Louis and Arguello were two of the hardest hitters in the history of the sport though. Not hard to finish a guy when you hit so hard that he's already out on his feet or stumbling around on very rubbery legs. Once they hurt people with their money punches, either of them could have finished a lot of guys just by blowing on them.
Thanks for replying, mrkoolkevin. True, they were 2 of the sport's hardest hitters, but the fact that they both finished many opponents with combinations after originally stunning them I think corroborates my initial point...they were both the unflappable, cold, clinical type...great balance too...
Louis, Marciano and Dempsey were all very powerful hitters. Walcott who fought Marciano and Louis said punch for punch Rocky hit harder. Sharkey who fought both Louis and Dempsey felt punch for punch Dempsey hit harder. Sharkey stated "if Dempsey hit you in the shoulder he breaks your shoulder, if he hits you in the body it feels as if his fist is coming out your back. If he hit you on the hip he dislocated your hip. Based on these comments and my own observations I would rate Louis third in terms of punch for punch power. Dempsey, Marciano than Louis.
It might be safer to look at fighters from the same era. Most common opponents/sparring opponents, were adamant that Max Baer, and Curtis Sheppard, hit harder than Louis. That should tell you the difference, between a puncher and a finisher.
The biggest thing is keeping your composure. A lot of guys get excited when they hurt a guy and forget to breathe so they punch themselves out. You need to be aware...if you hurt him up top go to the body
...perry....what doe your post have to do with this thread? AS for sharkey's description of dempsey's punching power, if it were accurate sharkey would have been a soprano after dempsey hit him with that low blow...
too big an overall skill and ability gap between those two and Louis for that to be an ideal comparison.Ideally we want to be looking at fighters all on a similar level and ****ysing the differences there.
perry.....i have watched that fight many times.....the blow that caused sharkey to turn to the referee was definitely low. maybe you haven't seen enough fights to know what a low blow is. it is one that is below the belt and into the groin. if you would like to see more examples some other posters and i will gladly lead you to them.