Hardest puncher in HW division history?

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by CroBox29, Nov 30, 2019.



Choose the hardest puncher.

  1. George Foreman

    30 vote(s)
    29.4%
  2. Wladimir Klitschko

    9 vote(s)
    8.8%
  3. Deontay Wilder

    29 vote(s)
    28.4%
  4. Ron Lyle

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  5. Earnie Shavers

    21 vote(s)
    20.6%
  6. Lennox Lewis

    2 vote(s)
    2.0%
  7. Mike Tyson

    9 vote(s)
    8.8%
  8. Rocky Marciano

    2 vote(s)
    2.0%
  9. Joe Frazier

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  10. Vitali Klitschko

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  1. Ken Ashcroft

    Ken Ashcroft Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Why have you conveniently left out the fact that he didn’t come close to stopping Bermane Stiverne in their first title fight even though he was hitting him and dominating him for the entire 12 rounds? The fact that Wilder easily knocked out an overweight and inactive Stiverne who had fought only once in the near 3 years since their first encounter doesn’t magically make the result and events of the first fight disappear like it never happened.
     
    Pedro_El_Chef likes this.
  2. Dubblechin

    Dubblechin Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    I haven't conveniently left out anything. Everyone knows (except for you, apparently) that Wilder broke his right hand when he floored Stiverne in their first fight. And he boxed his way to a clear decision win.

    In the rematch, with a right hand that wasn't broken, he destroyed him.

    What broken hands did the other heavyweights in this thread have that caused them not to score knockouts? Did Foreman have a broken hand when he went the distance with Robert Davila, Levi Forte, Crawford Grimsley, Axel Shulz, Alex Stewart, Bigfoot Martin ... etc.?

    Then why did those knockovers go the distance with him?

    Wilder's the best puncher in heavyweight history. All the others guys went the distance with bad fighters and they didn't have an excuse for it like a freaking BROKEN hand.
     
  3. Eye of Timaeus

    Eye of Timaeus Well-Known Member Full Member

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  4. janitor

    janitor VIP Member Full Member

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    Holding a ranking with the WBC means less than nothing in my eyes.

    The Ring rankings are the only ones that represent a serious attempt to list the top ten fighters in the division.
    Usky's only fight at heavyweight is Chaz Witherspoon, so I have no problem with him not being ranked at the moment.
    He is a future contender, who has beaten nobody of any note yet.

    Again, I don't have a problem with him being unranked, it will come soon enough.
    I imagine that Hunter will get a ranking based upon his draw against Povetkin, which is fair enough.
    He is not a contender yet.

    It would not be right for him to get a title shot, in place of the men currently ranked by Ring Magazine.

    Again, it will come soon enough!
    He loses whenever he fights somebody in the top ten, so that is understandable.

    If he strings together a couple more wins, he will probably get ranked.
    It is more a question of who they omit.

    According to them Anthony Joshua, who holds three other belts, is not in the top fifteen!

    How can I possibly take that seriously!
     
    Pedro_El_Chef and Bokaj like this.
  5. Dubblechin

    Dubblechin Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    That's funny, considering they have spent the whole of 2019 trying to fix the collossal screw up they committed at heavyweight in 2018 ... and still haven't managed to do that yet.

    They are no better than any other org and, in fact, are less relevent. At this point, they are the print version of boxrec. And print is dead.
     
  6. janitor

    janitor VIP Member Full Member

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    Now there I would have to disagree.

    They are the only rankings that rank purely on merit, rather than loyalty to their organisation.

    There may be problems with them, but they are the beast we have got!
     
    Bokaj likes this.
  7. Curtis Lowe

    Curtis Lowe Boxing Addict Full Member

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    No Elmer "Violent" Ray?
     
  8. janitor

    janitor VIP Member Full Member

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    I think that Curtis Sheppard would be a better candidate, if you were going to choose a heavyweight from that era.
     
  9. Bokaj

    Bokaj Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Jan 4, 2008
    I have never seen anyone effect men of that size with one punch the way Wilder do. Of course, the great speed of those punches are a factor as well. They don't really see them coming, unlike more clubbing punchers like Foreman. It's impossible to completely separate power from factors such as speed and timing, but from what I've seen of the effect of Wilder's right, even when it doesn't land clean, I just have to pick him, even though I don't like him as a fighter or his trash talking image or the fact that he walked away from the most lucrative multi fight deal in boxing that would also have unified the titles. But his power is something else.
     
  10. Jackomano

    Jackomano Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    This. Power doesn’t mean squat if you can’t connect. Against the wrong style even the best punchers can get neutralized.
     
  11. Golden_Feather99

    Golden_Feather99 Active Member Full Member

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    There's no right answer. If the question is "who's the hardest puncher?", it'd be Wilder imo. The question is basically asking who hits the hardest. I can't think of a punch harder than Wilder's right hand. But that does not mean Deontay is the greatest puncher in HW history. That might be Foreman. If we use the effort/effect ratio to determine power, Foreman would be last on that list. Wilder puts a lot of effort into his right hand to hurt his opponent. Foreman could hurt you with short, effortless punches. A good example is the first knockdown from Foreman-Frazier 1. Looks like a harmless uppercut but it laid Frazier sideways.

    Wilder hurts his opponents when the right hand is perfect. When he gets the distance and timing right, he is gonna throw the right hand with the best technique possible. He gets maximum leverage and he follows through. When the right hand is proper, it doesn't matter where he hits you, he's gonna hurt you.

    Foreman went out and threw all kinds of punches because he knew he could hurt you with anything. Wilder likes to sit back and look for 1 perfect shot. So, you have the hardest puncher in HW history looking to land the hardest punch possible. I have to see him hurt someone with a regular right hand. Where his stance isn't 5 feet wide and he doesn't put all his weight into the right hand. I've seen people say that the right hand he dropped Fury with in round 12 wasn't a hard punch. Wilder couldn't even maintain his stance, that's how much effort he put into that right hand. If a punch is coming at you with all that momentum, it doesn't have to hit you clean to hurt you. The power is behind the punch, not in the punch.
     
    Last edited: Dec 9, 2019
  12. InMemoryofJakeLamotta

    InMemoryofJakeLamotta I have defeated the great Seamus Full Member

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    The Hatchetman?
     
  13. InMemoryofJakeLamotta

    InMemoryofJakeLamotta I have defeated the great Seamus Full Member

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    Joe Louis did.
     
  14. Humean

    Humean New Member Full Member

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    It has to be borne in mind that the gloves being used by boxers throughout history differ. For instance there is a difference between throwing and landing punches wearing 6oz horsehair gloves from the 1930s versus wearing 10oz foam gloves from today.

    If terms of who probably generated the most force on their hardest thrown punch then i'd say probably either Wlad Klitschko or Wilder
     
    Clean & Crisp likes this.
  15. RulesMakeItInteresting

    RulesMakeItInteresting Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Shavers was the perfect combination of power and brute strength. Foreman was pure blunt force. Wilder might end up sitting up there with those gods.