The greatest welterweight
knockout artists!

Knockouts are the undisputed entertainment factor of boxing. They play a massive part in why fans flock to the sport as nobody, for so long, has been putting on gloves and technically, yet instinctively hammering away at each other over-scheduled three-minute rounds like boxers have been. There are many who have stepped inside the squared circle and consequently dropped some jaws by hitting others. Only a few have done this fight in fight out though and accumulated a plethora of stunning knockouts that fans have grown to enjoy after being hardwired over the years to find beauty in the viciousness of a knockout. In the fourth instalment of this BoxingGuru series that will range from the big to small hitters, we rank the boxers who possess the greatest knockout reels to date and next up is the mighty welterweight division!

Watch our ‘Top 5 Welterweight Knockout Reel’ video below…

5) Marcos Maidana

The first entry to our welterweight list is the most modern and controversial. Marcos Maidana’s first 25 fights he went undefeated with only one of those 25 going the distance. A record almost as impressive as our next welterweight.

His aggression and fearlessness soon built him a fanbase in North America after making his U.S debut against the previously undefeated Victor Ortiz. This fight was the perfect way to make a name for yourself in another part of the world for Maidana as it featured four knockdowns in the first two rounds and showcased the Argentine’s brutish behaviour.

If it wasn’t his style, then it would have certainly been the humbling of Adrien Broner to capture his second world title that made fans satisfied while watching him. His first belt was at lightweight where he could rely more on his heavier hands, but at 147, the Santa Fe native had to become a more calculated power puncher if he wanted to reign supreme there too.

His solution to becoming this was training under Robert Garcia. When Maidana sought after Garcia as his mentor, he was like a ‘Dogo Argentino’ an extremely fierce breed of South American dog. But the Californian trainer tamed him on how and when to attack. Although this new-found intelligence didn’t stop the natural scrapper from brawling and boxing dirty on the odd occasion, it did result in the WBA Welterweight strap and two massive paydays with Floyd Mayweather.

Maidana may have been somewhat of a flash in the pan with a short-lived 10-year long career, but his windmill of a right hand will leave a mark on the division in decades to come.

CHECK OUT THE GREATEST HEAVYWEIGHT KNOCKOUT ARTISTS EVER!

4) John Mugabi

Nicknames in boxing are commonly used to reflect the boxer themselves. None does this to a more accurate degree than John “The Beast” Mugabi’s. Most will remember him as the middleweight who gave Marvin Hagler the most challenging title defence of his career, but it was at super-welterweight where the Ugandan was most successful.

He won the WBC’s 154lb strap after defeating Rene Jacquot but lost it instantly to Terry Norris which, at the time, made him only the second man to win and lose a world title in one round. Mugabi traversed effortlessly between the super welterweight and the regular middleweight division, possessing freakish power to put contenders away from either weight class.

Although he claimed the WBC’s belt as a welterweight in 1989, it was the early years of that decade which served this heavy hitter well. His boastful 25-0 record made him look like the most game challenger when he stepped into “Marvellous” Marvin’s kingdom of 160lbs. Although he left as a loser, the now Australian resident’s consolation prize was having Hagler label him as the hardest hitting opponent he had ever faced.

He became a renowned knockout artist and compiled that insane record before his first title shot through his tenacity. Usually, Mugabi stood heavy on his lead leg which enabled him to throw powerful left hands as an orthodox. Many thought he was a knuckle-headed scrapper, but he had an exceptional sense of range which allowed him to adjust the width of his stance depending on how close he was to his opponent. Doing so would alter the level of power thrown by his rear right and upon watching his knockout reel, you would think he throws it correctly every time.

CHECK OUT THE BEST PUNCH TRACKERS ON THE MARKET

3) Pipino Cuevas

The welterweight with bone-breaking power, with the joint-second highest amount of title defences…had a lacklustre start to his career. Pipino Cuevas shot to popularity when he knocked out Angel Espada, who had never touched the canvas before, an upset which saw him take the WBA strap and become the youngest welterweight to ever hold a world title.

Since his first of three encounters with Espada, the debilitating Mexican took the title and didn’t look back for four years. He defended his prized possession 11 times and only one of those poor, abused challengers hung in there long enough to hear the final bell. Cuevas was an intimidating champion. It must have been hard for his challengers to try and study his previous fights on tape without getting petrified.

Some fighters like to break their opponents down tactically or mentally, but you only make it onto the top 5 KO reel list if you do it physically and doing so was Cuevas’ forte. He broke Espada’s jaw once in their rematch and again in their trilogy fight. He was kind enough to distribute the pain to Harold Weston, breaking his ribs in addition to the jaw. Hospitalising two opponents in this manner wasn’t enough for the Barbaric bomb-thrower so he fractured Billy Backus’ orbital bone as well.

What allowed Cuevas to be punishing enough to make heavyweights jealous was his use of planting his legs at the right times. When he had his adversaries staggered against the ropes, or in a good place to rattle off some combinations, the macho Mexican would plant his feet which would lead to lethal power being generated.

A third weapon which was used as well as his two hands was Cuevas’ belief in his strength. This meant every single shot he threw was with full conviction and intent to see his opponent on the floor after it lands. This is why over half of his title defences did not go past the second round. A true pugilist and one of the hardest hitting Mexicans to ever compete.

CHECK OUT THE GREATEST LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT KO ARTISTS EVER!

2) Felix Trinidad

One of the most successful power punchers to compete in the game, Felix Trinidad made it look like there were bricks beneath his gloves when he hit guys. He won four different belts at welterweight as well as titles at 154 and 160lbs, proving that his power could transfer into other weight class.

Tito is the longest-reigning titleholder in welterweight history, possessing the IBF belt for six years, eight months and two weeks. He comes in at a higher rank than Cuevas due to his resume, as his reel features the knockout of top guys. In addition, the Puerto Rican’s power took him further and gave him a more decorated career than the Mexican.

In similar fashion to the older champion though, Trinidad followed through heavily when combination punching. This is a tendency that goes hand-in-hand with the top knockout artists as throwing shots with one’s weight behind it is likely to deal more damage to an opponent.

The three-weight world champion’s left hook was a huge asset to his game as he would routinely double it up to the body and head with precision and would finish his combinations off with it. Tito was a regular visitor to the downstairs and would strike there with organ-rearranging shots. Another punch to note while watching the great welterweight handle business, is his angled right cross. He raises his elbow higher than the stereotypical guard to shoot an overhand right when the opportunity arises which has sent countless victims to the canvas.

Trinidad was vicious but a competitor a decade before him has a knockout reel like no other, making the San Juan native miss the number one spot.

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*Honourable mention- Henry Armstrong*

Where would this list be without the historical backbone to the welterweight division? There is a lot of ways to introduce Henry Armstrong but to keep it suitable as to why he is mentioned in this list is his 101 knockouts.

The same way Archie Moore was included in the light heavyweight list is why Armstrong gets a feature in this one, he holds almost unattainable records for the work he put in as a welterweight. Many believe Armstrong to be better at the lighter weights which he become a world champion in but due to him having the most title defences in this division’s history, his home is here.

‘Homicide Hank’ was a busy fighter in taking fights and actually being in them, you don’t get 101 knockouts without activity after all. This is exemplified mostly with his record for the most amount of title fights in the shortest amount of days (5 in 22). Being the knockout artist that he is, Armstrong finished four of these challengers inside the distance.

The first simultaneous triple champion was named The Ring’s Fighter of the Year in 1937 after going 22 fights undefeated and winning the world featherweight title. The Ring were acknowledging of his career thus ranked him second in their 2002 list of ‘The 80 best fighters of the last 80 years’. Being edged by our number one ranked middleweight KO artist Sugar Ray Robinson.

‘Hurricane Henry’was a savage in the ring, he may be the most well-conditioned boxer to have ever lived, doing 10 rounds of shadow boxing before a scheduled 15 rounds of relentless pressure. He was a clever inside fighter with fantastic head movement which allowed him to get on the inside and drop bombs unscathed. Armstrong closed the distance with jabs or his lead hook, springing from his waist. Once on the inside, he would be able to unload his short, ruinous punches and did so by controlling his adversaries head with his own and moving it into the line of attack. A clever beast was Armstrong, his knockouts and feats will forever be remembered.

CHECK OUT THE GREATEST MIDDLEWEIGHT KNOCKOUT ARTISTS EVER!

*Honourable mention- Barbados Joe Walcott*

A fighter with the career spanning over the between the 19^th & 20^th century, Joe Walcott was recognised along the heavier likes of Bob Fitzsimmons (previously mentioned in our light heavyweight list) as one of the hardest hitters of that era. It was in the new age where he was most successful, reigning as the world welterweight champion from 1901-1906.

Walcott wouldn’t have been expected to get far in a division with an average height of 5’10 as he stood 9 inches less, but he compensated with his heavy hands. The Guyana born banger boasted an exceptional resume, which included fellow Hall of Famer Sam Langford who rated his foe the hardest punching welterweight of all time after losing on points to him.

Despite being three inches away from being classed as a dwarf, the ‘Barbados Demon’ would not hesitate on fighting anyone at any weight which was a classic theme displayed by the warriors of his era. One needs not to look further than Walcott’s one-sided war with Joe Choynski, a light-heavyweight who towered over the Barbados national by a whole foot. This meant nothing to Walcott though as he floored his adversary five times in the first and again six rounds later, forcing the referee to stop it in the seventh as he feared the ferocious welterweight was going to knock him unconscious.

Not only his willingness to fight anyone, but his success in doing so shot the Boston resident to popularity and had his feats recorded in the history books. Similar to Ray Leonard’s idolisation of Sugar Ray Robinson, Jersey Joe Walcott adopted his idols name for the entirety of his ring career.

No knockout reels could be surfaced to do the justice of what old reporters say he did, but I am positive if there was then Barbados Joe Walcott would have be even more admired as one of the toughest welterweights of all time.

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1) Thomas Hearns

‘Devastating’ is a common adjective used in boxing reports today, but there is nothing that more accurately describes Thomas Hearns’ knockout reel.

He was the first four weight world champion of the sport, going as far as to reign as a light heavyweight, but it was at 147lbs where Hearns laid his foundations of greatness. Famously, he destroyed our number 3 ranked Cuevas to capture his first of many world titles, ending Pipino’s great run in jaw-dropping fashion. The Motor City Cobra’s incredible power also saw him become the first man to legitimately stop fellow fabulous-four member Roberto Duran in a defence his WBC super-welterweight title.

This result convinced The Ring that he was their fighter of the year in 1984 as was he recognised with the same status four years prior. The historic boxing magazine also named Hearns as the greatest junior-middleweight of all time. Although this is the 154lb division where some governing bodies deem that class to be a super-welterweight division, another reason why Hearns takes this number one spot as a welterweight.

His accolades and records are courtesy of his training in the high profile Kronk gym with one of the best trainers of all time Emanuel Steward. The ‘Hitman’ trained as a prospect there but was soon carved into the vicious power-punching world champion everyone remembers him to be. The ‘Kronk-style’ was brought upon a young Hearns, teaching him to maximise his incredible height and reach advantage, looming over opponents at 6’1. He did this to full effect, assisted with the knowledge of generating power from his long legs it turned the Detroit resident into a knockout machine.

Ending his incomparable career with 48 knockouts and a 71.64% knockout ratio, Hearns trained and increased his destructive power to take him to new heights that boxers were yet to see. With his knockout infused career is the best welterweight KO reel in the division’s history.

Watch the greatest welterweight knockout artists below…