The 20 most unforgettable one-punch knockouts

There is no climax in sport as dramatic and violent as the one-punch knockout. 

Angelo Leo was the latest orchestrator of such a finish when, on Saturday night, one fateful blow ripped Luis Alberto Lopez from consciousness in the 10th round of a nip-and-tuck battle. With the upset victory, inside Albuquerque, New Mexico’s Tingley Coliseum, Leo became the IBF featherweight titleholder and the final punch, a swirling left hook, is surely destined to take its place on highlight reels for years to come.

“Ranking” the greatest one-punch finishes in boxing history in anything approaching a definitive sense is frankly impossible – after all, we all like what we like – so here, just as a bit of fun as opposed to a document designed to drive people doolally, are my favorite 20 one-punch knockouts.

20. Mike McCallum KO 5 Donald Curry (1987)

For four-and-a-bit rounds Curry had reminded us why he was such a special fighter as he outboxed the brilliant McCallum, even almost flooring him in round two. McCallum, the WBA junior middleweight boss, was far from beaten and after a subtle warning or two about what was to come, he sent in a right-hand decoy and put Curry to sleep with his left.

19. Rocky Marciano KO 13 Jersey Joe Walcott (1951)

My personal soft spot for Jersey Joe probably prevents this knockout, often regarded as the best the heavyweight division has produced, from figuring higher in the chart. But this finish has retained its gruesome brilliance throughout the 73 years since Marciano fired directly at the chin of Walcott to trigger a historic reign.

18. Julian Jackson KO 4 Herol Graham (1990)

Again, a fondness for the fighter being socked into dreamland affects its ranking but, goodness me, this is a KO of the ages. Graham, the slickest of operators, had left Jackson all but blind with his accurate raids and the fight was close to being stopped. Then Jackson unearthed the mother of all one-punch finishes to retain his WBC middleweight strap. Graham plummeting to the deck remains a harrowing sight.

17. Alexander Povetkin KO 5 Dillian Whyte (2020)

The aging Povetkin was supposedly Whyte’s final outing before a shot at a major heavyweight belt and chosen, largely, because he had both a name and signs of wear and tear. Floored twice in the fourth and looking to all like a beaten man in the fifth, Povetkin sent a left uppercut soaring past Whyte’s stomach and onto the base of his jaw. As Whyte’s promoter Eddie Hearn watched on, in his own backyard no less, the Briton was laid flat.  

16. Roy Jones Jr. KO 7 Glen Kelly (2002)

The spur of the moment audacity of Jones is perhaps even more spectacular than its consequences. With both hands behind his back and Kelly directly in front of him, Jones invited the Aussie to try his luck. Kelly threw a half-hearted jab before Jones edged to the side and hurled a cuffing right hand that put his man down and out.

15. Gervonta Davis KO 6 Leo Santa Cruz (2020)

I’m not sure how many times I watched replays of the finishing shot – a cinematic left hand – but it was an awful lot. The build-up and execution, as Davis worked Santa Cruz to the ropes and then uncorked a perfectly formed uppercut, was ice cold. 

14. Bob Foster KO 4 Dick Tiger (1968)

That moment when the smaller Tiger lifelessly hits the mat, frozen in shock, remains one of the most chilling of them all. 

13. Antonio Tarver KO 2 Roy Jones Jr. (2004)

When the fighter on the canvas is also the big favorite, the mesmeric nature of the one-punch KO is significantly heightened. And Jones was not only the favorite, but he’d also long been regarded as invincible – so when Tarver volleyed him to defeat it was a truly unforgettable sight. 

12. Andy Lee KO 5 John Jackson (2014)

It wasn’t going well for Andy Lee against the son of Julian Jackson. He’d been dropped in round two and, by the fifth, was finding it exceptionally difficult just to keep away from his opponent. Lee, however, instinctively summoned a short right hand as Jackson was throwing his own. It slammed on the target and, just like that, the man who’d been harassing him for so long was suddenly fast asleep.

11. Michael Nunn KO 1 Sumbu Kalambay (1989)

This one had distance fight written all over it going in. Kalambay, one of the best middleweights on the planet, was a tricky, awkward and durable customer figured to be the toughest test of Nunn’s career when, suddenly, the favorite clocked him with a left hand and, after a mere 88 seconds, that was the end of that.

10. Jordan Gill KO 9 Karim Guerfi (2022)

Gill was in so much trouble in the ninth round some ringsiders were shouting for it to be stopped. Guerfi kept hammering away, keen to score the KO victory that would in fact soon belong to Gill. With his back to the ropes, his mouth bloody and scooping back air, Gill dramatically extinguished Guerfi’s attack with one stunning blow.

9. Wayne Alexander KO 2 Takaloo (2004)

Inside London’s York Hall, Takaloo plunged a spiteful left straight into Alexander’s body that almost bent him in half. Clearly winded as he guarded his ribs, and with the commentator shouting that Alexander was wide open, he crafted a left hook that nearly took Takaloo’s head off his shoulders. “I rolled a shot, and it wasn’t a lucky shot, straight on to his chin,” Alexander later explained. “Bingo.”

8. Carl Froch KO 8 George Groves (2014)

The stunning right hand that finally quietened Groves is arguably the finest final punch of any boxing career. What a way to say goodbye.

7. Sergio Martinez KO 2 Paul Williams (2010)

“I started to attack and when I did, we knew he was going to make a mistake,” Sergio Martinez reflected after stunning Paul Williams – and pretty much everyone in attendance at Boardwalk Hall. “He left me a lot of room to come in and hit him.” Williams, looking to land his own firecracker, walked straight onto Martinez’s left hook and fell face-first to the mat.

6. Sugar Ray Robinson KO 5 Gene Fullmer (1957)

Widely regarded as the greatest KO in boxing history, largely because of the artistry laced into the defining punch, it continues to wow on repeat viewings. A stunning and brilliant finish from the finest fighter of them all.

5. Derrick Jefferson KO 6 Maurice Harris (1999)

Though this batshit brawl should never be confused with boxing at its best, it was most certainly boxing at its most exciting. Four knockdowns and countless blows had been exchanged between the increasingly groggy heavyweights when Jefferson ended matters with one hellacious swing. 

4. Audley Harrison KO 12 Michael Sprott (2010)

Harrison, with his right shoulder injured, was on the brink of being barred from Last Chance Saloon as he entered the 12th and final round against Sprott. Nobody in London’s Alexandra Palace could have predicted the stunning left hook that was to come. 

3. Juan Manuel Marquez KO 6 Manny Pacquiao (2012)

It needed something dramatic to split two of the best fighters of their generation. Their previous three encounters had gone the full 12 rounds, each one close and contentious. Both promised to go for the knockout in fight number four. Marquez led the knockdown count 2-1 going into the sixth but it was Pacquiao who looked to be on top when his old rival timed the march of the “Pac Man” perfectly. It remains one of the most stunning KOs of the modern era.

2. George Foreman KO 10 Michael Moorer (1994)

There are more spectacular finishes than this one but the image of 45-year-old Foreman standing over the previously unbeaten Moorer with his belly threatening to spill over his shorts will never get old. A triumph for middle-aged folk the world over.

1. Jersey Joe Walcott KO 7 Ezzard Charles (1951)

Walcott, a 9-to-1 underdog because he’d already twice lost to Charles, was partaking in his fifth attempt to win the world heavyweight title. Yet there was little urgency in his legs when he strolled towards Charles in the seventh with all the nonchalance of a man walking his dog. Once he reached his old rival, he cracked him with a quite brilliant left hook and watched patiently as Charles slid down his legs, soon to be counted out.