THERE were plenty of fizzling knockouts, underdog success stories and wars of attrition waged across 2024. However, there was also a fair share of battles that turned out to be lopsided mauls rather than even-money affairs.
Jan 02 2025
From fistic frenzies in Florida to Birmingham beat downs. Here are 10 punching picks where one man dominated proceedings.
A super-featherweight clash in the Kingdom saw Welshman Joe Cordina defend his IBF super-featherweight title against Belfast’s Anthony Cacace.
Things were heating up early until Cacace took it to the streets in round three and dropped Cordina heavily. He never recovered. ‘The Apache’ kept the pressure on from that point, forcing a round eight stoppage.
Rebuilding from a stoppage loss to Oleksandr Usyk, Britain’s Daniel Dubois set himself up for a huge heavyweight bout in Wembley against Anthony Joshua. It was expected to be a financial reward and off-you-go evening for ‘Dynamite’ who failed to read the script and set about Joshua from the first bell.
Rocking AJ repeatedly, sending him reeling around the ring, hitting the deck multiple times, ironically, Joshua’s best moments in the fight came just seconds before Dubois finally put him out of his misery, unleashing a stunning right hand to end matters dramatically in the fifth.
Two unbeaten heavyweight contenders were left slinging it out in Saudi Arabia. The winner destined to exit the swing doors of the who-needs-him saloon and elevate to world title level.
Cuban mover Sanchez had dropped and neutralised Efe Ajagba. Kabayel had emerged from the wilderness to bust up the beastly Arslanbek Makhmudov with body shots. He repeated the trick over Sanchez, halting him in seven.
The first meeting between these proud Mexican warriors had been a competitive affair, although the winner (Navarrete) was clear. Since then, ‘Vaquero’ had drawn with Robson Conceicao and lost to Denys Berinchyk while attempting to move up in weight and grab another world title.
Back at 130 pounds, Emanuel successfully defended his WBO title by sixth-round battering. Brave Valdez was dropped in rounds one and four and dispatched for good in round six, prompting his promoter, Bob Arum, to later call for Valdez’s retirement.
The eventual fight scores (before it became a no-contest) may not indicate a one-sided affair, and, indeed, it was fought on relatively even terms whenever Garcia wasn’t decking his old amateur rival. Plus, there’s the large, unmovable figure of the PED elephant sitting pretty in the corner of the room.
While we had seen Haney hurt before (against Jorge Linares) and knew Garcia’s lightning left hook was dynamite, it was still a shock to see the fragility every time ‘King Ry’ landed his honey punch from opening bell to last.
Perhaps the warning signs were there for the Thai fighter who had ended two years of inactivity with a majority decision victory over 4-0 novice Alex Winwood two months earlier.
It was only by the margin of a couple of knockdowns that Niyomtrong slipped out of Oz with his titles in the end. Some felt he won wider, but the fight was too close for comfort.
This one was anything but close. Collazo looked much the bigger man, landing scornful blows from all angles, putting the man sometimes known as ‘Knockout CP Freshmart’ on the back foot, flooring him in round six and twice in round seven. The Thai’s perfect 25-0 record was smashed like brittle vinyl as he tried to stand and trade. It was a viciously one-sided assault.
Tim Tszyu started 2024 full of hope and ambition. Fights with the likes of Terence Crawford or, at least, Errol Spence Jr sat on the horizon. Beating Keith Thurman was supposed to provide a stepping stone to that level. Across a span of seven months, Tim’s dreams turned into a nightmare.
While a split decision defeat (including a split head) to late replacement Sebastian Fundora left Tim with a loss, the mitigating factors helped explain it away to some degree. The battering dished out by IBF super-welterweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev cannot be explained away as easily.
Murtazaliev was good but had taken a while to dismiss an ageing Jack Culcay, so we thought we knew his level. Three rounds of punishment in Florida showed how dangerous he can really be.
Less than 12 months before this fight in Birmingham, Edwards entered a red-hot Arizona ring on more or less even terms with fellow champion Jesse Rodriguez. He lost that one but bounced back with a win over Adrian Curiel. Normal service seemingly resumed.
Not so. Sunny’s mind had clearly been wavering and despite a rough opening round to Yafai, it wasn’t until he revealed just how mentally checked out of the sport he was, in the form of a sad corner speech, that we knew the writing was on the wall. Olympic gold medallist Yafai bludgeoned him for six rounds, using Edwards’ achievements as his own springboard to world-class.
Arriving in big fights with the proverbial “puncher’s chance”, Liverpool’s Callum Smith may have been unable to lay a glove on the masterful Canelo Alvarez but many felt Beterbiev’s age, injury record and reckless style could lead to opportunities for Smith.
The Callum Johnson effort of 2018 was cited as a possible example of how Smith could get the job done. Beterbiev got his jab working early and once the momentum engine started rolling, ‘Mundo’ struggled to stand his ground and land anything meaningful.
The Russian bear piled in the punches as Smith fell heavily and attempted to fire back in the seventh. Coach Buddy McGirt climbed into the ring to end the walloping for good.
A supposed crossroads affair in Monte Carlo between a fighter on the way back down (Hughes) following a superb run, facing a fighter successfully rebuilding from a loss, eager to climb towards the top (Cully).
Hughes showed there’s life in the old dog yet. Cutting down Cully’s size advantages, inflicting a nasty cut for good measure, he dominated across 10 rounds, leaving the Irishman slumped at the crossroads signpost, bloody, bruised and wondering where to go next.
