One of the great truths of boxing is that, when a genuine puncher steps into the ring, no fight is truly over until the final bell.
Fabio Wardley reminded us of that last June when, trailing heavily on the scorecards, he unleashed a thunderous right hand to stop Justis Huni in the 10th round. It was the perfect example of boxing’s cruel unpredictability — one punch can erase everything that came before it.
That same danger will hang in the air on Saturday night, when the favored Joseph Parker faces Wardley. Parker can outbox him for nine rounds, but with a finisher like Wardley, the fight is never safe until it’s done.
History’s Most Dramatic Turnarounds
This sport has produced countless reminders of how a single punch can rewrite a fight’s story.
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Think of Rocky Marciano’s legendary 1953 comeback against Jersey Joe Walcott. Down on points, Marciano stalked his opponent patiently until the 13th round, when he detonated a right hand that ended the fight instantly. Walcott later claimed a reopened eye cut obscured his vision — but the footage tells the truth: Marciano simply beat him to the punch. One blow, one moment, one champion crowned.
Four decades later, George Foreman provided another unforgettable example. In 1994, at age 45, the former heavyweight champion was being systematically outboxed by Michael Moorer, who was well ahead on the cards. Yet in the 10th round, Foreman’s persistence paid off — one short right hand ended the fight and made him the oldest heavyweight champion in history.
As HBO’s Larry Merchant admitted afterward, “Foreman just doesn’t have the quickness to make the force of a knockout.” Moments later, Foreman proved everyone wrong.
When a Fight Ends in an Instant
There was also Mike Weaver’s stunning 15th-round knockout of John Tate in 1980. Tate only needed to stay on his feet to retain his WBA title — but Weaver’s left hook came out of nowhere, sending Tate face-first to the canvas. Commentator Keith Jackson’s call still echoes: “With less than a minute to go in the 15th round, Weaver knocked him cold! Incredible!”
And while Joe Louis’s comeback win over Billy Conn was more of a sustained assault than a single shot, other divisions have delivered their own lightning strikes.
Colin Jones, for instance, twice pulled off ninth-round knockouts over Kirkland Laing in British welterweight title fights — both times turning certain defeat into victory with one perfectly timed punch.
Middleweight Magic
The middleweights have had their share of one-punch miracles too. In 1994, Argentina’s Jorge “Locomotora” Castro was bloodied and losing badly to John David Jackson in Monterrey when he landed a monstrous left hook in the ninth round. Jackson never recovered, and Castro’s comeback remains one of the most astonishing in title-fight history.
Similarly, James Toney, trailing against Michael Nunn in 1991, finally found his mark in the 11th round with a devastating left hook that dropped Nunn flat and changed the fight instantly.
And then there’s Julian Jackson’s 1990 knockout of Herol Graham, one of the most famous one-punch finishes ever. Outboxed and nearly stopped because of a swollen eye, Jackson landed a single, perfect right hand that left Graham unconscious before he hit the floor. Commentator David Brenner’s shocked cry — “Oh, no!” — captured the moment perfectly.
The Eternal Danger
These fights — and many others like them — remind us that in boxing, the story can change in an instant.
So, as Joseph Parker steps into the ring against Fabio Wardley, he’ll know one truth above all: even if he wins every round, he can never relax. Because when a puncher’s in the fight, it’s never truly over until it’s over.
