It's not a law, more an "accepted wisdom" which, because it has not passed through any form of questioning process in the mind of the listener, becomes nothing more than second-hand opinion, vehemently upheld.
I did not read through this whole thread but I have feeling that people confuse Hard punches with KOs. Getting a clean KO is not a matter of punching hard, it also includes location, angle and timing. Most boxers say that the punch that does the most damage is the one you do not see. No one on this forum will know 100% who punches harder because no has felt the punch of both and no fighter has ever felt the punch of both. So all we can do is go off of what other say. The way all the greats talk about the power of shaver, especially when they have all been hit by others who were known to be heavy handed and rank him number 1, its really hard to refute that. I know how that hurts the feelings of the modern game but all of you talk about size etc does not translate into raw punching power. I believe a large segment on here would probably say that Matthysse and GGG punch harder than Ward despite being smaller men with inferior technique
Shavers is from the past so naturally everyone will go with him, but the truth is Wlad clearly punches much harder.
Shavers didn't KO any of the top tier fighters he fought. His best KO is probably Norton who had a very shaky if not Glass Jaw. Fighters that have legit savage power can KO upper tier fighters they face. Shavers couldn't.
Shavers had the power but not the skill to use them. Just like Travis Walker he is one of the hardest punchers in the divison right now with Price, Wlad and Helenius but he doesn't have the skill that's like saying he doesn't punch hard because he couldn't ko Adamek
just thought i give my two cents on short heavies since most people today say giants (6'4") and up are the future of the division.looking from the 1900's till almost present day,i feel the hardest punching and vicious have been 6'1" or under and some were really only cruiserweights.here's my list:john l sullivan 5'10" 200lb,langford 5'6" 185lb,johnson 6'1" 200lb,fitzsimmons 5'11" 165lb,dempsey 6' 3/4" 187lb,sharkey 5'8" 180lb,chonski 5'10" 170lb,louis 6'1/2" 200lb,galento 5'8" 225lb,marciano 5'9" 189lb,liston 6'1'' 210lb,frazier 5'11"1/2 205lb,bonavena 5'10" 210lb,mike weaver 6'1" 210lb,ray mercer 6'1" 225,cooper 5'11" 215lb,shavers 6' 212lb,tyson5'10" 220lb lionel butler 5'11" 230lb.you can see the smaller guys were overwhelmingly the hardest punching ones.
Shavers had incredible power, but like Peter he sometimes had an issue landing it against top fighters. Wlad has incredible power that's attached to a far better delivery system. I guess it's impossible to say who was the harder puncher, but Wlad is certainly the more EFFECTIVE puncher.
Lol! Well I'll be a rebel and go against the ESB grain and stick with common sense. Wladimir Klitschko punches harder and if he went up against Shavers exact opposition, he'd most likely have a 95% KO ratio. Use common sense. Look at the impact of Wlad's shots and the way he moved 230lb plus men compared to Earnie. Wlad wins but it's close.
Kuds is about the hardest of the bunch, and I doubt he hits harder than Ortiz, Wlad, Joshua or Wilder. No cruiserweight punches harder than the top punching heavyweights.
I think Wlad hit harder, I can't imagine an old Ali taking that many shots off Wlad like he did against Shavers. Who did Shavers actually knockout because the vast majority of fighters that rank him number 1 survived his punches.