The proposed Knockout of the Year for 2024 took place on Saturday night and mimicked Manny Pacquiao’s and Paul Williams’s plights.
According to fans, Lucas Bahdi’s devastating faceplant KO, rendering Ashton Sylve unconscious, takes the nod with five months left of the year. Some even likened it to Pacquiao’s hellacious stoppage against Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012 and Sergio Martinez taking out Paul Williams in their 2010 rematch.
Sylve was out for the count and motionless as Bahdi connected with a set-up shot with his right hand before the follow-through left completely obliterated his opponent. The fight occurred on the Jake Paul vs Mike Perry undercard and was one of the only slightly competitive bouts on the bill.
According to CompuBox, Sylve was comfortable for the first few rounds until Bahdi’s combination in the sixth.
“Usually, when one fighter lands 18% of his total punches, and the opponent lands 41% of his punches, the fighter that landed 41% wins the fight. Sylve dominated the fight, out-landing Bahdi 81-21 in power punches. He’d landed 46% of his power punches, while Bahdi had 22%.
“Then Bahdi landed a three-punch combination. The second punch of Bahdi’s combination hurt Sylve, and the third punch sent him face-first into the canvas unconscious.”
Is this the KO of the Year from Lucas Bahdi?
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— World Boxing News (@WorldBoxingNews) July 21, 2024
Reaction to the ending ranged from, “Dude fell like Pacquiao against Márquez!” to “That was Manny Pacquiao or Paul Williams!”
In the aftermath, Sylve promised to regroup.
“God’s plan. Everything happens for a reason. You have to take your wins like you take your losses,” he said.
Bahdi was happy with his victory and stated that he had made some adjustments that enabled him to get the knockout.
At 17-0 with a 15th career KO, Bahdi has scored a successful breakout, one of the few competing on the Paul vs Perry card to come out of the event enhanced. To be put in the same bracket as Pacquiao and Williams in the knockout stakes takes some doing.
Read all articles and exclusive interviews by Phil Jay. Learn more about the author, experienced boxing writer, and World Boxing News Editor since 2010. Follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN.
