When the "biggest puncher ever" in the HW division lands his best punch right on the button on a guy with a good but not spectacular chin like Holmes, that guy is getting knocked out, period. Holmes wasn't even that badly hurt and he recovered very quickly. Shavers landed some more punches in that round after the knockdown, maybe not very cleanly, but still, from the "biggest puncher of all time," it should have had more of an effect.
But again I disagree with part of the premise. Holmes was stretched how often in a looooong career? His chin was very good, i would say close to Ali's. I do not think it is "period" he is KOed. Also Holmes I believe regained consciousness when he hit the canvas. or that jolted him back amongst the living! The poor & not cleanly landed blows that followed up would not be expected to finish him in the short time before the round ended. Tyson likely would have finished him, & Holmes may not have gotten up then. But it would not be from a single punch. The compunded effect of several huge blows in a short time, especially when you cannot see them all coming, can easily outweigh a bigger hitter's single or lesser # of blows.
we can all "arm chair quarterback" this topic or listen to the real authority,a man who fought all the greatest punchers,cleveland williams,liston,frazier,foreman,chuvalo,bonavena,shavers,sparred with marciano,ron lyle! I think his opinion trumps any of ours.yes ernie did not have the best chin,does not change his punching power. ___ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8gy5L6Ujuw
Larry Holmes:" Earnie Shavers was indeed the hardest puncher I ever fought, because he hit me with a right hand that jarred my ancestors in Africa, if you want to take a page from Ali’s book".
RON LYLE'S OPINION OF SHAVERS! ___ "Shavers hit me so hard it felt like needles were jabbing the back of my head. Without hesitation, Shavers was the hardest puncher I met." - Ron Lyle (Oct 2001 issue of Ring Magazine) __ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nl8rabZMIA
FROM A MAN WITH A GRANITE CHIN: Tex Cobb"Nobody hit harder than Ernie Shavers, if anybody hit harder than Ernie Shavers I would shoot him".
Ron Lyle and Ali fought both and said Shavers hit harder. Not one man who ever fought Shavers that I know of has not said he was the hardest puncher they ever fought ... Foreman was a monster puncher in his own right without question .. these guys pretty much hit as hard as someone can hit .. the talk about Shavers being overrated are foolish.
Pretty "old" poor argument ... how many times is someone going to try to prove a power point without the ability of differentiating between power and overall ability ?
Too many people who shared a ring with both men say that Shavers hit harder, for us to dismiss them all. The take home message is that the hardest hitter in a given era, is rarely the best heavyweight of the era, and may not even be one of the best.
And not just. Foreman did hit harder, i guarantee you that tua, wladimir, Lewis. , rahman etc did hit harder too
My guess would be that the people on the receiving end of the punches, can make a better comparison from their experience, than you can by trying to extrapolate from common results. For a start there are a lot of variables apart from power, that influence punching effectiveness.