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The One Punch KO Artist

When the discussion turns to one punch KO artists, Ernie Shavers comes immediately to mind—and then, upon some reflection, so does Mike Tyson, Sam Langford, Joe Louis, Bob Satterfield, and a bunch of others:
John Mugabi, Thomas Hearns, Ruben Olivares, David Tua must be included in any list and so should big boppers like the Klitschkos, Foreman, Liston, Baer and perhaps Jeff âCandy Slimâ Merritt, Herbie Hide, Jaime Garza, Edwin Valero, Khaosai Galaxy and Ricardo Moreno.
However, two come to mind front and center for this reporter: Julian âThe Hawkâ Jackson and Gerald âG Manâ McClellan (pictured). And if The Ring magazine sees fit to rank them 25 and 27, respectively, as it did in its updated September 2018 list of the greatest punchers of all time, then I submit that The Ring needs to go back to the drawing board.
The Hawk
âJulian Jackson was the hardest pound-for-pound puncher in human history. He relied on it time and time again, one punch was all it took. At any time from either hand a showstopper could come from nowhere. But his god given power came at the cost of ending up on the wrong end of a few vicious knockouts. Those that live by the sword die by the sword.â â Rhythm Boxing
For sheer ability to consistently stun and paralyze an opponent with one single shot, few were more lethal than âThe Hawk.â The operative word here is âconsistently.â
His frightening and career-altering KO of Herol Graham in 1990 triggered this vivid description by Robert Portis in The Fight City: âOne of the most brutal and awe-inspiring one-punch knockouts ever witnessed won lead-fisted Jackson his second divisional title and further cemented his reputation as an all-time great puncher. The favoured Graham had dominated the first three rounds to such an extent that Jacksonâs eyes were swelling shut and after the third round the ringside doctor informed âThe Hawkâ that he would soon have no choice but to stop the fight. The one-sided boxing lesson continued in round four before Jackson suddenly struck with a vicious right hook that instantly knocked Graham out cold.â
Graham recalled the incident in a conversation with Tom Gray of The Ring: âI made the mistake of going for a sucker punch, when he was in the corner, and Jackson responded with a knockout punch. I had to go to the hospital and there were some scary moments because I couldnât remember a thing about the fight. Three or four hours later it all came back to me and that was a really powerful right hand shotâŠ.â
The Virgin Islander was 29-0 when another banger, Mike McCallum (26-0), stopped him somewhat controversially in 1986.
The Hawk added other unforgettable KOâs against the likes of Terry Norris, Â Buster Drayton, In Chul Baek, Ismael Negron ,Thomas Tate, Wayne Powell, and Dennis Milton. Many were unconscious before they hit the canvas. In particular, his KOs of Norris, Powell, and Drayton showed his signature raw power in a most frightening manner.
As one observer said, âThe amount of speed, torque, and power generated in close quarters was unbelievable. He could knock out someone in a phone booth.â
Jackson ended his career in 1998 with a record of 55-6-0. Forty-nine of his wins came by way of KO and all 6 losses came the same way. Two of those losses came against perhaps the most concussive puncher of them all, Gerald McClellan. Heck, if Jackson was arguably the most lethal, then what of the guy who iced him twice?
The G-Man
Trained early in his career by Manny Steward, McClellanâs signature was the quick victory; a malevolent, torque-fueled knockout. In fact, only two of his first 29 fights went beyond the third round–and 20 of his final career victories were in the first round. He won the vacant WBO middleweight title by knocking out still another KO artist, John Mugabi, in one round in 1991.
(The previous year, McClellan was extended the distance in 8-round fights by Sanderline Williams and Charles Hollis. Williams possessed one of the best chins in boxing. The Hollis fight was an anomaly that simply defied logic.)
Going up against Gerald was like facing a Gatling Gun. Left hooks, right hooks, combos, straight shots and brutal bodywork, all off a stiff jab. Many of his opponents ended up like the Hawkâsâunconscious before they hit the mat. Truth be told, the two were more alike than different.
In August 1993, McClellan and Jackson fought on a star-studded show in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. Both knocked out their opponent in the first round. McClellan stopped his man, Jay Bell, in 20 seconds of the opening round with a vicious body shot. As Bell lay on the canvas, writhing in agony, the crowd looked on in disbelief. McClellan was defending the WBC version of the title that he won from Jackson. It was the quickest KO in middleweight championship history.
This fight with Bell came between McClellanâs two knockouts of Jackson. The first was a spectacular KO which was named the 1993 âKnockout of the Yearâ and the second (May 1994) was the result of a savage body shot in the first round in what would prove to be McClellanâs penultimate fight.
Now then, The Hawk simply cannot be considered the ultimate KO artist if he was twice KOâd by the G-Man, but one thing is certain: both had ferocious punching power. Julian Jackson was a worthy inductee into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and Gerald McClellan belongs there too.
Postscript: Obviously, more could have been written about Geraldâs subsequent boxing career, but this writer prefers not to do it. Dwelling on that tragedy has been done by better writers than me. Suffice to say, I remain a friend with the McClellan family.
Ted Sares can be reached at tedsares@roadrunner.com
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Avila Perspective, Chap. 322: Super Welter Week in SoCal

Two below-the-radar super welterweight stars show off their skills this weekend from different parts of Southern California.
One in particular, Charles Conwell, co-headlines a show in Oceanside against a hard-hitting Mexican while another super welter star Sadriddin Akhmedov faces another Mexican hitter in Commerce.
Take your pick.
The super welterweight division is loaded with talent at the moment. If Terence Crawford remained in the division he would be at the top of the class, but he is moving up several weight divisions.
Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) faces Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs) a tall knockout puncher from Los Mochis at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, Calif. on Saturday April 19. DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card that also features undisputed flyweight champion Gabriela Fundora. Weâll get to her later.
Conwell might be the best super welterweight out there aside from the big dogs like Vergil Ortiz, Serhii Bohachuk and Sebastian Fundora.
If you are not familiar with Conwell he comes from Cleveland, Ohio and is one of those fighters that other fighters know about. He is good.
He has the James âLights Outâ Toney kind of in-your-face-style where he anchors down and slowly deciphers the opponentâs tools and then takes them away piece by piece. Usually itâs systematic destruction. The kind you see when a skyscraper goes down floor by floor until itâs smoking rubble.
During the Covid days Conwell fought two highly touted undefeated super welters in Wendy Toussaint and Madiyar Ashkeyev. He stopped them both and suddenly was the boogie man of the super welterweight division.
Conwell will be facing Mexicoâs taller Garcia who likes to trade blows as most Mexican fighters prefer, especially those from Sinaloa. These guys will be firing H bombs early.
Fundora
Co-headlining the Golden Boy card is Gabriela Fundora (15-0, 7 KOs) the undisputed flyweight champion of the world. She has all the belts and Mexicoâs Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1, 3 KOs) wants them.
Gabriela Fundora is the sister of Sebastian Fundora who holds the menâs WBC and WBO super welterweight world titles. Both are tall southpaws with power in each hand to protect the belts they accumulated.
Six months ago, Fundora met Argentinaâs Gabriela Alaniz in Las Vegas to determine the undisputed flyweight champion. The much shorter Alaniz tried valiantly to scrap with Fundora and ran into a couple of rocket left hands.
Mexicoâs Badillo is an undefeated flyweight from Mexico City who has battled against fellow Mexicans for years. She has fought one world champion in Asley Gonzalez the current super flyweight world titlist. They met years ago with Badillo coming out on top.
Does Badillo have the skill to deal with the taller and hard-hitting Fundora?
When a fighter has a six-inch height advantage like Fundora, it is almost impossible to out-maneuver especially in two-minute rounds. Ask Alaniz who was nearly decapitated when she tried.
This will be Badilloâs first pro fight outside of Mexico.
Commerce Casino
Kazakhstanâs Sadriddin Akhmedov (15-0, 13 KOs) is another dangerous punching super welterweight headlining a 360 Promotions card against Mexicoâs Elias Espadas (23-6, 16 KOs) on Saturday at the Commerce Casino.
UFC Fight Pass will stream the 360 Promotions card of about eight bouts.
Akhmedov is another Kazakh puncher similar to the great Gennady âGGGâ Golovkin who terrorized the middleweight division for a decade. He doesnât have the same polish or dexterity but doesnât lack pure punching power.
Itâs another test for the super welterweight who is looking to move up the ladder in the very crowded 154-pound weight division. 360 Promotions already has a top contender in Ukraineâs Serhii Bohachuk who nearly defeated Vergil Ortiz a year ago.
Could Bohachuk and Akhmedov fight each other if nothing else materializes?
Thatâs a question for another day.
Fights to Watch
Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Charles Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) vs. Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs); Gabriela Fundora (15-0) vs Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1).
Sat. UFC Fight Pass 6 p.m. Sadriddin Akhmedov (15-0) vs Elias Espadas (23-6).
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TSS Salutes Thomas Hauser and his Bernie Award Cohorts

The Boxing Writers Association of America has announced the winners of its annual Bernie Awards competition. The awards, named in honor of former five-time BWAA president and frequent TSS contributor Bernard Fernandez, recognize outstanding writing in six categories as represented by stories published the previous year.
Over the years, this venerable website has produced a host of Bernie Award winners. In 2024, Thomas Hauser kept the tradition alive. A story by Hauser that appeared in these pages finished first in the category âBoxing News Story.â Titled âRyan Garcia and the New York State Athletic Commission,â the story was published on June 23. You can read it HERE.
Hauser also finished first in the category of âInvestigative Reportingâ for âThe Death of Ardi Ndembo,â a story that ran in the (London) Guardian. Â (Note: Hauser has owned this category. This is his 11th first place finish for âInvestigative Reportingâ.)
Thomas Hauser, who entered the International Boxing Hall of Fame with the class of 2019, was honored at last yearâs BWAA awards dinner with the A.J. Leibling Award for Outstanding Boxing Writing. The list of previous winners includes such noted authors as W.C. Heinz, Budd Schulberg, Pete Hamill, and George Plimpton, to name just a few.
The Leibling Award is now issued intermittently. The most recent honorees prior to Hauser were Joyce Carol Oates (2015) and Randy Roberts (2019).
Roberts, a Distinguished Professor of History at Purdue University, was tabbed to write the Hauser/Leibling Award story for the glossy magazine for BWAA members published in conjunction with the organizationâs annual banquet. Regarding Hauserâs most well-known book, his Muhammad Ali biography, Roberts wrote, âIt is nearly impossible to overestimate the importance of the book to our understanding of Ali and his times.â An earlier book by Hauser, âThe Black Lights: Inside the World of Professional Boxing,â garnered this accolade: âAnyone who wants to understand boxing today should begin by reading âThe Black Lightsâ.â
A panel of six judges determined the Bernie Award winners for stories published in 2024. The stories they evaluated were stripped of their bylines and other identifying marks including the publication or website for which the story was written.
Other winners:
Boxing Event Coverage: Tris Dixon
Boxing Column: Kieran Mulvaney
Boxing Feature (Over 1,500 Words): Lance Pugmire
Boxing Feature (Under 1,500 Words): Chris Mannix
The Dixon, Mulvaney, and Pugmire stories appeared in Boxing Scene; the Mannix story in Sports Illustrated.
The Bernie Award recipients will be honored at the forthcoming BWAA dinner on April 30 at the Edison Ballroom in the heart of Times Square. (For more information, visit the BWAA website). Two days after the dinner, an historic boxing tripleheader will be held in Times Square, the logistics of which should be quite interesting. Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, and Teofimo Lopez share top billing.
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Mekhrubon Sanginov, whose Heroism Nearly Proved Fatal, Returns on Saturday

To say that Mekhrubon Sanginov is excited to resume his boxing career would be a great understatement. Sanginov, ranked #9 by the WBA at 154 pounds before his hiatus, last fought on July 8, 2022.
He was in great form before his extended leave, having scored four straight fast knockouts, advancing his record to 13-0-1. Had he remained in Las Vegas, where he had settled after his fifth pro fight, his career may have continued on an upward trajectory, but a trip to his hometown of Dushanbe, Tajikistan, turned everything haywire. A run-in with a knife-wielding bully nearly cost him his life, stalling his career for nearly three full years.
Sanginov was exiting a restaurant in Dushanbe when he saw a man, plainly intoxicated, harassing another man, an innocent bystander. Mekhrubon intervened and was stabbed several times with a long knife. One of the puncture wounds came perilously close to puncturing his heart.
âAfter he stabbed me, I ran after him and hit him and caught him to hold for the police,â recollects Sanginov. âThere was a lot of confusion when the police arrived. At first, the police were not certain what had happened.
âBy the time I got to the hospital, I had lost two liters of blood, or so I was told. After I was patched up, one of the surgeons said to me, âGive thanks to God because he gave you a second life.â It is like I was born a second time.â
âI was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It could have happened in any city,â he adds. (A story about the incident on another boxing site elicited this comment from a reader: âGood man right there. World would be a better place if more folk were willing to step up when it counts.â)
Sanginov first laced on a pair of gloves at age 10 and was purportedly 105-14 as an amateur. Growing up, the boxer he most admired was Roberto Duran. âMuhammad Ali will always be the greatest and [Marvin] Hagler was great too, but Duran was always my favorite,â he says.
During his absence from the ring, Sanginov married a girl from Tajikistan and became a father. His son Makhmud was born in Las Vegas and has dual citizenship. âIdeally,â he says, âI would like to have three more children. Two more boys and the last one a daughter.â
He also put on a great deal of weight. When he returned to the gym, his trainer Bones Adams was looking at a cruiserweight. But gradually the weight came off â âI had to give up one of my hobbies; I love to eat,â he says â and he will be resuming his career at 154. âAlthough I am the same weight as before, I feel stronger now. Before I was more of a boy, now I am a full-grown man,â says Sanginov who turned 29 in February.
He has a lot of rust to shed. Because of all those early knockouts, he has answered the bell for only eight rounds in the last four years. Concordantly, his comeback fight on Saturday could be described as a soft re-awakening. Sanginovâs opponent Mahonri Montes, an 18-year pro from Mexico, has a decent record (36-10-2, 25 KOs) but has been relatively inactive and is only 1-3-1 in his last five. Their match at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California, is slated for eight rounds.
On May 10, Ardreal Holmes (17-0) faces Erickson Lubin (26-2) on a ProBox card in Kissimmee, Florida. Itâs an IBF super welterweight title eliminator, meaning that the winner (in theory) will proceed directly to a world title fight.
Sanginov will be watching closely. He and Holmes were scheduled to meet in March of 2022 in the main event of a ShoBox card on Showtime. That match fell out when Sanginov suffered an ankle injury in sparring.
If not for a twist of fate, that may have been Mekhrubon Sanginov in that IBF eliminator, rather than Ardreal Holmes. We will never know, but one thing we do know is that Mekhrubonâs world title aspirations were too strong to be ruined by a knife-wielding bully.
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