I recall reading somewhere that Johnny Tocco, a trainer that worked with Liston, Foreman and Tyson, singled out Liston as the strongest and hardest-hitting one of the three.
If you let Sonwald J. Listonberg III hit a static target, he possibly is the hardest hitter ever in raw power. But I'd rather try to avoid him than Mike.
I don’t know. The only real way to accurately assess who packed more power would be through some technology that measures it OR with multiple testimonies ( and not just one ) from guys who got hit by both . Since we have no data from either it’s hard to tell I will say one thing however. Mike Tyson only fought four men in his career who weighed under 200lbs. Sonny Liston fought twenty six if I counted correctly. Yet Mike Tyson still stopped more of his opponents. Does this statistical data prove that Tyson hit harder ? Not necessary but it gives us something to think about and more to use than just blind guessing.
Tyson due to speed. Liston was physically stronger and more of a clubber so Listons power probably felt harder if you survived onslaughts from both
Unfortunately, probably a little but probably not. Mike generated more hand speed and body torque in his punch delivery so much harder to brace and roll with the impact. With Sonny, he had great punch mechanics but was a more clubbing puncher than the snappy puncher that Mike was - his punching mechanics are less conducive to the snap on a vital point that would render a man unconscious. Foreman was very similar to the Sonny punching style - Shavers is a different animal as he doesn't have the pure handspeed of Tyson but has similar snappiness, whilst lacking the elite skill to consistently land the KO punches against the best operators.
Materially, Mike probably displayed greater single punch power in several instances but Liston def. harnessed and reserved his power within his superior skill set. Mike pointedly gunned for quick KOs, punching with particularly bad intentions from the outset, whereas Liston didn’t necessarily punch for all he was worth or near to his full power potential unless the right opportunities reasonably presented. Liston put his boxing skills and due pacing first and those skills and intelligently metered output ultimately paved the way and allowed Sonny to land the definitive power punches. If pressed and placed under heavy duress, I think Liston proved he could up the ante as and when required as exemplified in his fights against Williams. Even then, Sonny still deferred to coolly executed boxing fundamentals in order to deliver his power in the most efficient and effective ways. Zora Folley apparently put it to Sonny from the get go and Liston duly responded with fight ending power punches. Conversely, Liston’s fight against Besmanoff was a boxing clinic with plenty of power still in tow. Unhurried, Liston methodically broke Besmanoff down via pure boxing skill, landing punches of still formidable and uniform power throughout. Perhaps, if Liston had swung for the fences like say a young Foreman or Shavers, he might’ve seen Besmanoff off even sooner - but that really wasn’t the Liston way, Sonny being far more rounded and multi optioned than the aforementioned power punches who put everything they had into each and every shot. The Liston way allowed him to clearly decision Machen over 12 rounds - had Foreman or Shavers failed to catch up with Eddie in the early rounds for a KO win, there’s a good chance they would’ve floundered in the later rounds, with their averaged out power diminishing in correlation. Liston also displayed that type of “lazy power” that Foreman became more known for in his second career. Seemingly not too much effort behind the punches but still uniformly powerful shots nonetheless.
It's hard to find footage of Liston working the heavy bag, so I have to rely on what others found. Here's a clip of him landing 3 punches with sound: This content is protected Here's a longer clip of him working the heavy bag without sound: This content is protected Now for Mike Tyson: This content is protected (gotta skip ahead a bit). This content is protected If that helps.
If it is just pure raw power, it is probably Liston. But IRL Mike was faster and more accurate; thus his punching power was more effective.
Good Lord, these D measuring topics by casuals are more annoying by degree than how hard either of the dudes could hit.
