Was Louis' power overrated? Old (1941) article

Why is it that there are some posters who decades later have to question the power of the great Joe Louis ? Do they think that the hordes of fighters, great boxing writers, trainers, boxing fans who saw Joe Louis time and again, were somehow duped by calling him the greatest combination puncher of all times regardless of weight ? Overrated was he ?...These naysayers of today are fixated with ?bigger is better" syndrome. What will a 250 pound HWT with
power in one punch gain if a 200 pound lithe and swifter punching Joe Louis
would surely beat them to the punch ? Is it just a coincidence that a Jack Dempsey, Jack Dillon, Joe Louis, all under 200 pounds, had their greatest successes knocking out much bigger and stronger men ?...Hell NO...
Ray Robinson is a perfect example. For one punch power SRR was eclipsed by
a few fighters of his weight. No doubt....But Ray would always get there
"fustess with the mostess " for sure...Remember the old but true adage...
Speed Kills...Joe Louis for the ages I say...

 

Joe Louis hit like a jackhammer. Odd to call his power into question. Look at the number of guys he was either the only guy to stop or one of two to stop.

 

The 5-ounce gloves would be darn near illegal today. Good point. Louis unquestionably hit hard, but if he had to wear 12 ounce gloves his power would not be as impactful.

I say his power was not overrated at all, but the time he fought in enhanced his hitting power.

 

He smashed Uzcudun's bridgework and left his gold teeth on the ring canvas.
He drove Braddock's teeth through his gumshield and into his gums.
He lifted 234lbs Galento off the canvas with a punch.

He ko'd 250lbs Buddy Baer with a right hand that made him turn a perfect pirouette.

Yes he could bang a bit.

 

Interesting, "fat Tony Galento" .And these klitturds can praise the modern useless fat slobs like peter or arreola.

 

Because somebody is 260 lbs or heavier doesn't mean good chin
or great punching resistance. Carnera was glass-chinned and his weight couldn't help this because he was painfully slow and easy to hit.
Buddy never was an elite fighter.

 

Whatever you may think of Galento, he was the number one contender when Louis defended against him.

 

He was rated in the top 7 for two years. That qualifies him for a title shot.

 

Galento wasn't great fighter but he had 112 fights/661 rounds.
He deserves the respect for his long/busy carrier but i don't know only one modern overrated fatboy who has 100+ fights in the steroid and
other PED era.At least Galento was a tough man.

 

I agree 100%. This proves he wasn't an elite fighter because a good fighter has good win/wins and this qualifies him for a title shot.

 

He was an elite fighter in his era because he was rated in the top ten for 2 years. In his previous fight before challenging Louis he had stopped Galento, before that he had beaten Simon and Mann.

 

There was a contemporary newspaper article about Joe Louis' supposed lack of punching power? Such an article must have been the result of a slow news day. After watching footage of Louis in action, I feel that he had incredible punching power in both hands. In addition, his record shows that he was a tremendous puncher, especially during his prime.

- Chuck Johnston

 

Excellent post and addresses the obsession with size by many on this forum. Joe Louis in this day and age would level the competition with ease with his combination of precision and power.

 

Unlike many leaps of faith we can see Louis on film crushing giants .. I think it's safe to say he is one of the very best two handed punchers that ever lived. The only extremely comparable combo of speed and two handed power in the ball park was Tyson and in a leap of faith Dempsey ..