Earnie's hook was also the punch which initially stunned Norton, and his jab closed Henry Clark's right eye in their first meeting (the best decision win of Earnie's career). Shavers was definitely not a one handed puncher, but a vicious hitter from both sides. This was usually true, but he did employ a body attack against Bugner in their rematch ("Solid thumps" - Don Dunphy), and he's reported to have also gone downstairs quite a bit against Alvin Lewis. If the body was open to him, and a taller opponent was not in position to counter him to the head, Muhammad wouldn't hesitate to go downstairs. (The taller Bugner leaned back against the ropes repeatedly, and Ali took advantage.) Unless you count the blast which knocked Bonavena loose from his moorings, the hooks he drove Frazier to the ropes with in round two of their 12 rounder, and the hooks he repeatedly spun Smoke's head with as Joe bore into the corners after him in Manila. No, he never really did, and he paid for it late in his career. He was capable of boxing short against the rare taller adversaries he faced (like Bugner), but instances where he demonstrated the ability to slip underneath were few and far between.
I have recently read that Fitzs solar plexus ko punch of Corbett was in fact landed on the floating rib area, the film is inconclusive, a heavy punch landing on either area would produce similar results.
I'm kinda suprised that no one mentioned Gerry Cooney's hook. Cooney's left broke Ron Lyle's ribs, sent Ken Norton into semi consciousness, hurt Larry Holmes several times when used to the body, (and below the belt lol), and had Foreman out on his feet in the first round. I was watching the Cooney - Foreman fight, and Cooney's hook actually moved Big George when Cooney landed it.
My reservations about Gerry's hook have to do with it's lack of speed. He did deliver it in a surprisingly short arc, and it landed with devastating impact, but he could have trouble getting it on somebody with a faster one. The axiom not to hook with a hooker doesn't favor Cooney against the division's hooking elite. Dokes, Frazier, Dempsey, Louis and Quarry would all be landing two and three hooks to every one of Gerry's, and they would be inside him and underneath him in most cases. Also, Cooney didn't have the physical strength one might expect of a slugger his size. The hook Gerry moved Foreman with was the same hook Mike Spinks had earlier rendered completely ineffective. The argument that Cooney was coked up cannot be extended to include a decline in punching power. In the final analysis, Gerry comes up short for the same reason Danny Lopez came up short against Sanchez; not due to a lack of heavy guns, but a lack of handspeed.
Do you really think Lopez lost to Sanchez due to lack of handspeed? I just dont see any scenario of Lopez beating Sanchez. His chin and defence was to good. Even with faster hands I still see it as a case of Sanchez just having his number
About Cooney, when I look at his fight with Spinks, the glaring weakness that sticks out is his complete lack of head movement, with his height and reach advantage if he was able to move his head just a little, he would have got hit a lot less. That and also in the 5th round, when Spinks was mugging him, Cooney seemed to forget how to clinch, never tying up Spinks once.
Ali used the hook most effectively as part of his blizzard combinations and thus banged up Cleveland Williams pretty good.
Jeff Merritt threw a scorcher of a left hook and should never be discounted. Time to expand to a top ten list. Scartissue
Ali showed a good left hook in some fights, i believe it was the left hook with which he knocked Bonavena down three times (the only time Oscar was stopped) and he landed very good left hooks and uppercuts on Frazier. But in general, it was the straighter punches which seemed to work best for Ali.
That could very well be, but Danny did take a certain amount of punishment because of less speed than many of his challengers. Sal matched Little Red in stature, where as Danny was considerably taller than much of his opposition. No, it wasn't simply lack of handspeed which cost Lopez against Sanchez, but that was pinpointed as a primary reason after their first bout. But after Sal pounded Little Red in the rematch, then instantly immortalized himself against Gomez, only Pedroza (after knocking out Pat Ford) and Arguello were thought to have any chance against Sanchez after his dispatching of Azumah Nelson. Otherwise, Sal was recognized as being in a situation where he would dominate his division for as long as he cared to. He might well have remained unbeaten for another 15 years with his training habits. Just as you can't envison a scenario where Lopez would have prevailed over Sanchez, neither do I think Gomez could have ever taken Sal in a rematch, after that first beating. Sanchez was simply too great. (People forget that he took Nelson out in what was one of Sal's WORST performances as champion.)
A couple of less obvious choices. Sam Langford Sam McVea Both belong in the company of the fighters mentioned.