Can a case be made for Tyson being the hardest hitting heavyweight of all time?

Baer killed Frankie Campbell,have you seen that finish, he also was responsible fopr Earnie Schaafs death,catching him with a mighty overhand right at the end of the round,Foreman lifted Frazier off his feet twice and propelled Chuvalo backwards,I think that counts!

 

Spot on, the same applies to the Lennox Lewis thread regarding this same matter. Both these guys are top tier certs in terms of power, you'd struggle to name five harder hitters.:yep

 

McCall wouldn't notice it if an anvil fell on his head. But that doesn't change the fact that he was moved physically by those punches.

 

Tyson almost KO'd Alonzo Ratliff with a jab ok... a jab. He's shown that he can knock you down or out with just about any punch... bodyshot, lefthook, righthook, straights, uppercuts. I can't say for sure if he's the most "powerful" ever, but he has to be one of the hardest hitting if not the hardest.

 

I think what gives Tyson a case is the fact that, again, it was never a particular punch he needed to get the job done.

Its just about any punch that will do. His versatility and arsenal was impressive moreso than Foreman or Shavers.

I definately put him above

Ruddock,
Lewis,
Frazier,
Louis,
Liston,

But Foreman and Shavers and the only 2 question marks and IMO Tyson had a superior delivery system.

 

No, but he hit him hard enough to make him bunny hop.

 

That part is true. He hopped after he was hit with a monster shot. But over the years, so many people have built up that one shot from George to make it seem like it was this shooting thunderbolt from the sky that tore Frazier's head off and launched it into orbit...LOL....Reading magazine articles about how George lifted Frazier 6 inches off the canvas with an uppercut, or was it 12 inches? LOL...... funny stuff!

 

:good

 

Larry Holmes knocked Ocasio down and hurt him real bad with a jab. Holmes also knocked someone out early in his career with one.

 

This case can be made, statistically and empirically.

Good comments have already been made regarding why Tyson, with 50 wins and 44 knockouts, can be considered the hardest-hitting heavyweight of them all.

Just a couple of thoughts: Tyson had a unique combination of torque, speed and mass and could knock a man out with any hand, unlike Shavers, whose sole killer punch was the overhand right. On a ten scale, I would rate Shaver's left and right hands at 7 and 10, respectively, while Tyson would rate 9 and 9. And this is only considering Shavers' straight right, not his right hook, or uppercut, which were not as effective by a long shot.

Again, Ali, in Tyson's presence, said Mike Tyson was the greatest and enthusiastically claimed he hit harder than Shavers.

 

That is nothing more than mere formality. It means nothing. Even ignoring the fact that Ali never took a shot from Tyson, I am confident that Ali was being formally nice. He also said Tyson would beat him (and later, rightfully said he'd win easy).

I like Tyson but Joe Louis is incomparably superior as a puncher because he doesn't throw wild, loopy round house punches. He's a thoughtful puncher, mixes his combinations very coherently. I rate Tyson as #2 puncher among HWs (very high) but for pure power alone, he is far from the hardest hitting. First rate power no doubt (it is NOT overrating his power to say that), but not THE most powerful.

 

I just threw it in because some are mentioning comments by Holmes and others as qualifying exhibits.

 

He said Tyson would beat him at Tyson's peak and was obviously in awe of Mike, as the rest of the world was. I believe he at the very least knew a fight with a peak Tyson would be a nightmare for him.

Ali said this on the Arsenio Hall show, of course, where he was being adulated on. Imagine, say, Floyd Patterson or James Braddock was champion at that moment and suddenly came onto the set. Do you really believe he would say about them the things he said about Tyson?

Once Tyson self-destructed, it was easy for Ali and even his wife to claim he would win easily, in "one round".