5 hardest punchers they have faced

Walcott deserves a mentioned as far as Louis goes.

Marciano praised his punching power greatly.

 

Just thinking onto the keyboard, my opinion:
I like to rate the guys who actually knocked them out before any hypothetical puncher who racked up 24 smoker KOs in a row before taking a step up.

- Joe Louis
Baer, Galento, Godoy (I need education here, I just liked that Godoy did well vs Louis and has a good KO ratio, I don't rate B. Baer would need education to appreciate), Marciano, Schmeling
- Muhammad Ali
Foreman, Shavers, Frazier, Lyle, Liston
- Larry Holmes
Butterbean, Cooney, Shavers, Weaver, Witherspoon, Tyson
- Evander Holyfield
Tyson (probably Cooper hit harder than this version of Tyson though), Lewis, Foreman, Mercer (Qawi was better than this version of Mercer by far but idk who "hit harder"), Bowe
- Lennox Lewis
Tyson, Morrison ,Briggs ,Tua ,Vitali
- Wladimir Klitschko
Sanders, Brewster, Mercer, Peter, Haye

 

Joe Louis:
1. Max Baer
2. Rocky Marciano
3. Buddy Baer
4. Max Schmeling
5. Jersey Joe Walcott

Muhammad Ali:
1. Earnie Shavers
2. George Foreman
3. Sonny Liston
4. Cleveland Williams
5. Ron Lyle

Larry Holmes:
1. Earnie Shavers
2. Mike Tyson
3. Gerry Cooney
4. Mike Weaver
5. Tim Witherspoon

Evander Holyfield
1. George Foreman
2. Lennox Lewis
3. Mike Tyson
4. Bert Cooper
5. Riddock Bowe

Lennox Lewis
1. David Tua
2. Mike Tyson
3. Tommy Morrison
4. Frank Bruno
5. Shannon Briggs

Wladimir Klitschko:
1. Corrie Sanders
2. Samuel Peter
3. Anthony Joshua
4. Lamon Brewster
5. Alexander Povetkin

 

I'm not disagreeing with you, but this is where the interpretation of the term "power" is so subjective.

Vitali lacked explosivity & fluidity. He was very tall, even for a HW. These factors, combined, meant he rarely threw punches with substantial leverage or with all his weight behind them, but rather, he threw straight arm punches. Yet, prior to his initial retirement, he was a heavy handed, spiteful puncher.

Was Vitali's relatively short, straight "arm punch" of a right hand as powerful as, for example's, Ruddock's "smash", where he applied so much more torque and leverage to that punch? No, of course not. But Vitali's short, straight right "arm punch", with little leverage or weight behind it, was probably harder than the equivalent of any other Lewis opponent.

In summary, Vitali rarely threw his hardest punches (i.e. with full leverage and/or weight behind it), preferring arm punches that had a higher % connect rate and left him well balanced to follow up & avoid counters, but his arm punches were about as powerful as they get.

 

BOOM!

 

I was also waiting to see if anyone would mention The Bean. It's not outrageous.

 

1. Joe Louis
2. Archie Moore
3. Sandy Saddler
4. Jack Dempsey
5. George Foreman

 

Biggest punchers Louis fought were M. Baer, B. Baer, Marciano, Schmeling, Walcott, Galento, Simon and Carnera.

The top 5 in terms of power, taking into account the effect they had on Louis would be:

1. M. Baer
2. B. Baer
3. Schmeling
4. Galento
5. Marciano

I rank the Baer's over Schmeling because Louis wouldn't be able to take that many flush shots from them before being seriously hurt.
Schmeling obviously ranks right after. Most would rank Marciano over him but Rocky was landing clean shots on a far over the hill, stationary Louis and couldn't do the kind of damage Max did in 4 rounds. Schmeling hit the off switch in Louis after a couple of right hands. Joe was fighting on instinct after that. I don't imagine the slow 1951 Louis surviving long after Schmeling would start tagging him at will.
Galento second because each left hook he landed shook Louis to the core. The little fat man was 240 pounds and goddamn did he hit like it.
Rocky obviously makes the list over Walcott because he knocked Louis and Walcott out, proving himself as a harder puncher than Jersey Joe.

Ali:
1. Foreman
2. Liston
3. Shavers
4. Lyle
5. Frazier

 

I thought he told Comiskey's wife Pat hit him with the hardest shot when he punched him in the chest during an exhibition.

Then again, he probably said the same to the other fighter's wives.