Lennox Lewis comes to mind for me. He was never ever outmuscled in his whole career. 6'7 245lbs+ men were not able to tie him up in the inside. Next up is either George Foreman or Primo Carnera.
I think Foreman was a bit stronger than Lewis. Lewis in his prime was bigger but Foreman was incredibly muscular and a natural 230lb guy
There was a German SMW who benched like 440lbs. Mr Mosley hit 3 plates. Kostya has a 120kg? Clean and jerk and repped out 2 plates for 22. Funny how Kostya Tszyu had a stronger upper body in terms of raw strength (static) then some of the older heavyweight champions like Ali, Frazier and Louis ect.
Sandy Saddler was extremely good at applying his strength. Really rough stuff he was obnoxious enough to drag a seasoned Pep out of his game.
Lewis was listed at 6'5", I have heard it said he was a just a bit shorter, which is the norm. Carnera was likely the strongest of all. Certainly likely the strongest who was definitely clean-he started before steroids were even invented! I have seen him listed as between 260 & 284 & never overweight-likely lighter later, but he was literally a Strongman before he came to boxing. Massive bone structure as a result of a form of Giganticism. He was limited as a boxer, some fights fixed without his knowledge, & ended tragically. But in terms of Raw Strength, certainly among those clean-nothing was overstated.
Carlos Monzon was really strong at MW, very tough style to beat. The Galaxy brothers at 115/118 looked very strong. In recent times i think Canelo, Crawford, Beterbiev, Golovkin and Rungvisai are some of the strongest boxers.
In terms of just lifting heavy objects Carnera can't be overlooked in spite of his overall poor record against his best opponents. Guy was an absolute unit and as you pointed out, didn't have modern roids and weight lifting techniques. With his sheer size and weight that was close to all muscle, I think he could overpower 99% of boxers in a game of mercy. And his strong man career meant that he built up key muscles and functional strength in several different areas of his body. Next would probably be Foreman. The fact a shredded, strong guy like Hoylfield who was clearly abusing peds and lifted weights admitted a chunky 40 year old man was the strongest opponent he faced is insane. He even specifically mentioned other super heavies (Lewis and Bowe) and didn't hesitate to stick with his answer of Foreman. The guy just casually overpowered, shoved, and roughed up opponents like they were bowling pins. I believe it was Stand Ward who said when he sparred a young Foreman, the guy was so freakishly strong that if he missed a jab, he would simply use one arm to pull you into an uppercut with the other arm. He was a bulky 230 as a teenage amateur. Held a juvenile calf on his shoulders and other crazy feats. Third might be Hasim Rahman. I think his bench press was over 500 lbs. Very few heavies have verifiable lifting records, and the ones who do don't come close to that figure. Would probably make for one hell of a football player. Vitali never got overpowered and was very physically dominant with a very impressive physique. He lifted and took some stuff. The only problem with him is he has a relatively weak resume so his strength wasn't tested very often.
Evander Holyfield spent some times working out with the Atlanta Falcons. One of the things the NFL does to test practical game strength take the heart rate up to full exertion and THEN have them bench press 225 pounds the max number of reps they can do (which is to say, how much and how long can you lift when you’re already at maximum exertion) and Holy beat every single lineman in the Falcons camp at this. Watch the first Tyson fight and Evander practically rag-dolls Mike around the ring. Every time they clinched, it’s Evander pushing Tyson back to the ropes or a corner. He was so much stronger than Mike it wasn’t even a contest in that regard.
All of those Argentina fighters are cut from the same cloth ....strong as an oxe and crazy as hell ....Monzon ...Galindez ....Bonavena...Maidana...Firpo ...Julio Cesar Vasquez...Jorge Castro
Carnera, Foreman, and Sonny Liston. Foreman said Sonny was the strongest man he was ever in the ring with.
Excellent point on Rahman. He also seemed to overpower Lewis in their scuffle during the interview right before their 2nd match.
