Saturday night will be significant for the heavyweight division, and not just because of the main event between Moses Itauma and Dillian Whyte.

Before they clash at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, two other men with designs on hunting down a shot at the world title will meet as underdog David Adeleye attempts to shock Croatian Filip Hrgovic, 33, and re-establish himself as a genuine contender in the division on DAZN PPV.

With a total of 27 knockouts from a combined 32 wins, both men have a history of ending fights early, but which of their victories were the best? We take a look at their top five victories.

No knockout here, but this was a crucial victory for Hrgovic in his first fight back since being stopped by Daniel Dubois. What was more impressive is that he sustained a bad cut over his left eye in the first round, yet maintained his composure to rack up the rounds against the ever-durable Joyce.

This was a real attritional battle between two undefeated heavyweights. It was Hrgovic who managed to show his class in the end, forcing a stoppage with just two minutes left. It looked as though this fight was heading for the scorecards, but Hrgovic landed a hard right hook which sent McKean slumping over the top rope.

This was another example of Hrgovic taking somebody’s unbeaten record. Hrgovic dropped Radonjic, who was 22-0, no fewer than four times in the final minute of the second round, before another two knockdowns in the third prompted his corner to pull him out before the start of the fourth.

The experienced Mansour was no easy out for anybody, but Hrgovic took him on in only his sixth professional outing. It was the Croatian’s first fight scheduled for 12 rounds, though he needed only three of them to get rid of the southpaw visitor, who was 23-2-1 at the time. The finish came after 2:09 of the third round, with Mansour totally unable to deal with the accuracy of Hrgovic’s punches. He was down twice before it was waved off.

A controversial pick perhaps, given that many people thought Zhang, who was 24-0-1 at that time, should have got the decision. But this victory remains notable for the guts shown by Hrgovic, who was dropped in the first round and still managed to hang tough for the full 12 rounds against one of the division’s most dangerous punchers. It was a thrilling fight, with a slippery canvas and chances for both men, but in the end all three judges gave it to Hrgovic.

After 14 months out of the ring in the wake of his 2023 defeat to Fabio Wardley, “Big D” needed to make a statement in his return. He did exactly that against previously undefeated compatriot Solomon Dacres, who he stopped in only 80 seconds.

When Ahmatovic arrived in London, his only previous defeat had come against none other than Hrgovic 18 months earlier. The Croatian stopped him in the third round, but Adeleye could not quite match that speed and had to settle for a corner retirement in between the fifth and sixth rounds. This was still a classy performance from Adeleye, who had it all his own way throughout.

Perhaps the most chilling knockout of Adeleye’s career came in this showdown with Ukraine’s Bezus, who entered 10-0. The finish came at 1:48 of the second and it was actually Bezus who was the aggressor at the time. But that only opened the door for Adeleye to take a step backward and deliver a sizzling left hook, which sent him down and out.

This was a one-sided beatdown for Adeleye against a game Mexican who just refused to go down without a fight. Adeleye dropped him three times in the second round. This was a fine example of Adeleye’s ability to keep piling on the pressure when needed. He finally got rid of Garcia with 33 seconds left in the second.

With his record at 8-0 (7 KOs), Adeleye was part of the undercard for Tyson Fury’s world heavyweight title defence against Dillian Whyte. Adeleye beat up and stopped the 9-8 Chris Healey, who outweighed him by 50 pounds. The finish came with 52 seconds left in the fourth of eight scheduled rounds.