Death Battle2010

[Donkey Kong had completely vanquished Knuckles]

Wizard:
Knuckles may have had the edge in speed and agility, but his stubborn strategy of rushing in only played into Donkey Kong's favor by keeping close and in range.

Boomstick:
Both were tough enough to survive atmospheric reentry and the vacuum of space, but only Donkey Kong has also survived an explosion strong enough to launch him into orbit in the first place.

Wizard:
Knuckles and DK may have punched moons, but both feats are not precisely what they seem. The moon Donkey Kong punched belongs to the Mario universe, and is clearly smaller than our own moon. By comparing the size to that of Donkey Kong Island, we found this moon is approximately 2,775 feet in diameter and weighs 9.9 quadrillion tons. Knocking it out of orbit means DK punched it with a strike of over 3,000 megatons of force.

Boomstick:
So, not quite as impressive as punching our real moon, but hey, still way better than what Knuckles can do. Knuckles only destroyed a receiver controlling the moon's flight path.

Wizard:
And although the moon's orbit changed afterwards, it's unreasonable to say Knuckles is responsible. He has no other feats supporting this outlier, and the moon was previously established to move itself due to being... part robot now. Sonic lore.

Boomstick:
Knuckles' speed wasn't enough when DK was just that much stronger and tough enough to take anything thrown at him. DK just wasn't echidna-ing around.

Wizard:
The winner is Donkey Kong.