BoxingScene Knockout of the Year: N'Dam KO's Blanco in One

By Keith Idec

There were numerous well-deserving candidates for boxing’s “Knockout of the Year” in 2016.

Perhaps none of boxing’s knockouts this year, however, was as incredible as Hassan N’Dam’s stunning first-round stoppage of Alfonso Blanco on December 17 in Saint-Denis, Reunion, France.

Blanco barely had an opportunity to move around before N’Dam drilled him with a chopping right hand to the jaw that immediately knocked Blanco unconscious. The WBA interim middleweight champion fell like a chopped tree, face-first to the canvas.

The title fight, scheduled for 12 rounds, lasted just 22 seconds. N’Dam (35-2, 21 KOs), a native of Cameroon who resides in France, became a two-time middleweight title-holder.

Blanco’s legs convulsed after he fell. Once the previously unbeaten Blanco (12-1, 5 KOs) was helped to his feet and regained his senses, the former title-holder from Venezuela seemed to have no recollection of what had happened.

N’Dam’s spectacular stoppage is krikya360.com’s “Knockout of the Year.” Below is a link to YouTube footage from the fight.

RUNNERS-UP FOR krikya360.com “KNOCKOUT OF THE YEAR” (IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER)

DAVID HAYE OVER MARK DE MORI: Haye emphatically ended a 3½-year layoff by knocking out Australia’s De Mori in the first round January 16 at O2 Arena in London.

Moments before their fight ended, Haye (28-2, 26 KOs) landed a left hook that wobbled De Mori back into the ropes. Then the former WBA heavyweight champion drilled De Mori (30-2-2, 26 KOs) with an overhand right to the side of the head that left DeMori on his side, against a bottom rope.

Referee Robert Williams stopped the fight at 2:11 of the first round.

DEONTAY WILDER OVER ARTUR SZPILKA: Wilder connected with a counter right hand on the chin as Szpilka attempted a left hand in the ninth round of their January 16 fight at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

The force with which Wilder (37-0, 36 KOs) nailed Szpilka twisted the contender’s body and dumped the unconscious contender flat on his back, with his arms spread wide, partially beneath a bottom rope. Referee Michael Griffin waved an end to the bout immediately.

Wilder won their scheduled 12-round fight for Wilder’s WBC heavyweight championship by ninth-round knockout.

OLEKSANDR GVOZDYK OVER NADJIB MOHAMMEDI: Ukraine’s Gvozdyk unloaded a perfect short, straight right hand to Mohammedi’s jaw.

The crushing punch knocked Mohammedi on the side of his face and forced referee Jay Nady to stop their light heavyweight fight 2:06 into the second round on the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley undercard April 9 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Gvozdyk (12-0, 10 KOs) became the second straight opponent to knock out France’s Mohammedi (38-5, 23 KOs), whom then-light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev knocked out in the third round 8½ months earlier in Las Vegas.

JORGE LARA OVER FERNANDO MONTIEL: Lara dropped Montiel four times in the first round of this battle between Mexican featherweights April 30 in Carson, California.

The fourth and final knockdown was caused by a vicious right hook by Lara (28-0-2, 20 KOs) that made Montiel (54-6-2, 39 KOs) fall face-first to the canvas, under a bottom rope. Referee Ray Corona halted this scheduled 10-rounder at 1:37 of the first round in a fight FOX televised from StubHub Center.

CANELO ALVAREZ OVER AMIR KHAN: Though a natural welterweight, Khan kept this fight very competitive with his hand speed and athleticism before Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) got full extension on a right hand that knocked Khan unconscious with 31 seconds to go in the sixth round May 7 in Las Vegas.

With England’s Khan (31-4, 19 KOs) flat on his back, referee Kenny Bayless stopped their fight for Alvarez’s WBC middleweight title, an HBO Pay-Per-View main event from T-Mobile Arena.

MURAT GASSIEV OVER JORDAN SHIMMEL: The taller Shimmel tried to keep his distance from the dangerous Gassiev, who knocked Shimmel silly with a picture-perfect left hook with 12 seconds left in the first round of their May 17 cruiserweight fight in Carlton, Minnesota.

Gassiev’s devastating connection dropped Shimmel into the bottom rope and eventually under it. He was unconscious briefly and required medical attention after referee Mark Nelson stopped their scheduled 10-round bout 2:54 into it.

Shimmel (20-2, 16 KOs), of Hudsonville, Michigan, eventually made it to his feet, shook Gassiev’s hand and left the ring under his own power.

Gassiev (24-0, 17 KOs) defeated fellow Russian Denis Lebedev (29-3, 22 KOs) by split decision to win the IBF world cruiserweight championship in his following fight, December 3 in Moscow.

VASYL LOMACHENKO OVER ROCKY MARTINEZ: The precision and speed with which Lomachenko landed the left-uppercut/right hook combination that ended this HBO “World Championshp Boxing” main event in the fifth round was spectacular.

The immensely skilled Ukrainian southpaw was dominating Puerto Rico’s Martinez (29-3-3, 17 KOs) through four-plus rounds in their scheduled 12-rounder for Martinez’s WBO world super featherweight title June 11 in The Theater at Madison Square Garden. Lomachenko (7-1, 5 KOs), a two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-division champion just eight fights into his pro career, punctuated that performance perfectly with an impressive combination most boxers don’t attempt with regularity, much less land.

ADONIS STEVENSON OVER THOMAS WILLIAMS: Stevenson, the WBC light heavyweight champion, buzzed Williams with a left hand several seconds before landing a straight left to Williams’ jaw that left the challenger face-first on the canvas.

A disoriented Williams wasn’t able to get up before referee Michael Griffin counted to 10 and Canada’s Stevenson (28-1, 23 KOs) won their July 29 bout in Quebec City, Canada, by fourth-round knockout. Stevenson previously dropped Williams (20-2, 14 KOs), of Fort Washington, Maryland, with a left hand near the back of Williams’ head in the first round of a fight Spike televised from Videotron Center.

JOE MURRAY OVER RASHID KASSEM: England’s Murray delivered an overhand right that knocked a retreating Kassem on his back, with his arms spread wide, in their lightweight fight October 15 in Frederikshavn, Denmark.

The previously unbeaten Kassem (11-1, 7 KOs) tried to get up, but referee Jan Christensen quickly ended their scheduled 10-rounder with less than a minute to go in the sixth round. Murray (19-2, 8 KOs) was not known as a big puncher entering his fight against Denmark’s Kassem.

JULIUS INDONGO OVER ED TROYANOVSKY: Indongo was the IBF’s 15th-ranked contender, a supposed safe opponent for the first defense of Troyanovsky’s IBF 140-pound championship December 3 in Moscow.

Namibia’s Indongo (21-0, 11 KOs), a 10-1 underdog, stunned Troyanovsky and a sellout crowd at Khodynka Ice Palace by blasting him with left hand from long range that left the defending champion flat on his back and briefly knocked Troyanovsky unconscious. The scheduled 12-round fight was stopped just 40 seconds into it, as referee Mark Calo-Oy quickly realized Troyanovsky would not be able to continue.

Troyanovsky (25-1, 22 KOs) had won 15 straight bouts by knockout before losing to Indongo in a title fight that wasn’t televised in the United States.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.