FanSided’s 2019 boxing awards and review of boxing’s best moments

2019 Knockout of the Year: Deontay Wilder vs. Dominic Breazeale

Deontay Wilder is the best knockout artist in all of boxing. It’s not surprising that he owns the 2019 Knockout of the year.

People are critical of Wilder’s boxing skills, but his capacity to land precision knockout punches might be unlike anything the boxing world has ever seen. Maybe he’s a one-trick pony, but like Paul Simon said, “It’s the principal source of his revenue.”

Wilder has 41 knockouts in 43 professional fights. He didn’t knock out Bermane Stiverne in their first fight because he broke his hand, but he stopped him in round 1 of their 2017 rematch. The only other boxer to last with Wilder for a full 12 rounds is Tyson Fury who was nearly knocked out in the 12th round. Fury is in trouble if Wilder finds a way to replicate his history with Stiverne.

In 2019, Wilder knocked out the two opponents he faced, which were Dominic Breazeale and Luis Ortiz. His destruction of Breazeale was the more eye-catching performance of the two.

When Wilder fought Breazeale in May, he connected with his signature right hand with 55 seconds remaining in round 1. The punch landed cleanly on Breazeale’s chin, and there was no hope he could continue fighting.

Give credit to Breazeale. He tried to beat the count despite being knocked senseless. The power of Wilder’s puncher combined with the optics of the 255-pound Breazeale slamming to the canvas makes this the knockout of the year.