Best Boxing Knockouts of All Time: 12 Finishes Ranked

MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, December 8, 2012. Three fights, 36 rounds and two decisions most people thought Marquez deserved had built up to this. Pacquiao was 54-4-2 and a -300 favorite. Marquez was 54-6-1 and +250, with the knockout priced at +900.

Marquez dropped Pacquiao with an overhand right in the third, the first time Pacquiao had been down in the series. Pacquiao put Marquez down with a straight left in the fifth and was pouring it on in the sixth. With ten seconds left he landed a left cross, stepped in for more, and Marquez met him with a short right hand that landed flush as Pacquiao lunged.

Pacquiao fell face first and stayed motionless for two minutes and twenty seconds. Referee Kenny Bayless never counted. It drew a $10.8 million gate, won Fight of the Year, and ended the greatest rivalry of the era with the one result nobody expected.

MGM Grand Garden Arena, May 2, 2009, for the IBO and Ring light welterweight titles. Pacquiao was 48-3-2 and Hatton 45-1, with the Manchester crowd singing in the arena. Pacquiao hurt Hatton early and then, at 2:59 of the second, landed a left hand so perfectly timed that Hatton was unconscious before he hit the canvas. Hatton has said his preparation was poor. It did not matter. The punch is still the cleanest one-shot knockout of a top-ten fighter this century.

MGM Grand, November 5, 1994, for the WBA and IBF heavyweight titles. Foreman was 45 years and 360 days old and losing badly. After nine rounds two judges had Moorer ahead 88-83 and the third had it 86-85. In the tenth, Foreman walked Moorer into a short right hand down the middle and Moorer went flat on his back. Twenty years after losing to Ali in Zaire, Foreman was heavyweight champion again, the oldest in history.

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, June 15, 1984, for the WBC super welterweight title. Hearns dropped Duran twice in the first round, once with a right hand and once at the end of a barrage finished by a body shot. At 1:07 of the second, a straight right hand put Duran face down and referee Carlos Padilla did not bother to count. Nobody did that to Duran before or after.

Municipal Stadium, Philadelphia, September 23, 1952. Walcott was the champion and he was winning: 8-4, 7-5 and 7-4 on the three cards going into the thirteenth. Less than a minute into the round, Marciano landed a short right hand on the jaw and Walcott slumped to his knees, out cold, with only the ropes holding his body up. Marciano went on to retire 49-0. The rematch on May 15, 1953 in Chicago lasted one round.

Yankee Stadium, June 22, 1938, in front of more than 70,000 people. Schmeling had knocked Louis out in twelve rounds two years earlier. The rematch lasted two minutes and four seconds. Louis dropped him three times, the first with a right hook, the second after three clean shots to the jaw, and the referee stopped it as Schmeling's corner threw a towel. No knockout in the sport's history carried more weight outside the ring.

Convention Hall, Atlantic City, June 27, 1988. Tyson, 34-0, held the WBA, WBC and IBF titles. Spinks, 31-0, held the Ring and lineal championship. It took 91 seconds. Tyson overwhelmed Spinks from the opening bell and finished him at 1:31 of the first round. Tyson was paid $22 million and Spinks $13.5 million, which works out to a lot of money per second for both men.

Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas, November 17, 2001, for the WBC, IBF and IBO heavyweight titles. Seven months earlier Rahman had knocked Lewis out with one right hand in South Africa. Lewis, paid $11 million to Rahman's $10 million, boxed carefully for three rounds and then landed a right hand just past the midway point of the fourth that put Rahman flat on his back. The most satisfying revenge knockout in heavyweight history.

Torrequebrada Hotel and Casino, Benalmadena, Spain, November 24, 1990, for the vacant WBC middleweight title. Graham, a slick British boxer, took Jackson apart for three rounds and left him battered and nearly blind from the swelling. At 1:13 of the fourth, he drew Graham onto a right hand and Graham was unconscious before he landed. Jackson finished 55-6 with 49 knockouts and went into the Hall of Fame in 2019.

Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, November 20, 2010, for the WBC and Ring middleweight titles. Williams had taken a decision over Martinez the year before. In the second round Martinez threw a left hand over the top as Williams stepped in, and Williams fell face first, stiff, before the punch was even fully through. It won The Ring's Knockout of the Year for 2010 and remains the scariest one-punch finish of the HBO era.

Caesars Palace, April 15, 1985, for the undisputed middleweight title, with Hagler paid $5.6 million and Hearns $5.4 million. The first round is still the most violent three minutes ever filmed. In the third Hagler landed a right hand that sent Hearns staggering, followed and dropped him. Hearns rose at nine, but referee Richard Steele waved it off. Not a one-punch finish, but the best stoppage in the best short fight ever.

20th of May Stadium, Kinshasa, Zaire, October 30, 1974, at four in the morning local time, in front of 60,000 people, with $5 million for each man. Ali was a 4-1 underdog against an unbeaten champion who had destroyed Frazier and Norton. He leaned on the ropes for seven rounds and let Foreman punch himself out. In the eighth, a right hand turned Foreman around and dropped him. The punch was not the hardest on this list. The moment was the biggest.