How hard did Foreman punch?

This is very true. It was no accident that an over 40 year old Foreman who did not lace on a pair of gloves in 10 years could come back to win the championship. First George was the hardest puncher ever to live in my lifetime but equally important was the very watered down poor talent pool multiple champion world that has become boxing the last 30 years. Boxing talent in the hwt division is just terrible today and fans so used to such low level abilities they think weighing 250 pounds makes one a good fighter.

 

THE championship or A championship? Did he beat Bowe, Holy or Lewis? Or did he beat a chinny Michael Moorer whose heavyweight highlights include going life and death with Francois Botha and beating a Holyfield who was in cardiac arrest? It's not like he took over the division.

On a serious note, that Foreman was as strong as an ox and hit hard is no newsflash. No ****, of course he hit hard. But he was rarely a one shot artist... very few actually are. He was a sort of high powered attrition puncher. His punches moved people no matter where they connected, bludgeoning rather than cracking. He beat them down more often than checked them out. I have talked to three guys (possibly four, a guy on here who left something to doubt), and all gave the same impression. He moved them, tilted the world, changed gravity with his punches.

The heavyweight division today has plenty of talent, just a really shitty structure and really shitty promoters who ensure that talent is never properly culled and exploited to the fans' advantage.

 

George beat Moore who was the true lineal champion so he won the same title he lost back in 74.

As mentioned George came back and won the championship because he was the hardest puncher ever and because of the very watered down state of the hwt division. Had we had one champion as we did back in the 70s and as such just one pathway to the championship results may have been different for George. In a world where bums are considered contenders and contenders are considered champions anything can happen.

 

This is hocus pocus King Arthur bull****. Moorer wasn't even in the top 5 heavyweights alive at the time.

Not even the guys who faced him (and then faced Shavers or even Lennox Lewis) always picked him as the hardest puncher. He was certainly among the hardest and he had a certain type of power, not sharp and cracking, but bludgeoning and with a huge transfer of power.

I am sure many of today's contenders would love to hear your thoughts on their abilities. You should share those thoughts with them.

 

I think Gil Clancy said it best when he described Foreman as a "clubber, a big strong guy who could club you to death". George was very strong and he applied that strength to his punching style, big roundhouse punches that hurt wherever they landed. I wouldn't label him a true power puncher ala Joe Louis. If they were punching a wall, Louis would punch a clean hole right through it while Foreman would knock the wall down...if that makes sense.

 

That has nothing to do with it. David Haye is 210 pounds. James Toney is a natural MW. You either have power or dont.

Haye KO'd a 245 pound Chisora who has a solid chin.

Foreman KO'd guys as tall as 6'6" and as heavy as 260. Foreman also one punch KO'd men into his late 40's.

According to Holyfield,the old Foreman "hit me harder than any fighter" and that list includes 2 fights with Tyson,2 with Lennox Lewis,3 with Riddick Bowe,1 with Ray Mercer.

Shannon Briggs also gave Foreman the nod in a 2012 youtube interview where he said "hardest hitter I ever been hit by..."

So Foreman no matter what is among the harder hitters ever

Here's the interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY8Kt3_Ir2I

 

I agree. I mean a few years ago Denis Boytsov was in the Ring's top ten! LOL
Imagine what Foreman would do to that guy or Seth Mitchell!

 

yep, nick. it was a joke. Foreman is a beast and his power was unique

 

And what would a prime Vitali or Lewis do to Wepner, Garcia, Roman, Bobick, Neuman, Howard Smith, Ward, Johnny Boudreaux, Urtain... or the other ham and eggers who populated the top-10 in the 70's?

 

George could still probably hit harder than anyone in the heavyweight division now.

 

It has nothing to do with who was the best...it all has to do with who they beat. Moorer beat Holy, who beat Bowe, who beat Holy, who beat Douglas, who beat Tyson, who beat Spinks, who beat Holmes....etc.

Scrap Iron Johnson fought many great punchers and he was a sparring partner for Foreman in his prime. He is on record as saying no one hit like Foreman, Holy said the same and that was old George, Briggs who you seem very impressed with says Foreman hit the hardest. As mentioned I watch Foreman train back in his prime as well as Frazier and Shavers. Foreman hit a 300 pound bag like it was nothing...booming punches that shook the rafters of the gym. Never seen any fighter ever come close to That level of power. Try hitting a 300 pound bag...unless your a trained hwt your punches bounce off.

 

Freddy Askew, who fought and was ko'd by a young Foreman, told me this story about how hard George hit. Fred was raised on a farm in Tennessee and one day got too close behind an enraged horse who reared up and kicked him in the head, Freddy didn't wake up until the next day. Fred told me George hit harder.

 

To say Foremans power is overrated is complete revisionism. No doubt one of the hardest punchers ever ....I say the hardest. I just cant imagine, based on what I saw with my own eyes, anyone hitting harder. When Shavers or Frazier sparred or hit the bag it was nothing special to sit through. With Foreman just booming power...hitting a large bag or beating up sparring partners. I've written this many times but it's because it so impressed me. His punches with your eyes closed sounded crazy hard. The most powerful fighter I ever saw in the ring.

 

i too have seen foreman hit the bag in his prime as well as fight [second frazier fight]. i did not think he was the hardest hitter i have seen. aolt of arm punches. his swings were very hard but alot of guys can swing hard , but dont. abit overrated imo in the power department. but very strong and very powerful- nice combo to have.

 

So, maybe he is the hardest at bag work, then. But as noted above, he was a clubber not a guy like Joe Louis or Tyson who turned your lights out.

This focus on raw power is very much a novice boxing fan obsession. There are potentially hundreds of guys who could have carried the same or more power than Foreman. But Foreman didn't KO all those opponents because he just hit hard. He did it because he was relentless, used space well, had really good footwork, cut off the ring and knew how to mix up his punches. And he had a great jab. He made his punches land and count. He definitely was a KO artist in the primitive school of artistry. But make no mistake, there was a lot of art to it

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