US-based boxing writer and historian Patrick M Connor has compiled a 140-second clip of boxing's finest knockouts from the past 56 years, and it's understandably blowing up on Twitter.
Following on from his non-event decision victory over arch nemesis Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez takes the clip home with consecutive KOs of the Year versus James Kirkland and Amir Khan in 2015 and 2016 respectively, but Connor's clip goes all the way back to 1960, and Floyd Patterson's iconic left-hook annihilation of Swedish legend Ingemar Johansson in their rematch at New York's Polo Grounds.
Featuring everything from Sonny 'The Bomber' Liston lowering the boom on Floyd Patterson to cult hero and Brazilian bomber Acelino Freitas' 2000 destruction of Javier Jauregui, from The Rumble in the Jungle to Darnell Wilson's chilling one-punch stoppage of Emmanuel Nwodo in June 2007, the clip is well worth a first, second and third viewing.
Normally I try to avoid doing the "hey everyone" thing often, but this video is almost definitely the coolest I've ever put together. https://t.co/gbsGxYQGgq
— Patrick Connor (@PatrickMConnor) May 7, 2017
Every KO of the Year 1960-2016
Every "Knockout of the Year" from 1960 to 2016 in 2 minutes #boxing #history pic.twitter.com/oIKXc7wkMR
— Boxing History (@BoxingHistory) May 7, 2017
Considering 'KO of the Year' only became a legitimate concept on RING Magazine's introduction of the award in 1989, Connor - who writes for independent boxing website The Fight City along with his own site Knuckles and Gloves - makes a number of his own calls, most of which are hard to disagree with.
You'll notice, too, the evolution of referees - generally speaking, at least - across the 56-year period, and how hesitant they were to stop proceedings in the '60s.
For the likes of Tommy Hearns' nuclear KO of Roberto Duran, however, the third man in the ring wasn't required except to peel the victim off the canvas.
For boxing fans, the clip's creator Patrick M Connor is well worth a follow on the Twitter machine. You can do so here.
