Was Tyson really a great puncher, or just a fast/accurate puncher?

He's praised for his accuracy and efficiency though.

 

When Tyson slowed down in his later career and was unable to punch effectively in combination, he scored plenty of one punch knockouts (Botha, Etienne, Mathis, Savarese for all intents).

Even in his prime it was often one punch that set things in motion.

You can go round in circles regarding where to place his power in relation to Foreman, Shavers, etc, but to suggest that he was anything other than a huge puncher is ridiculous. No one walked through Tyson's punches (not even Holyfield), and even when completely shot his opponents had respect for his power.

 

Tyson was capable of getting knockouts with glancing shots and stopping guys late in a fight when tired and heavy legged. He also carried his power throughout his career, even when his speed went and he was no longer able to throw the sorts of vicious combinations that made him so dangerous in his prime. The fact that he was so fast and explosive masks to some extent his raw power (pure power, if you like), but I think his later fights are proof enough that he had that in spades as well.

Foreman had the sort of attributes that make him an interesting case to compare with, but nothing in Shavers's actual in-ring career supports the argument that he was a stronger puncher than Tyson.

 

the person you were talking to was clearly a moron who's talking absolute rubbish. but then again, what did you expect on YT? they all talk rubbish there.

tyson did throw fast punches, but they also had serious power on the end of them as well. it's not like you watch a tyson fight a come away thinking the opposite. it's as clear as day.

hopefully you'll learn not to engage with that lot, as you won't get any sense out of them. they're nothing but trolls.

 

that right hand over the top that he hit holmes with was something scary. how he got up from that i'll never know. holmes was badly hurt from that shot and was finished soon after.

 

In terms of raw power id have Foreman and Shavers above Tyson, Tyson and Tua would be joint 3rd for me but Tyson was faster and more accurate than all 3.

 

Robinson has a nice CV where that's concerned, I think.

LaMotta TKO13
Fullmer KO5
Zivic TKO10
Olson (x3) KO12, KO2, KO4
Turpin TKO10
Graziano KO3
Belloise TKO7
Villemain TKO9
Basora KO1
Costner (x2) KO1, KO1 (He called himself Sugar)
Rindone (x2) TKO6, KO6
Jannazzo (x2) KO8, TKO2
Shapiro KO3
McDaniels TKO2
Doyle TKO8

Off the top of the dome...

Around Six Hall of Famers and a bunch of long-rated contenders, most of whom topped out during their careers at #1-3.

 

I'm not saying that he wasn't a huge puncher because he was for sure but I think Shavers had (arguably) more power

 

Tyson had great power. And at his peak would have beaten anybody.

 

HE had power,Cus/Rooney era he was dropping opponents with 2 or 3 body shots,He had huge shoulders,huge thighs and decent arms(bicep wasn't overly big)

After prison he had huge everything chest,shoulder,arms were huge and I personally think lost his power,stamnia and some speed.

PrePrison Great Power
PostPrision Good Power

 

Tyson was a great puncher. He had all the intangibles. Power, speed, accuracy and timing. If that isn't a great puncher than there is no such thing.

 

It isn't really that hard to drop someone with a bodyshot.
Hit the liver and their legs turn into pancakes.

Just hitting it in a fast paced fight can be quite a bother because you don't have time to really "aim" at it.

 

Tyson is easily the greatest puncher in the history of boxing and perhaps mankind if you take power, velocity of thr punches, accuracy, ability to throw at angles and in combos into consideration

No human that ever lived had the combination of punching ability, overall speed, punch resistance and defense that Tyson did

At his peak he was at the top of every category

 

The main thing is that Tyson wasn't a huge hitter. Not in the way Big George Foreman was. He possessed terrific technique. He was able to apply his full leverage into every knock-out punch.

I've talked to a few boxers and coaches in my area, they all agree, Tyson's knockout power came from his tight hooks/uppercuts and solid technique [his reputation in part, also].