Is Liston as hard a puncher as George Foreman?

First off, this is specifically Foreman in his first career, and whatever you think a prime Liston is.

Me and my friend had a 3 hour long debate on this topic and im wondering how you guys feel about it. My main point came from this quote,

'Sonny Liston stood up to me and actually made me give ground. No one has ever done that to me before or since.' - George Foreman

Mainly focusing on the “made me give Ground” part. We know Foreman and Liston would both chase their opponents and both liked to be relatively close so we can assume it was an infight situation as Foreman would 100% manage to get inside, wether it be a cross arm block rush or Liston allowing it to happen.

If we assume that this is an infight, as both combatants have such long reach that a swarm of any kind is basically out of the question it would be a hit for hit brawl. We know Liston was a headhunter so theres no question he was aiming for Foremans face, but this comes down to “was George aiming for Listons face?” I think we can assume yes, he was punching down so he had no where else he could really aim(this wouldn’t hinder his hitting strength as he himself admits to be a specialist in hitting down due to his trainer being shorter than him)

Now that its been established that this was a hit for hit brawl, I see no other way for Liston to gain ground than for him to overpower Foreman in their traded punches.
How do you feel about this?

 

No no, its purely punching power. Sorry if that isnt clear.

 

I think I provided pretty valid reasoning… did you read it?

 

'Nobody hit those bags like Sonny. He tore bags up. He could turn that hook, put everything behind it. Turn and snap. Bam! Why, he could knock you across the room with a jab. I saw him knockguys out with a straight jab. Bam! In the ring, Sonny was a killing machine.' - Johnny Tocco(owner of one of the gyms Foreman trained at)

also Ali and Liston fought years before Foreman, you think he remembers accurately enough to compare their strength? Even after all the brain damage he received?

 

Ali was horribly CTE ridden and Liston was his first title fight, he isn't a valid source of information from so long ago.

also for the heavybag, how do we know they were of the same quality? Its impossible to confirm.