Hardest hitting heavyweight by results

Who were Mathews and Lastarza? Would we know their names if it weren't for Marciano?

Louis was a mummy without a right hand.

Charles and Walcott were at the very end, at least for Charles the very end of viability.

 

Hardest hitting heavyweight by results IMO is Joe Louis:
1. Max Schmeling
2. Jersey Joe Walcott
3. Max Baer
4. Primo Carnera
5. Jim Braddock
Honorable mentions: Jack Sharkey, Billy Conn x2, John Henry Lewis...

 

Try rereading the opening post….

 

Such a loaded question. The actual title and opening post contradict each other which leads to confusion.

If we look at the best five "stoppages" via resume Ali runs away with it. How could he not.

He KO'd Foreman.
He KO's and also stopping Liston.
He stopped Frazier.
He stopped Patterson.

So there's five excellent to IMMENSE stoppages/KO's right there. Let us cut to the chase - not many Heavyweight in history have fought 5 opponents (counting rematched Sonny as 2 so rematches fine to include) that good let alone BEAT five guys that good let alone STOPPED them. It's insane really.

In an 80+ fight career the only guy to ever stop George Foreman, by KO no less, was Ali.
The only time Liston was ever stopped by someone other than Ali was when he was an old man.
Frazier wasn't exactly easy to stop either with only Ali and Foreman turning the trick.

Look at Ali's second tier stoppages. Zora Folley, Jerry Quarry, he's the only guy ever in almost 70 fights to stop Oscar Bonavena (this is actually impressive enough to perhaps be put in his top 5), Jimmy Ellis and Ron Lyle who had never been stopped previously and apart from Foreman afterward was never stopped until he was washed up.

It's pretty insane really.

So the above is a take utilizing best 5 resume stoppages at Heavyweight. It may even be what Gazelle was actually asking for.

 

Well, the title did just say based on RESULTS factoring the quality of the vanquished opposition.

Due respect but you’ve made an implausible rug pull on most of Ali’s biggest KO wins/Stoppages - so many excuses as to why they all got KO’d/Stopped rather than afford any credit to Ali’s power of punch - even given instances of accumulative effect.

Ali staggered both Liston and Foreman while they were still fresh and unimpaired, well before their ultimate demises.

Ali cracked Ringo with a titanic left hook - a huge shot that dropped and started Oscar on his way out - Bonevan never KO’d otherwise - not even after two go around with Joe Frazier.

Ron Lyle was started on his way out by virtue of a single right hand - clear as day, no accumulative effect involved there - just one shot and Ronnie staggered back to the ropes, clearly ripe for the picking.

I’ll preempt the premature stoppage claims and answer with an emphatic no - Lyle was not punching back for a good period and the ref stepped in when a particularly nasty left hook? dangerously ripped Ron’s head well into the air.

An excellent stoppage, in fact.

Ali could hit but I suspect that his troublesome hands contributed at times to the false impression that he wasn’t much of a puncher.

No coincidence that Ali confirmed that his hands were perfectly fine going into the Foreman match - he was hitting George hard but then as we later had full confirmed - Foreman had a great beard.

For what it’s worth, at least at one time, Foreman himself gave credit to the big right hand that Ali landed to put George down - and we know Ali held off throwing any further punches as Foreman spiralled toward the canvas.

 

You don't have to apologize for anything.

Muhammad Ali stopped George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Sonny Liston (twice), Oscar Bonavena, Ron Lyle, Jerry Quarry (twice), Floyd Patterson (twice), Jimmy Ellis, Cleveland Williams, Zora Folley, Archie Moore ... it's not like everyone stopped those guys.

If Ali looked like Ike Ibeabuchi and stopped all those guys ... people would think he was terrifying.

The fact that Ali had a pleasant face, wasn't musclebound, joked around a lot, and seemed to carry some opponents who he didn't want to hurt too bad (Buster Mathis being a prime example) leads some to dismiss his power outright, which would be a mistake.

Nobody who fought him ever said Ali was a weak puncher after they faced him.

 

I feel like Oscar Bonavena would disagree with you.

 

"Yup!!!"...

 

You're classing all these as knockouts?

 

They are all classed as knockouts on Boxrec. Generally KO, TKO and RTD results are counted as knockouts as I understand it.

 

For what it's worth, here's an attempt at my top 20 ranked by their best 5 knockout wins (including retirements).

1) Ali (Liston, Foreman, Liston, Patterson, Frazier)
2) Marciano (Moore, Walcott, Walcott, Layne, Louis)
3) Louis (Schmeling, Galento, Carnera, Nova, Mauriello)
4) Patterson (Johansson, Moore, Johansson, Jackson, Slade)
5) Holmes (Ali, L.Spinks, Ocasio, Shavers, Cooney)
6) Liston (Patterson, Patterson, Folley, Harris, DeJohn)
7) Schmeling (Louis, Stribling, Neusel, Hamas, Heuser)
8) Foreman (Frazier, Frazier, Norton, Moorer, Chuvalo)
9) Baer (Carnera, Galento, Schmeling, Foord, Christner)
10) Tyson (Spinks, Berbick, Ruddock, Bruno, Tubbs)
11) Walcott (Charles, Agramonte, Tandberg, Johnson, Sheppard)
12) Charles (Ray, Lesnevich, Layne, Bivins, Oma)
13) Lewis (Tyson, Rahman, Grant, McCall, Mason)
14) Carnera (Schaaf, Sharkey, Neusel, Wiggins, Campolo)
15) Dempsey (Sharkey, Fulton, Brennan, Brennan, Firpo)
16) Frazier (Quarry, Ellis, Quarry, Ramos, Mathis)
17) Holyfield (Douglas, Rodrigues, Tyson, Moorer, Thomas)
18) W.Klitschko (Chagaev, Pulev, Byrd, McCline, Brock)
19) Johansson (Patterson, Machen, Richardson, Erskine, Cavicchi)
20) Wills (Fulton, Jackson, Langford, Weinert, Langford)

And here's the Top 20 if we exclude retirements, so just KO and TKO results:

1) Marciano (Moore, Walcott, Walcott, Layne, Louis)
2) Louis (Schmeling, Galento, Carnera, Nova, Mauriello)
3) Ali (Foreman, Liston, Patterson, Quarry, Cooper)
4) Patterson (Johansson, Moore, Johansson, Jackson, Slade)
5) Liston (Patterson, Patterson, Folley, Harris, DeJohn)
6) Schmeling (Louis, Stribling, Neusel, Hamas, Heuser)
7) Foreman (Frazier, Frazier, Norton, Moorer, Chuvalo)
8) Tyson (Spinks, Berbick, Ruddock, Bruno, Tubbs)
9) Walcott (Charles, Agramonte, Tandberg, Johnson, Sheppard)
10) Holmes (L.Spinks, Ocasio, Shavers, Cooney, Snipes)
11) Lewis (Tyson, Rahman, Grant, McCall, Mason)
12) Charles (Ray, Layne, Bivins, Oma, Wallace)
13) Carnera (Schaaf, Sharkey, Neusel, Wiggins, Campolo)
14) Dempsey (Sharkey, Fulton, Brennan, Brennan, Firpo)
15) Baer (Carnera, Schmeling, Foord, Christner, Campbell)
16) Johansson (Patterson, Machen, Richardson, Erskine, Cavicchi)
17) Wills (Fulton, Jackson, Langford, Weinert, Langford)
18) Holyfield (Douglas, Rodrigues, Tyson, Dokes, Cooper)
19) W.Klitschko (Pulev, Byrd, Brock, Chambers, Rahman)
20) Joshua (W.Klitschko, Povetkin, Martin, Pulev, Breazeale)

 

Great effort.

If you are including TKO's I'd have Vitali in Lewis's top 5. I'd also rank Ruddock above Mason.

I appreciate the time you put in to that though and the fact you've put your money where your mouth is.

 

Totally agree. Fine effort by @SimonLock and very enjoyable to read.

 

Um Billy Conny was a 170 pound guy, Braddock had 20 plus loses when Louis beat him. Jersey Joe Walcott was pushing 40 and was knocked out various other fighters. Primo Canera wasn't good. John Henry Lewis was a small guy even for that era and was past his prime, Jack Sharkey wast pas his prime.

If you want to use your logic George Foreman knocked out Frazier twice, Ken Norton, Ron Lyle, Gerry Cooney, Michael Moorer, Pierre Coezter, George Chuvalo, Chuck Wepner ect.