The best finisher in heavyweight history

Louis and Tyson.

 

Joe Louis was the best finisher in boxing history IMO. Regardless of division.

He was so accurate and stayed calm, Louis didn`t get sloppy like many boxers do when they have a man ready to go. He also put his punches together so well, not just left, right but under/over. Sugar Ray said that "if a guy even stumbled against Joe he was done".

 

Right on..This is why I love the guy..By staying calm like you said he sometimes made it look really easy, but brutal none the less! Accuracy and the way Louis put his punches together is a disastrous recipe for when you have somebody hurt..! Well said ETM :yep

 

Louis and tyson.

 

Louis had u hurt it was fight over same with tyson

 

Sam Langford. Knocking out the younger, bigger, stronger Harry Wills with one punch? Twice?? Yikes.

 

In the heavyweights...for my money it's Joe Louis...Just such effective, concise punching technique. Jack Dempsey also deserves a shout...if he hurt you he would try and finish.

 

What to do and when--that's what those finishers know what to do and usually don't have to go back to their corners at the end of a round and have their managers remind them of it. Here's a few not mentioned..

Larry Holmes. Once he got a guy ready to go, they didn't escape. He just didn't always get them ready to go. Vitali klitschko is another one--hard to slip thru the cracks against that guy once badly hurt. Lennox Lewis sure knew what to do and when.


As for an era, that Ali/Frazier/Foreman was the best era of top notch finishers fighting at the same time. Usually 1 guy is head and shoulders above his competition at that skill--like Holmes. To have a period with 3 guys that excel at it is incredible. And, they fought each other.

Lamon Brewster was kind of like a Tua, in that if he got a guy ready to go they usually went.

 

Most of the above answers are true...lennox sometimes was too cautious but had the tools..Tyson gets my vote.

 

Pretty tough to look past Joe Louis ..

 

I don't think that any heavyweight has ever been more dangerous than Sam Langford with a single punch.

Nobody.

Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Mike Tyson could knock anybody cold with a combination or barage of punches, but Sam Langford seemed to be able do it with one carfully set up punch.

 

Considering he could have made middleweight most of his career and super middleweight the rest it is astonishing … my favorite for best pound for pound puncher of all time … Wills, Jeannette, Smith, Flynn all said no one ever hit them harder, ever …. the KO's of Wills are really something considering he was past his own best, coming from behind in both fights and the one punch power was late in the fight against a much bigger man ..

 

Muhammad Ali rarely let a guy off the hook that he had in big trouble

I use the Foreman fight, Frazier III late rounds, Lyle, Wepner, and a few others as good examples of having the guy in danger and just putting them away

not the biggest punchers out there but he knew how to end a fight

 

True enough.

Although not a puncher, it would be misleading in some ways to clasify him as a defensive specialist.

This is not a guy who was looking to win by decision.

 

Louis