Boxing’s Best of 2017: A year-end review of the world of boxing

Knockout of the year: Mikey Garcia’s KO of Dejan Zlaticanin

There were a lot of picturesque knockouts in 2017, but few were as clean or brutal as Mikey Garcia’s knockout of Dejan Zlaticanin in January.

At the time, Zlaticanin was the WBC lightweight champion and Garcia was stepping up in weight for this title shot. Garcia had only fought as a super featherweight, but he was clearly outgrowing the division and could no longer make weight.

Zlaticanin was the champion, but he was a huge underdog. He won the vacant WBC title in 2016 by knocking out Franklin Mamani. Zlaticanin wasn’t a well-known boxer, but he had wins over Ricky Burns and Ivan Redkach which were noteworthy victories.

It was clear from the opening bell that Garcia was the superior boxer. Garcia controlled the distance and was landing on Zlaticanin consistently. Zlaticanin’s night ended early.

With 45 seconds left in the third round, Garcia caught Zlaticanin with a punishing right-uppercut that wobbled his legs. Zlaticanin was badly hurt by the punch and was left open defensively. Garcia took advantage and nailed Zlaticanin with a clean right-cross that rendered him unconscious. Zlaticanin was asleep before he hit the canvas.

It was a beautifully destructive KO that will live on in Garcia’s highlight reel for years to come. Garcia is one of the best power-punchers as a lightweight, but he’s moving up to super lightweight in February of 2018 against IBF champion Sergey Lipinets. We’ll see if Garcia’s power is as devastating at a higher weight class. Based on his KO of Zlaticanin, it looks like Garcia has good power for a welterweight. He’s poised for a big year in 2018.