Jake Donovan: This is a category where the stronger debate will be on deciding the runner-up. Not only is Brian Norman’s KO of Jin Sasaki the runaway favorite thus far, I’d be stunned if it doesn’t maintain its place by year’s end.
Lucas Ketelle: Brian Norman Jnr knocking Jin Sasaki is an iconic finish that will be hard to top. Norman, the WBO welterweight titleholder, is a heavy hitter and displayed his power with a devastating finish. Norman is slowly becoming one of the 20 best fighters in the sport, and stopping a fighter some perceived as his equal in Sasaki’s backyard of Japan was the exclamation point.
Tris Dixon: I’m not sure you can deviate from Norman-Sasaki. Sometimes you see a great KO and think, ‘Yeah, that could be up there.’ When I saw that, I instantly thought, ‘That’s KO of the Year.’
Ryan Songalia: The obvious choice is going to be Norman-Sasaki, just because of the brutal finality to it. But if I can use this platform to dissent, I’d like to bring up Janibek Alimkhanuly vs Anauel Ngamissengue in April. The way Ngamissengue’s head flew back from that second left hand that landed was something else. Yeah, Ngamissengue got back to his feet and the fight was stopped, but he was on another planet at that moment.
Eric Raskin: I’ll go with the same chalk pick as almost everyone else. Not to make light of serious physical consequences, but Norman’s KO of Sasaki left the victim claiming he couldn’t remember anything from the previous six weeks. That’s terrifying, and it speaks to the severity of our sport, but also to how exquisite Norman’s final left hook was.
Declan Warrington: Brian Norman Jnr stopping Jin Sasaki. It wasn’t just explosive, and clinical, it made the nature of statement that established Norman Jnr as a welterweight the world should be paying attention to, and was one of those rarer knockouts that made an impact in numerous territories.
