Boxing fans witnessed one of the best knockouts they will see all year Thursday night (Feb. 19, 2026) from inside Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan, when Japanese youngster Jin Sasaki turned in a ridiculous one-punch finish in the second round.
Sasaki, who was coming off a knockout loss to former WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman his last time out, was a betting favorite in his return to care of business and start the combat weekend off with a bang. That’s exactly what the 24-year-old boxer did, but Sasaki had to eat a large collection of shots to find his window of opportunity to land the perfect punch.
His opponent, Marlon Pagalpalan, entered Friday night with a 13-4-1 professional boxing record. Pagalpalan was nothing to write home about, but a decent test for Sasaki after suffering a knockout loss in his last outing. Little did Pagalpalan know that he’d have the chance to land 40-unaswered punches (we counted) on Sasaki before suffering a viral knockout blow that is already making its way around the combat masses.
The final punch was a massive left counter from Sasaki that sent Pagalpalan crashing to the canvas and unable to return to his feet. It was shocking to say the least, but a tremendous way for Sasaki to return to the win column and start 2026 off on a memorable note.
Check it out above and below:
