By Jake Donovan

At some point, a fight has to carry that “Oh s***” moment in order to make a Knockout of the Year list. Not just any knockout will do, but the kind of highlight reel ending that leaves an impression on fans the moment they bear witness to it and again when reading about it at the end of the year.

Every once in a while, there comes an ending that few outside of the winning fighter’s camp ever saw coming. It’s not just something that happens in an instance, but to where you still can’t believe the end result even months after it happened.

The ending to a main event battle in Lowell, Massachusetts one October evening left boxing fans with that type of feeling. It is that very fight that survived a loaded field in the hunt for the best knockout of 2015.

2015 KNOCKOUT OF THE YEAR: GABRIEL BRACERO KO1 DANNY O’CONNOR

It would be nine years into his career before Gabriel ‘Tito’ Bracero registered his first knockout. He’s only scored five total through 15 on-and-off years as a pro, but none bigger than what took place on this particular fall evening in Lowell, Massachusetts.

A lot was made of fighting in the hometown of Micky Ward, one of boxing’s most-celebrated modern-day journeymen whose life story inspired an award-winning Hollywood film. As far as fight night attention went, most of the spotlight belonged to Danny O’Connor, a resurgent welterweight – or so boxing fans were led to believe – and local favorite who lived 45 minutes away in Framingham, Mass.

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There was a big-fight feel among the rabid crowd on hand, all of whom were anxious for the welterweight to avenge a 4½ year-old defeat. The two previously met in April ’11, with Bracero scoring a landslide decision far away from either fighter’s home turf in Laredo, Texas.

Bracero had no problem making the four-hour drive from Brooklyn to fight site for this bout, which served as the headliner for Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on NBC Sports Network. Even as he came in on the heels of a points loss to Felix Diaz just six months prior, the 34-year old was confident of a repeat win. He’d improved his training habits from the first fight, even bringing on strength and conditioning guru Angel ‘Memo’ Heredia in assisting with adding weight to his super lightweight frame in efforts to compete as a welterweight.

O’Connor didn’t overlook what his opponent brought to the table, but was supremely confident of turning around one of the two defeats on his ledger. His fight night demeanor sent mixed signals. He bore the look of a boxer living in the moment. However, sporting a puffy beard, hair wrapped in a man bun and sporting green-and-black striped trunks, O’Connor more resembled a poster boy for hipster culture than that of a prizefighter.

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As the opening bell sounded, evidence was quickly provided as to which boxer carried the better game plan – or any game plan at all.

Bracero waited for O'Connor to make a mistake before making him pay. It came much earlier than expected. The local welterweight was wild in his attack early in the fight, perhaps sacrificing discipline for entertainment value for his fans on hand.

An attempt to score with an overhand left failed miserably for O'Connor, who never had a chance to reset his feet or get into a defensive stance. Bracero ducked the shot, saw the opening and let loose with a booming counter right hand that landed flush on his opponent's chin.

It was all that was needed to close the show. O'Connor was flattened in an instant, on his back for several minutes and well after referee Arthur Mercante Jr. immediately halted the contest.

The official time was 0:41 of round one.

All it took was a single right hand that nobody – least of all O’Connor – saw coming. It was enough to provide Bracero with the biggest victory of his career as well as claiming status as the winning fighter in the BoxingScene.com 2015 Knockout of the Year.

HONORABLE MENTION (IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER)

Zolani Tete KO8 Paul Butler (03/26/2015) – Butler spent his 2014 campaign competing for and winning a bantamweight title, but decided that super flyweight is where he’s at his best. Tete disagreed with that notion, showing no fear of his British challenger or the hostile crowd by which he was surrounded in Liverpool, with a picture-perfect uppercut ending Butler’s night.

Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez KO3 James Kirkland (05/09/2015) – All fans asked for heading into this fight was to help remove the stench left behind from “that event” in Las Vegas one week prior. Alvarez didn’t at all disappoint the 30,000 fans in attendance at Minute Maid Park or the two million-plus viewers tuning in on HBO for this super welterweight special attraction. The only one who went home disappointed was Kirkland, who was attempting a left hook as he was nailed flush with a right hand to the chin, missing wildly with his shot before spinning over and collapsing to the canvas in a heap.

Krzysztof Glowacki KO11 Marco Huck (08/14/2015) – Oddly enough, Glowacki was seconds away from being on the wrong end of this entry, which provided non-stop thrills for the Spike TV viewers as well as fans at The Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The unbeaten contender from Poland was floored in round six from a left hook that appeared to be enough to give Huck what would have been a record-breaking 15th successful defense of his cruiserweight title. History was denied for the long-reigning champ, his U.S. debut ending in disaster as he was dropped twice in round 11. The finishing sequence was a flurry of punches leaving him lying limp through the ropes.

Mairis Briedis KO5 Manuel Charr (08/22/2015) – This fight wasn’t on anyone’s radar, taking place on a random card in Grozny, Russia. It became an instant You Tube classic, along with Briedis – an unbeaten cruiserweight who moved up in weight – forcing the boxing world to stand up and take notice of his every move from here on out. Charr is considered a best-of-the-rest type of heavyweight, but those days officially ended the moment a right uppercut and left hook sent him face first into the ropes, where lied still as the fight was waved off without a count as round five came to a close.

Edwin Rodriguez KO3 Michael Seals (11/13/2015) – Rodriguez had to survive two opening round knockdowns after having dropped Seals in the opening seconds of this scorcher of a light heavyweight fight, which aired live on Spike TV from Biloxi, Mississippi. It was well worth the stroll through hell, as Rodriguez recovered to score two more knockdowns on the night before finishing off Seals for good early in round three. The former super middleweight contender positioned himself for a big fight at light heavyweight when a final right hand to the temple caused Seals to wobble the full length of the ring ropes before hitting the deck for a third time on the night. The previously unbeaten prospect failed to beat the count, regaining his senses only after the fight was stopped.

Yenifel Vicente KO3 Juan Dominguez (12/8/2015) – The last time Vicente scored a knockout in front of a live televised audience came in June ’13, when he put away Jorge Diaz in their ESPN2-televised affair. Two straight losses followed before resuming his winning ways, with three consecutive wins by knockout. He saved the best for last in 2015, connecting with a right hand shot upstairs that cause Dominguez’ body to go limp early in the third round of their Fox Sports 1-televised headliner. His body hit the canvas as if somebody threw a crash test doll into the ring. There was no need for a count, as medical attention was immediately given to the previously unbeaten prospect, who was carried out of the ring on a stretcher.

Enzo Maccarinelli KO4 Roy Jones Jr. (12/12/2015) – A big deal was made about Jones gaining Russian citizenship in the months leading up to this matchup in Moscow. Hopefully a bigger deal will be made out of forcing the Hall-of-Fame bound boxer to call it a career. One month shy of his 47th birthday, never has the former four-division champ looked as far gone as was the case in this battle versus Maccarinelli, himself a faded former cruiserweight champ who – sadly – has one more lottery ticket to cash in thanks to Jones’ ill-advised decision to continue on with his career. The Welshman initially floored Jones with a right uppercut, landing at least two more along with a flurry of punches before an overhand right caused the used-up legend to pitch forward to the canvas for the latest stain on a once incredibly brilliant career.

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Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox