How hard did Foreman punch?

Agreed! I think it's absurd to think that no fighter before Foreman or after could not have matched, or in some cases exceeded, his punching power. The folks who elevate George Foreman's power into stratospheric, HeMan proportions are just as bad as the so-called revisionists who might undercut or marginalize Foreman's punch. From what I have read, seen and heard, George Foreman was a very big puncher; to me there's no doubt. But so were a lot of other guys, both way back when and up to and including today. Why does George Foreman have to be the lone occupant atop the hardest-punchers-ever category? It's almost as if some people get offended if some other fighter might, god forbid, be in Foreman's league in terms of punching power. I can think of a lot of guys who probably hit just as hard as he did, but that doesn't take away from Foreman's in-the-ring accomplishments.

 

This is an impressive amount of steaming feces. Absolute garbage, and you should be ashamed and embarrassed for foisting this heaving mass of ignorance and bile upon the public. What a shame.

 

Ok so today's Champs would beat the bordeline contenders of the 70's? Yes I agree. But Ron Lyle,Shavers,Norton,Quarry? Those guys would fight Vitali and Lewis well. Lewis especially. Lyle would whoop his ass.

 

Gerry Cooney was asked this question when he appeared on the New York radio sports show "Boomer And Carton.'

Cooney said "I'd have to say Foreman" when asked who hit him the hardest.

 

Wepner wasnt a bum anyway so what does that prove? Wepner was a big tough guy, He fought Ali and Foreman. He lost to both but he fought them. He was a world title challenger. You make it seem like he was always in the top ten every year in the 70's.

Bruno was never anything close to Foreman.

 

Foreman's punches didn't look earth-shattering against either Scott Ledoux or Dino Denis. Again, Big George could definitely hit, but I believe that his punching power gets overestimated at times. A lot of guys talk like all Foreman had to do was brush a guy with a punch and the guy would get paralyzed!

 

Yeah, but who in the hell did he fight?

The other best suspects on his resume, Lyle and Norton, never landed a punch of meaning.

So, yes, Foreman punches harder than Michael Spinks.

 

Ruth had 100 pitching wins before transforming into a home run king.

 

If I could be any boxer, you know like a genie popped out the tbottle and all that hoopla.
I'd think I pick foreman. Good chin, hard punch, 95% of his fights never went that far. Despite all his fights he neither slurs nor has serious medical problems except being fat (but I guess it isn't a problem). Of all the boxers I have ever seen. Foreman is the hardest to beat. As in I'd be fine fighting any of them but him. There is no obvious way to beat a guy like Foreman. Lennox Lewis would be the next toughest.

 

Too slow. Peralta and Young showed a good template for dealing with him.

Dino Denis offered the most interesting risk Foreman took between Ali and Young, but John got stupid and cheeky in trying to trade with George during round three [which baffled Jerry Quarry tremendously], and wasn't able to recover. Denis wasn't afraid of Foreman, which could have been a plus, but he didn't respect George's power either. By the time he discovered he did need to respect how dangerous Foreman could be, it was too late.

Ultimately, the outcome of Foreman-Denis may have cost George more against Young. If Dino had continued to box smartly and not get careless, then taken Foreman into the later rounds, George would have obtained useful preparation for dealing with Jimmy in San Juan.

No, I don't believe Denis would have beaten Foreman if Dino had boxed a perfect match, as he simply didn't have the power to dent George's chin. However, I do think he could have stayed on his feet until the final bell, to the benefit of both. Denis would have gotten a major career boost, while Clancy would have worked more to improve George's stamina and control. [Foreman was, in fact, getting tired when Al Braverman told referee Jay Edson to stop it to rescue Dino, but there was no way John was recovering from he'd already given George a chance to do to him.]

Foreman-Denis didn't prove George had figured out how to deal with a smart world class heavyweight cutie possessing good speed, size and movement, it proved that Dino wasn't smart enough to be that cutie. Young was, and Jimmy got him in a 12 rounder. [If Foreman-Denis had gone ten, then maybe George also would have listened when Clancy told him to come to Puerto Rico at least three weeks early to acclimate as well.]

 

Dino Dennis did not win one second of his bout with Foreman. All the fight proved is if you can run around the ring you can avoid being koed in the first round.

Foreman koed LaDoux with one right uppercut. Nobody koed Scott like that in his prime as he had excellent wiskers.

 

Jerry Quarry also sparred with Foreman. He stated George was the most powerful puncher he ever encountered.

 

What the fight reiterated was that one shalt not touch the ropes or corners with any part of the back of one's body against Foreman unless his name is Ali. George pulled the trigger the instant he saw that no further retreat by his prey was possible.

I had Denis winning the first two rounds. He threw more punches, and landed more. George did land a few big body shots in round two, and brushed a retreating Dino with a hook to send John stumbling back to the ropes in the opening stanza, but Denis did most of the punching and most of the landing with his greater speed.

The first half of round three was pretty even. Denis was more flat footed, but his hand speed still enabled him to score with head shots while Foreman slammed Dino's body with some huge swings. But right when JQ commented, "Denis is proving, uh, that Foreman can be beaten right now," George stunned him against the ropes with a long hook to the head, right at the halfway point of the third. John got outta there, retreated across to the other side of the ring, fired off a one-two, then was back on his toes retreating to the ring ropes. The moment he got there, 20 seconds after that first stunner, Foreman caught him again and he sagged back against the ropes with his hands down for a moment. Braverman was on the ring apron in Dino's corner seemingly ready to stop it with 15 seconds left, but Denis retreated to a neutral corner and dropped to his knees a second after the bell rang, possibly saving him from being counted out after the bell. [Because there was no official knockdown, I'd have scored it 10-9 for Foreman, not 10-8.]

Posters should view part I [rounds one and two] of Foreman-Denis for themselves.

 

What he actually said in the second round was that, "Foreman is the strongest man I have ever been in the ring with," which could be interpreted as a reference to physical strength, or the combination of hitting power and physical strength, as well as punch force. Jerry had a job to do for CBS, and talking up the participants was part of the description. That's not to say he wasn't speaking truthfully, but it was appropriate in response to Brookshier's question about it.

Of course he experienced Foreman's power in sparring. But in competition, he never even knew Shavers had hit him until viewing the footage the next day [possibly the one time that ever happened to anybody who actually defeated Earnie].

I had forgotten until reviewing it that Foreman-Denis was actually scheduled for 12, not ten rounds, and that's a limit Dino had gone the year before. That makes his choice to duke it out the way he did early even more puzzling. George really took it out of his body, but it didn't have to happen that quickly.

For whatever it's worth, this was a much better version of Denis than the one Cooney faced three years later. Gerry was dominating a much more flatfooted Dino with his jab before that hook struck, and would have won a pretty easy ten round decision if that one had gone to the final bell. [That's about as good as I remember seeing Cooney's jab look.]

 

George Foreman must have been impressed with Jerry Quarry after sparring him, because George, as champion, went out of his way not to fight Quarry; this despite Quarry publicly calling Foreman out numerous times.