Hardest right hands (no order): Foreman Lewis Wilder Coetzee Tyson Louis Baer Hardest left hooks (no order) Tua Morrison Louis Liston Cooney Hardest right uppercuts: Foreman Lewis Liston Tyson Overall two handed hitters: Foreman (great right hand, uppercut, left hook) Liston Tyson Louis (maybe slightly less raw power than a Foreman or a Liston but greater handspeed and precision)
Coetzee doesn't belong. His power was the result of allotta hype. Tyson and Louis could turn the trick and had plenty of power but were more speed merchants. Baer was a slob but a hard hitter against the lot that he fought. Wilder is a much better choice in that mold. And finally, WLAD KLITSCHKO had arguably the greatest right hand the division ever saw. Reluctant to engage as he was, when he threw that punch it was devastating. Too much footage, too much anecdotal testimony, too much trainer talk about that right hand.
Wilder is probably the worst HW Champ in modern times. Don't believe the hype. Ever been to a fairground & had a go on the punch machine ? That is what I'm likening Wilders 'amazing' right to. A 6'8" fella with his limited skill, who fights tin cans can be (and has been) a champ. I’m fairly sure you get the point I'm trying to make.
Excellent webpage by the way. Love how the top fades to black when you scroll down to read. Impressive...most impressive.
My attempt for today: 1. Shavers 2. Foreman 3. Wilder 4. Baer 5. Tyson 6. Liston 7. W Klitschko 8. Tua 9. Lewis 10. Louis 11. Morrison 12. Dempsey 13. Marciano 14. Cooney 15. C Williams 16. Ruddock 17. Bruno 18. Langford 19. Frazier 20. Coetzee
Seamus is right. It is hard to get some people to understand that hardest hitters may not correlate with BEST. Very few of the very best sluggers are the very greatest punchers. Speed, combinations accuracy & volume are more primary to how effective they are. Guys like Frazier. Dempsey. Marciano. Even Tyson & Louis... Were NOT the very hardest hitters even in their own times! Oh sure they hit really hard-compared to even an average athlete of their size or bigger. But they did not hot as hard as some others. We can go by testimony of contemporaries or see the effect of single blows-even then we must adjust for someone like Tyson, who yes hit really hard: but if unlike say a Foreman, Bruno Ruddock Morrison Tua...You are less likely to see it coming to brace or roll with it, due to speed, & MORE likely to be hit flush... His punches would have more impact than even predicted if you could measure the precise amount of force created. There really is no doubt about this.
Wlad had enormous power in right hand and especially in his left hook. Sanders had the hardest left hand in boxing history (straight punch) Tyson's left hook was excellent as well as Bowe's right uppercut
Good points, well made. And if this post had been the OP, I may have been inclined to put Joe Louis at the top of my 20. My list was a mish-mash of biggest/hardest/best.
1. Shavers/Baer 2. Shavers/Baer 3. Cleveland Williams 4. Sonny Liston 5. George Foreman Now if we were ranking Best punchers from the above list, it'd be 1. Liston 2. Foreman. 3. Baer 4. Williams 5. Shavers.
I should have included Shavers in the right hand category. And if we are counting straight lefts, than Sanders should be included as well. Wlad too.
There are probably about fifty or so heavyweights at least who are interchangeable as "the hardest puncher". Maybe hundreds, possibly even a thousand ... or thousands. It's a bit pointless to wonder who hit hardest. Lots of heavyweights have carried an excess of punching power.
Elite, best of the best in terms of power, in no particular order Shavers Foreman Wlad Tyson Wilder Tua Liston Ruddock I consider the list above to be a tier above the rest in terms of power
Haven't bothered to look at the list but I can guess it's the usual suspects. These things aren't really about genuinely answering the question and much more about stroking fanboy egos and keeping the nostalgia train chugging.
