, Williams received praise and encouragement from his longtime trainer George Peterson, who asked for greater activity and to not pardon the body.

It may have well been sound advice, and not for a lack of trying that Williams wasn’t able to make it work. But when you leave yourself open to give a fighter of Martinez’ ilk to capitalize on any given mistake, chances are that you will ultimately pay.

The vision of Williams motionless on the canvas for ten seconds and beyond is all the proof you need.

An exchange in mid-ring suggested a possible start to the Fight of the Year candidate that many among the estimated 5,500 in attendance were expecting to transpire.

Instead, the Knockout of the Year was delivered, by the man who will undoubtedly go down as everyone’s Fighter of the Year come December 31.

A blistering straight left hand found its way to Williams’ unprotected chin, causing the South Carolina native to fold over and crumble to the canvas.

“I waited for him to make a mistake,” Martinez calmly stated of the shot heard ‘round the boxing world. “He left me a lot of room to let me land that punch.”

Martinez seized every centimeter of the room allowed and lowered the boom.  In Middleweight history, there are a handful of single shot knockouts that stand the test of time.  Sugar Ray Robinson nuked Gene Fullmer in the fifth round of their second fight.  Michael Nunn turned an anticipated chess match with Sumbu Kalambay into a walk to the exits in less than a minute.  Herol Graham probably still wonders what hit him (answer: Julian Jackson).

Martinez-Williams joins them and, as evidenced in Mr. Donovan’s coverage the night of the fight, we knew it when we saw it.

Runner-Up: Daniel Ponce De Leon KO3 Antonio Escalante

The stakes in Martinez-Williams II, the magnitude of the moment, made it an easy lock for the top honors but that doesn’t mean it was the only thrilling finish in 2010.  On the undercard of Shane Mosley-Sergio Mora, hardcore fans eagerly anticipated a showdown between brick fisted former Jr. Featherweight titlist and Featherweight contender Daniel Ponce De Leon and fellow contender Antonio Escalante.  Escalante had been in a bona fide war with Miguel Roman earlier in the year; Ponce De Leon rarely makes for less than a fight.

On September 18, Ponce De Leon never really let a fight break out.  As reported by Ernest Gabion at ringside:

The first pay-per-view fight of the night was quite possibly the best match on paper, as both boxers are known for their action packed fights. The contest had an eliminator hanging overhead with the winner being awarded with the opportunity to face WBO featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez.

From the outset you could see their respective strategies as Daniel Ponce De Leon put constant pressure from his southpaw stance on Antonio Escalante. For his effort, Escalante tried to control the outside by using utilizing a jab and constant movement. Escalante may have felt Ponce's power early, as he quickly seemed hesitant to engage, and instead tried to score points by leaping in with combos.

Ponce was relentless with his crude but effective style. He suffocated Escalante with pressure. A picture perfect right hook floored Escalante hard in the third, forcing the referee to forego his count and wave off the fight at 2:40.

Honorable Mention: Dmitry Pirog stole the momentum of hot American Middleweight prospect Daniel Jacobs and made it his own with a right hand along the ropes in round five…Heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko essentially told cornerman Emmanuel Steward to calm down as he was excoriated for not going for the kill against Eddie Chambers in March; then he went out and detonated a bomb on Chamber to finish manners in championship fashion in the twelfth and final round…Jr. Middleweight Alfredo Angulo was expected to get a test but instead went right through former titlist Joachim Alcine in only two rounds…Former lineal Welterweight champion Carlos Baldomir has always been known for a great chin.  Saul Alvarez stopping Baldomir on the Mosley-Mora undercard for the first time since 1994 with a deadly left hook was impressive indeed…Bantamweight Fernando Montiel appeared to have lost three of three rounds on the road in Japan against the outstanding and long reigning titlist Hozumi Hasegawa.  A left hook in round four of their unification match sent Hasegawa to the ropes where Montiel finished a Hasegawa out on his feet for the finest victory of the Mexican three-division champion’s career…Heavyweight Audley Harrison raised the pulse rate of British boxing with a rousing 12th round bombing of Michael Sprott to set up a shot at David Haye that was highlighted by Haye going through Harrison with ease in another outstanding knockout (if not much of anything else)…Finally, a battle of Featherweight unbeatens ended with a single right hand in round number one.  A good night for Javier Fortuna; not so much for Victor Valenzuela.

For more BoxingScene.com Year End Awards 2010:

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