It’s a Record: McClellan Rings Up Bell in 20 Seconds With One Punch to Body
BAYAMON, Puerto Rico — Gerald McClellan recorded the fastest knockout in title fight history Friday night when he defended his World Boxing Council middleweight belt in 20 seconds against Jay Bell.
At the sound of the bell, the fighters took a look at each other and McClellan landed a powerful left hook to the kidneys, which immediately sent Bell to the canvas.
Bell never got up and was attended by ringside doctors for a few minutes.
“I wanted to look to the body,†McClellan said. “He made the mistake of crossing over and that’s when I made my move.â€
The previous record for a title knockout was 40 seconds by Lloyd Honeyghan over Gene Hatcher for the WBC welterweight championship on Aug. 30, 1987, at Marbella, Spain.
McClellan, who won the title May 8 with a fifth-round knockout of Julian Jackson in Las Vegas, improved his record to 29-2 with 27 knockouts.
The co-feature on the card was also ended in the first round as undefeated Felix Trinidad defended his International Boxing Federation welterweight title by stopping Luis Garcia at the 2:31 mark.
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