Granted INGO didn't have the best set of whiskers and was already hurt and primed to be had at that moment but...many thought Floyd had killed him with that punch! (leg twitching, blood running out of his ear, the count could have reached 100, etc) With all the Floyd nay-sayers out there, I've often wondered how many other HW contenders, Champions, would have handled that SHOT! The 70's guys come to mind. Norton? Lyle? Shavers? Even Ali! (was Cooper's 4th round shot against Clay in June 63 even close?) Even Liston? The fact remains that, given his size limitations, everyone that fought Patterson knew they had to avoid that 'clean' left hook. Comments?
Bob Foster had some good long left hook KO's, Gerry Kooney was also versatile with that hand, Smoking Joe could also be creative and long with the hook....Duran
Put it another way. How many SHORT left hook knockouts or knockdowns by Liston have you seen? To deck Leotis and drop Bethea, he scythed that thing about halfway across the ring. Wayne Bethea has actually been described as having been achieved with Sonny's jab, but careful scrutiny of that footage shows it was actually a very long sweeping hook which came from so far away it looked like a jab without paying careful attention. Camera angles can be a tricky thing, but the angle for Liston-Bethea seems to be a good one for accurate assessment of distance, as does the wood clapping sound of the jab-cross-hook knockdown of Leotis. Sonny was chasing Bethea across the ring with his hook to catch Wayne on the tail end of it, but it looks like Leotis would have been decked by it if Martin had been six inches to a foot further away with the additional room Liston seemed able to spare on it.
pab, you know your onions, yessir ! The left-hook that Jack Dempsey landed who at about 185 pounds, landed on Jess Willard's chin which was shot upwards on Willard's jaw had to be most likely the best left hook ever. Big Jess though not a great heavyweight was about close to 6ft6",and never floored before made Dempsey punch up instead of straight from the shoulder was a thing we have never seen before or since...Only on ESB has Dempsey's ability been so tarnished. Good post pab. :good
McCallum's peach of a left hook against Donald Curry is up there for me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-...etailpage&x-yt-cl=85114404&v=AFYKe0CxmqA#t=61
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR5T8ig61Ak "I'm sorry, Boxed...we must have gotten disconnected. As I was saying..."