Did anyone in history punch harder than David Tua ?

[Seamus]

Originally Posted by johnmaff36

I dont mean to have a pop at you but your thoughts on Foreman and Tyson seem a little contradictory insofar as you mention Foremans lack of one-punch KOs yet Tyson fits this criteria perfectly and it doesnt get a mention. Now im not the biggest fan of Tyson but i'll give him this; I have never seen a heavyweight, with the exception of Louis, send a grown man flying across the ring backwards with 1 punch.
As for Foreman,regardless of the way he threw his shots, it worked for him and they had the desired effect. Tua's left-hook,for example, may have had more snap,speed and arguably look better, but the threads about harder punching. Having said that, its all about opinions

Tyson is certainly in the argument. He did have a few one punch KO's, Spinks and Botha come to mind. He was just so damn fast and at his best threw such great combo's that he usually hit a guy three times before he fell, so it's kind of more difficult to tell punch for punch how powerful he was. A common comment from his opponents was that his speed really hurt them, that second and third punch landing. Again, he is certainly at the top level.

Regarding your comment on Foreman, I agree, what he did worked for him. However, the thread is not about effective punching but who punched the hardest. Shot for shot, I would take Tua just given the evidence of what he did to his opponents. Again, we are talking about two murderous punchers so maybe trying to fine tune these distinctions is a bit pointless.

[kinski]

Fitz and Choynski. Both were knocking out guys who outweighed them anywhere up to a 100lbs!

[lefthook89]

there are many heavyweights that hit harder than tua, fighters such as liston, foreman, shavers, and even joe louis come to mind. do these fighters hit MUCH harder than tua is the better question IMO. i think you have to look at the effect these fighters punches had on their opponents which is how i base punching power. tyson for instance, had such immense punching power he would literally send his opponents flying across the ring, clearly one of the most devastating punches ever thrown in the ring. foreman was just a straight bruiser, his punches would thud against his opponents with the force of his strikes moving his opponent from spot to another. tua's punches would seperate you from your sense, knocking you out before you even hit the ground. its purely a matter of opinion on who is the hardest heavyweight hitter. as their punches have had different effects on their opponents.

[Muchmoore]

Originally Posted by he grant

MuchMoore: Again, in Foreman's own words on many occassions, he called Lyle the hardest puncher he ever faced. I'll take his word over your anaylsis.

Foreman's "word" is worth jack shit. The guy contradicts himself every other sentence.