can a case be made for Lewis being the hardest hitting heavyweight of all time?

NO. :nono :gsg

 

nope. Earnie Shavers is usually given that regard. He was given #10 by Ring magazine in 2003. Lewis was 33.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earnie_Shavers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_Magazine's_list_of_100_greatest_punchers_of_all_time

"In 2003, Shavers was ranked number 10 among boxing's greatest punchers in history by Ring Magazine."

And Lewis had very little one-punch KO power, i don't recall more than one fight where it was a single concussive blow that ended the fight. He was a great Heavy, but not the hardest hitting.

 

okay...Joe Louis, George Foreman, Joe Frazier....all cracked harder and KO'd better comp.

Whose LEwis Ko'd?

Tyson, Ruddock, Rahman? please.


I rank Lewis higher than most on all-time heavy rankings, but not because of his punch. Tyson had a heavier punch in his prime.

 

who did he knock out cold with a single concussive blow???

 

Well, the obvious comes to mind which is Hasim Rahman. If there was a punch that proceeded that big right hand, it was probably only a setup punch, like the left uppercut Bob Foster used to set up Dick Tiger for that big left hook of his in 1968.

 

I'd say no.

In terms of pound-for-pound pressure, I think there would be harder hitters. Guys like Foreman or Bruno spring to mind as two examples, amongst others.

It's his power combined with his technique that made Lewis capable of such huge hits.

 

yeah i said before there's only one i can think of. So Lewis ko'd RAHMAN (a true heavyweight great, right?) and his KO's over comp is greater than Shavers? PLEASE. Shavers knocked you out cold. Broke your bones. Lewis is one of my faves, but not the hardest hitting heavy.

 

Shavers appears to have that distinction in the minds of most. Is he the hardest hitting heavyweight champion of all time? I would hold out for Jeffries, the Dempsey of Toledo, Marciano and Foreman. Jeffries fractured Gus Ruhlin's ribs on camera with his hook, and inflicted tremendous damage on Tom Sharkey with his right alone, again on camera. Rickard rated him the hardest puncher, including Dempsey. Regardless, I still believe Dempsey's first knockdown of Willard may be the hardest punch ever delivered on film. Jess survived it because he was retreating and knew it was coming. In the third round, the impact of his body attack actually lifted Willard off the floor.

Fitzsimmons fractured a man's wrist with one of his punches. From him, a shot to the forehead could be sufficient to produce a knockout.

I'm not aware of anybody who was hit by Max Baer not saying that he was the hardest puncher they'd ever been struck by. (Ditto Shavers.)

Marciano reportedly sheared off Rex Layne's teeth at the gumline. Foreman left Ali pissing blood for days after Muhammad managed to regain the title.

 

Vitali Klitschko.

 

Why would I mention Holmes??? Shavers, Foreman, Liston, Louis, Marciano, Dempsey, Frazier, Tyson, and Baer for starters.

 

I can. I will. And you can make a strong argument that he did.

 

For starters Marciano would knock guys unconcious with 1 punch. I don't feel like going into full detail right now to be honest.