If MOST 90s-2000s punchers hit as hard as Shavers, how would we know?

Most didn't from what i can tell but some such as devastating punchers like Klitschko, Morrison, Ruddock, Tua, Sanders imo were in Shavers ballpark if not higher.

Shavers was said to have hit harder than Bruno and Tyson from Bunger and Holmes, so he clearly had ridiculous power, but heavyweights have gotten more massive and have KO'd much bigger men than Shavers could and sometimes in one punch. Thats all we know

 

You'd think Larry Holmes would have told us if any if the 90s guys he fought hit like Shavers, and he hasn't. Exception might be Tyson if he's doing the common give more credit to the guy you beat sort of thing.

Larry pops up on podcasts sometimes, someone should ask him directly.

Foreman didn't fight Shavers, but he fought in the 90s, and said Lyle hit the hardest of anyone he fought.

 

It is Larry Holmes. His testimony should be taken with a bucketful of salt.
Holmes did not fight Lewis, Bowe, Morrison, Foreman, Ruddock etc.

 

There wee plenty of guys who swapped leather with the 90s guys, who swapped leather with the top men from shavers era and earlier.

It is very clear that they did not.

 

Great question! Aside from what fighters have said, there is no way to know..
I don't think those punch machines (that supposedly measure power) are all that accurate.

 

For one, you wouldn't expect guys from earlier eras to avoid getting blasted out e g Foreman and Holmes

 

How it is landed and where it is landed matters a lot, and those machines don't measure that. Best example is Tyson. When he was in his brief prime and focused, he produced those insane looking knockouts because he was so damn good at catching guys in just the right spot at just the right time.

I'm sure Shavers would rate higher on those machines, but he was garbage at landing it right compared to Tyson in his prime.

 

I would expect to see very high KO% and an even more impressive highlight reel of KOs. Shavers was a crappy boxer with poor technique and stamina, yet he still managed to have an impressive 76% KO ratio in a very long career in a very competitive era. The best 90's punchers should be able to produce highlight knockouts over ranked fighters that look at least as frightening as Shavers blowouts of Ellis, Norton, and Williams (Shavers was an inch shorter and only 7 lbs heavier than Ellis, he was 3 inches shorter than Norton and 15 lbs lighter, he was 5 inches shorter than Williams and 21 lbs lighter). Actually, the majority of Shavers best displays of power are over men who were larger than himself. You can add Young and Bugner to that list, both iron chinned defensive fighters. And if we're counting knockdowns there's Holmes and Cobb who were notoriously difficult to drop.

Shaver's best KO victims were men who were taller and more skilled and athletic than himself and he stilled KOd them. So if the 90's punchers hit as hard as Shavers while also being bigger and possessing superior skill and technique, you'd think they'd be able to produce even more impressive knockouts. Is that fair?

Sanders has one noteworthy KO, Wladmir who isn't very durable to begin with. He is incredibly overrated.

There is nothing to suggest Ruddock hit harder than Shavers. His left uppercut was devastating as hell, but outside of that no you can't really make that case. Too many people took flush shots from Ruddock without being dropped and went the distance. Ali was the only guy to take Shavers best shots and went the distance and he was in horrible shape afterwards with scars on his brain. His doctor even wonders if Shavers single handedly exacerbated Ali's declining health.

 

Evander Holyfield (who fought with "everyone") says that George Foreman hits the hardest.
Muhammad Ali says that Earnie Shavers hits the hardest (and he also fought Foreman).

The only exact, scientific way to see who is hitting hard is this:

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And my personal opinion is:
Just the power of the punch regadless of: champions, technique, opponents, career, legacy, image, charisma, belts, score, skill, precision, heart, money, adverstage, discrimination, longevity, title defense,... Deontay Wilder.
I may not have answered the question from the topic, but I think Deontay Wilder strikes harder than Earnie Shavers ("shockwave").

 

The same is true for Shavers.

 

If Mercer had had Shavers-level power he would have floored both Holmes and I'm guessing Holy.

 

Shavers is incredibly overrated in terms of punching power, but the first part of your post is spot on. That is the reason Shavers did not manage to drop Ali, yet Cooper sent him to dreamland with 1 punch.

 

Holmes did not fight Lewis, Wlad, Tua, Ruddock etc.
And he did not get hit by the guys he fought in the same manner he got hit by Shavers.

Again, Foreman never fought any of the big punchers, except for Morrison. And Morrison out-boxed him, he didn't stand there to trade punches.

 

George may have fought in the 90s but he didn't fight many of the decade's bigger hitters. His opinion and point of reference would carry so much more weight if he'd fought a few more of the big guns. Not saying it would change his view, nor that it should, but it would stand up to scrutiny far better.