First Round Title Bout Knockouts

Most of this information is courtesy of the March 1977 The Ring magazine, which reported that first round knockouts in title fights, in the so-called modern era, began with Heavyweight Champion James J. Jeffries April 6, 1900, when he stopped Jack Finnegan in Detroit, Michigan, (although Terry McGovern appears to have been the first). As of 1977, the KO leader was Joe Louis, with five. All are heavyweight bouts, except as noted.

• 1899-09-12: Terry McGovern @ 1:15 vs. Pedlar Palmer, Tuckahoe, NY (Bantamweight)
• 1900-04-06: James J. Jeffries @ 0:55 vs. Jack Finnegan, Detroit, MI
• 1902-05-12: Joe Gans @ 1:40 vs. Frank Erne, Fort Erie, Canada (Lightweight)
• 1907-07-04: Tommy Burns @ 2:09 vs. Bill Squires, Colma, CA
• 1908-02-22: Stanley Ketchel @ 1:48 vs. Mike Sullivan, Colma, CA (Middleweight)
• 1908-03-17: Tommy Burns @ 1:28 vs. Jem Roche, Dublin, Ireland
• 1914-04-06: Al McCoy @ 0:45 vs. George Chip, Brooklyn, NY (Middleweight)
• 1917-08-31: Ted (Kid) Lewis @ 2:45 vs. Albert Badoud, New York, NY (Welterweight)
• 1929-03-02: Emile (Spider) Pladner @ 0:58 vs. Frankie Genaro, Paris, France (Flyweight)
• 1930-07-17: Al Singer @ 1:46 vs. Sammy Mandell, New York, NY (Lightweight)
• 1930-11-14: Tony Canzoneri @ 1:06 vs. Al Singer, New York, NY (Lightweight)
• 1932-09-19: Panama Al Brown @ 2:21 vs. Emile (Spider) Pladner, Toronto, Canada (Bantamweight)
• 1933-05-29: Jimmy McLarnin @ 2:37 vs. Young Corbett III, Los Angeles, CA (Welterweight)
• 1935-02-17: Freddie Miller @ 2:30 vs. Jose Girones, Barcelona, Spain (Featherweight)
• 1936-10-13: Sixto Escobar @ 1:49 vs. Carlos Quintana, New York, NY (Bantamweight)
• 1938-04-17: Joe Louis @ 2:04 vs. Max Schmeling, New York, NY
• 1938-07-26: Al Hostak @ 1:43 vs. Freddie Steele, Seattle, WA (Middleweight)
• 1939-01-25: Joe Louis @ 2:29 vs. John Henry Louis, New York, NY
• 1939-03-16: Henry Armstrong @ 2:12 vs. Lew Feldman, St. Louis, MO (Welterweight)
• 1939-04-17: Joe Louis @ 2:20 vs. Jack Roper, Los Angeles, CA
• 1943-06-19: Jackie Paterson @ 1:01 vs. Peter Kane, Glasgow, Scotland (Flyweight)
• 1946-01-09: Joe Louis @ 2:56 vs. Buddy Baer, New York, NY
• 1946-09-18: Joe Louis @ 2:09 vs. Tami Mauriello, New York, NY
• 1948-03-05: Gus Lesnevich @ 1:58 vs. Billy Fox, New York, NY
• 1952-11-15: Jimmy Carruthers @ 2:19 vs. Vic Toweel, Johannesburg, South Africa (Bantamweight)
• 1953-05-15: Rocky Marciano @ 2:25 vs. Jersey Joe Walcott, Chicago, IL
• 1957-03-30: Pascual Perez @ 2:00 vs. Dai Dower, Buenos Aires, Argentina (Flyweight)
• 1961-04-08: Davey Moore @ 2:48 vs. Danny Valdez, Los Angeles, CA (Featherweight)
• 1962-09-25: Sonny Liston @ 2:06 vs. Floyd Patterson, Chicago, IL
• 1963-07-22: Sonny Liston @ 2:10 vs. Floyd Patterson, Las Vegas, NV
• 1963-09-18: Hiroyuki Ebihara @ 2:07 vs. Pone Kingpetch, Tokyo, Japan (Flyweight)
• 1965-05-25: Muhammad Ali @ 2:12 vs. Sonny Liston, Lewiston, MA
• 1969-01-22: Bob Foster @ 2:17 vs. Frankie DePaula, New York, NY
• 1971-06-03: Kuniaki Shibata @ 3:04 vs. Raul Cruz, Tokyo, Japan (Featherweight)
• 1973-09-01: George Foreman @ 2:00 vs. Jose Roman, Tokyo, Japan
• 1974-12-21: Roberto Duran @ 1:40 vs. Masataka Takayama, San Jose, Costa Rica (Lightweight)
• 1976-10-15: Roberto Duran @ 2:17 vs. Alvara Rojas, Hollywood, FL (Lightweight)
• 1988-06-27: Mike Tyson @ 1:31 vs. Michael Spinks, Atlantic City, NJ
• 1989-07-21: Mike Tyson @ 1:33 vs. Carl Williams, Atlantic City, NJ
• 1995-03-18: Roy Jones Jr. @ 2:06 vs. Antoine Byrd, Pensacola, FL (Super Middleweight)
• 1996-01-27: Bernard Hopkins @ 0:24 vs. Steve Frank, Phoenix, AZ (Middleweight)
• 1996-09-07: Mike Tyson @ 1:49 vs. Bruce Seldon, Las Vegas, NV
• 1997-08-07: Roy Jones Jr. @ 2:31 vs. Montell Griffin, Mashantucket, CN (Light Heavyweight)
• 1997-10-04: Lennox Lewis @ 1:35 vs. Andrew Golota, Atlantic City, NJ
• 2002-10-26: Manny Pacquiao @ 2:46 vs. Fahprakorb Rakkiatgym, Davao City, Philippines (Super Bantamweight)
• 2006-02-18: Antonio Margarito @ 1:14 vs. Manuel Gomez, Las Vegas, NV (Welterweight)
• 2006-07-15: Daniel Ponce de Leon @ 0:52 vs. Sod Looknongyangtoy, Las Vegas, NV (Super Bantamweight)
• 2007-01-03: Edwin Valero @ 1:12 vs. Michael Lozada, Tokyo, Japan (Super Featherweight)
• 2007-08-11: Daniel Ponce de Leon @ 2:30 vs. Rey Bautista, Sacramento, CA (Super Bantamweight)
• 2008-06-07: Juan Manuel Lopez @ 2:25 vs. Daniel Ponce de Leon, Atlantic City, NJ (Super Bantamweight)
• 2008-09-18: Celestino Caballero @ 2:51 vs. Elvis Mejia, Panama City, Panama (Super Bantamweight)
• 2008-10-04: Juan Manuel Lopez @ 0:47 vs. Cesar Figueroa, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico (Super Bantamweight)
• 2008-12-06: Juan Manuel Lopez @ 1:38 vs. Sergio Manuel Medina, Las Vegas, NV (Super Bantamweight)