hardest hitter of all time?

I think Tillis once said that Tyson hit him harder than Shavers.

 

Fair enough Anthony, I Googled it & found Tillis said just that in the interview room right after their fight!! Maybe so, or it was the excitement of the fight. Power goes late, but Shavers being almost 37 may or may not have been a factor. And Holmes fought both & said Shavers hit harder. Quotes on Shaver's punching power, including a couple colorful ones from Tillis: http://www.ajdugger.com/forum.html#nabble-td4587667

 

Wlad Does hit harder than his big brother, despite the KO ratio. Vitali's power is slightly overrated, and if Lennox had gotten clipped by Wlad and not Vitali in round two of their fight it end's there.

Wlad may not have the most explosive punching, but he is very heavy handed and throws with tremendous leverage and technique. He has 52 KO's and counting fighting exclusively in the 12 round era against the best competition available for the majority of his career. His power jab alone usually makes his opponents retreat into survival mode.

I think it's too hard to to say who is hardest hitter of all time, there have been tons from Sullivan, to Dempsey, Louis, Liston, Foreman, Tyson, Lewis. Tua, Baer, Wlad. I will say I tend to believe Shavers is slightly overrated at times, when ppl seem to knee jerk him at number one on these lists.

 

Ill tell you who it ISNT.

David Tua



But i feel it to be Foreman (heavyweight). Lennox Lewis also had a very good right hand.

Julian Jackson and Naseem Hamed come to mind for lower weights.

 

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Then why do those on the receiving end almost always name some guy they beat rather than some guy who stopped them?

 

From an observers' standpoint, Tua was the hardest hitter I saw. And I saw Bowe, Foreman and Lewis. Tua did things to guys that were just weird… breaking ankles with left hooks to the head… Tremendous power.

 

Interesting. Though you mean old Foreman only, no?

I would guess Old George, Tua, Bruno, Smith, Ruddock, juiced Morrison are pretty similar.

And Lewis near that level, Tyson too. Bowe I have not thought of as quite on that level.
A guy on another orum sparred with many & fought some, has a Klitchko hitting him the hardest, said Foreman moved you the most, his jab could send a big HW across the ring.

 

Guess what… every pro guy who ever hit me hit hard. The difference between those who stopped more opponents than not was timing, speed, commitment and ring strategy. How many stupid threads are needed on hardest hitters? Especially at heavyweight, they all can hit like a mule kicks. If that's all you focus on it's merely a proclamation of ignorance. There is so much more to the game, so much more to knocking people out… Better boxers focussed on knocking people out are better at knocking people out… There is not some mystical essence that leads to this result. ****...

 

OK compared to an average person they all hit hard, but there is a bell curve in everything.
Some focus only on power to the exclusion of overall ability & effectiveness.
Others consider the whole picture but enjoy questions like brute force & speed.
A natural joy is is to consider & compare pure physical talents too.

 

i guarantee you that the old foreman 250 pounder who faced evander did hit harder than the 209 pounder shavers. holyfield rated this version of foreman at CLEARLY harder puncher than tyson,bowe, lewis or any fighter who did hit him ever and evander was sparring partner of david tua, and i don´t think that shavers did hit harder than the right hand of lennox lewis a guy who was a puncher himself and was naturally much bigger and explosive than shavers , or david tua who was a complete monster, i doubt that shavers did hit harder than mike tyson because mike was putting guys flying on the ring so for my money it is george foreman the hardest puncher of all time.

 

No disrespect to you or the great Aurelio Herrera...

And i DO think Herrera is a great pick sir, but P4P I would have to place my money on Jimmy Wilde. You don't find many any smaller or many with that many KO's so when you put both things together I think I have to go with Jimmy.

 

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That leaves us with the conclusion that his testimony is probably sincere.

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he got stopped by shavers so he had to talk highly about his power

 

From what Iv'e seen on film, I'd go with George. Anyone he hit cleanly felt it, and he did it over a huge timeframe against a variety of decent to good opposition.

But really...at heavyweight it's splitting hairs. You could round up the top 12 guys (whomever they may be) and there would be little tangible difference between them.

I find the P4P argument much more interesting. I doubt George would be in the top 10.