Beltway Boxing 2012 -- Knockout of the Year!

It's now time for the Knockout of the Year.  Once again, the criteria for this award is that the knockout had to be performed by a Beltway Boxer in a Beltway Boxing location.  This means that, for the second straight year, Gary Russell, Jr. is not included in this voting, even though his sickening third-round knockout of Roberto Castaneda on November 10 in Indio, CA had some boxing media rating the knockout second only to Juan Manuel Marquez's knockout of Manny Pacquiao.

Now, onto the selection.

We had a rarity this year in what was a relatively light year for this category.  The majority of the candidates for Knockout of the Year came from one card. The one chosen for this award, however, gave new meaning to the term “one-punch knockout.”

The 2012 Beltway Boxing Knockout of the Year is:

Kevin Rivers KO 1 over Bobby Wooten, November 3, Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, DC

One-punch knockouts are somewhat common in boxing but when the one punch is the ONLY punch a boxer throws in a bout, the knockout becomes special.  Such was the case when Rivers fought Wooten.  Wooten is more known for his mixed martial arts skills and attacked Rivers by clutching and grabbing Rivers’s left hand.  Wooten didn’t last long as the rookie Rivers still had his right hand.  One punch and 31 seconds later, the bout was over. Simply brutal.

Honorable Mention:

Jarrett Hurd KO 4 over Coy Lambert, November 3, Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, DC

This knockout suddenly ended what had been a very close bout.  Lambert gave Hurd everything he could on this night but Hurd put a stop to the proceedings with a brutal straight left hand.  The bout ended at 2:08 of the fourth.

Devar Ferhadi KO 1 over Anthony Madden, November 3, Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, DC

Ferhadi’s knockout of Madden came with one of the more incredulous reactions we’ve ever seen, or should we say heard.  Midway through the first round, Ferhadi landed a crushing right hand to Madden’s body.  The reaction from Madden was highly audible as Madden let out a sickening cry of pain as he crumpled to the canvas.  The bout was over at 1:41.

Lee Snow KO 4 over Issa Coulibaly, June 16, Du Burns Arena, Baltimore, MD

Another close bout ended by a brutal knockout.  This bout between these two locals could have gone either way had it gone to the scorecards.  However, Snow ended the bout with a solid right hand that sent Coulibaly to the canvas at 1:59.

Previous BATB Knockouts of the Year:

2006: Jed Phipps KO1 over David Cleage -- January 20, Pikesville Armory, Pikesville, MD.

2007: Elias Bouloubassis KO1 over Vincent Robbins -- March 10, Pikesville Armory, Pikesville, MD.

2008: Seth Mitchell TKO2 over Alexis Cruz Medina -- May 29, Michael's Eighth Avenue, Glen Burnie, MD.

2009: Tony Jeter KO1 over Keith Gross -- September 26, George Mason University Patriot Center, Fairfax, VA.

2010: Jimmy Lange KO 10 over Joe Wyatt -- November 6, George Mason University Patriot Center, Fairfax, VA.

2011: Kevin Womack KO4 over Benjamin Olinga, November 19, Show Place Arena, Upper Marlboro, MD

Tomorrow: Bout of the Year!