Comparing the KO% of the great heavyweights

Vitali has an 87% ko ratio, I consider him to be the better of the two.

 

Like yourself I don't think ko %'s totally accurately reflect punching power,they are an indication but cannot be the defining factor.We may use them as a guide nothing more.
Also like you, I think the level of opposition will often have a significant effect on a fighters stat's eg Lamar Clark.
But two other factors should be considered imo.
1.The size of many of the victims of the early champions .
2. Whether they were actually "knocked out," as in rendered unconscious,as opposed to being stopped on a tko ,corner retirement, or by referee's intervention.
For example . Joe Frazier an excellent puncher but,imo an overated one at the very premier level has as you've shown a ko record of 73% but how many of those victims were actually counted out and of what class were the ones that were?

 

The part of that statistic to consider is how many of those ko victims were hard to stop? A guy like Ali stopped some opponents hard to stop. a guy like shavers didn't. So in addition to the quality of opposition, the opponent selection and their susceptibility to ko's has to be looked at hard.

 

Buddy Bear, and, Shannon Briggs, " great heavyweights" ??? Maybe Dempsey and V Klitschko would have been better choices. You left out some hall of fame heavies who can punch.

Here's the way I see it. KO % does matter and should be broken up into three segments.

1 ) A puncher should pretty much finish the trial horses and journeyman types, unless the opponent is known to be super durable. However, if a boxer has too many of these types on his resume, it's an inflated percentage.

2 ) Styles can skew things if the fighter is on the defensive side or isn't very skilled himself but is a big puncher.

3 ) The top punchers all should have KO/TKO Wins over their best competition ( Rated top ten opponents), as knockouts can be tied to the classic of the opponents.

4 ) Fighting past your time often will dull the KO%.

A general rule of thumb

• A puncher should KO 80% of his trial horses/journeyman
• A puncher should have a high KO% in fights where he wasn't stopped.
• Don't penalize guys for being punchers if they lack some skills or have a bad chin, they are still punchers, and these handicaps can lower their KO% ( Max Bear example )

 

Good post.
NB. Fighting past your prime will not only dull ko% ,it can, and often does increase the ko% of losses on a boxers record . Fighters initially considered durable can become vulnerable with age and mileage and sometimes after just one or two gruelling fights ,as is seen in several of Marciano's opponents records.

 

Hold on here.
Did Tonto just say “Good Post” to Mendoza?

 

I think this is a good indicator of power when taking size into account, maybe.

 

Buddy Bear, and, Shannon Briggs weren`t great fighters.

 

Vitali's KO percentage flatters him. He may be the single most overrated puncher in boxing history. Almost zero legitimate KO's against live competition.

 

Perhaps you should look at their KO% against contenders/champions?

 

You plagiarizing now?!??

 

That's laughable! He stopped guys that were hard to stop in Donald and Purrity, and usually finished his opponents faster than anyone before him. These are signs of a puncher. He also fought past his prime, which dulls the KO%, and had to overcome back and shoulder surgeries with took something away from him.

An 87% KO percentage is very impressive. ( 2nd on this list ) and I all but guarantee had Rocky fought on from age 32-35, his KO% drops lower than 87%

A better way to look at it is Vitali was a well-conditioned boxer with heavy hands and good stamina for the later rounds.

 

But of the (17) fighters you named. Ali stopped 5, or (07) if you count the fact he stopped Liston x2 and Patterson x2, that's revealing in itself if were talking great competition with a high KO percentage.