On Wednesday night (local time) in Newcastle, Australia, fight fans were treated to not one but two contenders for Knockout of the Year. Fighting on Nikita Tszyu’s headlining fight with Dylan Biggs (the fight won by Tszyu, with the unbeaten super welterweight getting the win by a very impressive KO himself, this in round five) were heavyweight Brandon Grach, and bantamweight Mark Schleibs.
Neither man is a big name, yet the knockout power displayed by both fighters was as big as can be. And both men scored their highlight reel KO with a left hook to the head.
In his fight, Schleibs obliterated Shamal Ram Anuj in the fifth round. Schleibs of Melbourne, Australia uncorked a wicked left hook that landed flush on Anuj’s jaw as he was in a corner. Out cold the split-second the punch landed, the man from Fiji was left in a slumped position, his head moving around in an odd fashion, his arm draped over the rope. The referee could have counted to 100 over Anuji, now 10-5-2(7).
Former champ Billy Dib, doing commentary, insisted, twice, that today’s KO has got to go down as The Knockout of the Year. Quite remarkably, Schleibs snapped a four-year losing streak with the brutal win, with his record now being 13-2(9).
But on the same card, 2-0 heavyweight Grach, also from Australia, with him hailing from Newcastle, scored a monster KO of his own, this with a crunching left hook to the head of his unbeaten countryman Liam Talivaa. The fight became a thrilling slugfest right away, with both men going down in the opening round. Then, in round two, Grach, known as “The Bull,” sent Talivaa crashing to the canvas on his back, the stricken fighter, now 5-1, being out cold instantly.
We have no idea how far Grach can go, but for a two-fight pro, he certainly showed great punching power here. One pundit was moved to comment how Grach’s left hand “would have brought down a Boeing 747!”
Both sizzling KO’s from the show in Australia are currently getting huge viewing figures on the internet. If you can, check out both knockouts now. Fans love a KO, and these two are indeed potential knockout of the Year material.
