Akin Reyes picked Caleb Plant as his knockout of the year for 2022.
The former super middleweight champion of the year was making his comeback after losing his belt to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez as the Mexican attempted to become undisputed at 168lbs.
Plant returned to action in October against Anthony Dirrell, a more than credible opponent, for a fight in Brooklyn.
In the run-up to the fight, Dirrell had goaded Plant, and the night ended with Plant pretending to shovel dirt over his stricken opponent once the fight was done.
Speaking on the DAZN Boxing Show, Reyes picked out the rivalry between the pair as the context that gave the knockout the edge.
“This particular knockout, the reason why I chose it is because there was a lot of bad blood between these two fighters,” he began.
“The fighter that knocked the other guy out was quiet, doesn’t speak much, doesn’t smile, doesn’t even look happy, and he was attacked by the other fighter and I think that the drama before the fight and the animosity makes the KO more dramatic and the placement of the shot, the textbook two-shot combination and the second one, picture perfect landing, putting the guy to sleep.
“I’m talking about Caleb Plant and Anthony Dirrell, that was the knockout of the year. Perfect left hook to the body, left hook upstairs, and what he did next, you know I wasn’t happy about it, but I can't deny it was the knockout of the year.”