2013 Boxing Knockout Of The Year Nominees

Welcome to The Queensberry Rules' annual year-end awards, starting today and continuing for one week. Here's how we do it around these parts:

The major categories are Knockout of the Year, Round of the Year, Fight of the Year and Fighter of the Year. The final leg, which will finish early next week, is a pu-pu platter of awards ranging from Trainer of the Year to more frivolous topics.

For each category, we give five finalists, with video and/or relevant info. You tell us if our finalists and honorable mentions are lacking, and give your vote on who you think should win. Maybe you sway us to adjust the list, and maybe you sway us on the eventual winner. On the second day after a category is introduced, we'll give that winner and explain why. (There are virtually no major fights left in 2013, but we reserve the right to change our category winners if something crazy happens.)

So, up first: Knockout of the Year candidates. On deck: Round of the Year candidates and Knockout of the Year.

THE FINALISTS (IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER)

Lucas Matthysse – Mike Dallas, Jr.

Matthysse kicked off "The Year of the Puncher" by putting Dallas into a deep face-first slumber.

Argenis Mendez – Juan Carlos Salgado II 

Revenge for a questionable decision loss is best served via monster left hook.

Adonis Stevenson – Chad Dawson 

No knockout of 2013 was more significant, shocking or sudden.

Gennady Golovkin – Matthew Macklin


gennady golovkin vs matthew macklin by dm_51e3df4ee198e

So fearsome a puncher is Golovkin that this might not even be his best Knockout of the Year candidate. It was his best body punch knockout of 2013, at least, and the only body shot KO among the finalists.

Stephen Smith – Gary Buckland 

Good luck finding many uppercut knockouts in any year — let alone 2013 — much better than that one.

THE HONORABLE MENTIONS (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER)

Gennady Golovkin – Nobuhiro Ishida

Curtis Stevens – Saul Roman

Sergey Kovalev – Ismayl Sillakh

Jesus Soto Karass – Andre Berto

Daniel Jacobs – Giovanni Lorenzo

Keith Thurman – Jesus Soto Karass

Mikey Garcia – Juan Manuel Lopez

Lucas Matthysse – Lamont Peterson

Edgar Sosa – Ulises Solis III

Javier Fortuna – Miguel Zamudio

Deontay Wilder – Siarhei Liakhovich

Adonis Stevenson – Darnell Boone II

Dodie Boy Penalosa – Nimithra Sithsaithong

Milan Melindo – Tommy Seran


Milan Melindo vs. Tommy Seran by outlawrocker

Tyson Fury – Steve Cunningham

Jeff Horn – Sam Colomban

Yunieski Gonzalez – Rowland Bryant

Vasyl Lomachenko – Jose Ramirez

Jhonny Gonzalez – Abner Mares

About Tim Starks

Tim is the founder of The Queensberry Rules and co-founder of The Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (http://www.tbrb.org). He lives in Washington, D.C. He has written for the Guardian, Economist, New Republic, Chicago Tribune and more.

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