Chuck Wepner Says That Sonny Liston Hit Harder Than George Foreman

Scrapiron Johnson said Liston hit hardest

 

Since Wepner was separated from his senses early & did not take sustained punishment as with Liston, I think he does not know.
I can see evidence that is valid on both sides.
Foreman did generally have less skill but KO on average better, & certainly tended to be bigger fighters.
But enough people without clear agendas say Liston hit harder.
Foreman likely went for broke more often, he did have some subtle skills including ring cutting, but Liston was a finer boxer hence tended to throw bombs less often-& used his superior jab more consistently.

The analyses of jab & hook as harder for Liston but Foreman with a harder right hand is likely true.
But when they both went for broke, or if you could measure their hardest shots say when throwing power punches against Williams & Lyle respectively....

I would wager that they were about both the same.
Extremely hard hitters, 10 on a scale of 10, likely a bit shy of Shavers & maybe a very few select SHWs.

They both had similar speed, moderate, but large bone structures & huge, heavy hands.
Foreman taller, Liston longer.

I do not think there is any detectable difference in their absolute power.

 

Good Post!

 

Kudos to Chuck Wepner for being one tough SOB. I miss seeing him at Atlantic City at the big fights.

 

man I doubt it but maybe Liston had better timing than Foreman. The impact difference between catching a guy leaning in and moving back is considerable.

 

Chuck (The Real Rocky Balboa) Wepner should know, Sonny Liston gave him 54 stitches in 1970.

 

Wow...a thread from way back in 2010 has been resurrected years later, like The Shape in HALLOWEEN KILLS.

 

He isn't the only one to say Liston hit them harder. ScrapIron Johnson was stopped by old Sonny. He said it was Liston. Harder than Foreman or Frazier.

 

It's certainly possible, but I think it has to do with the fact Liston battered him from pillar to post landing dozens of flush bombs in a one sided beating over the course of several rounds.

On the other hand, Foreman rushed him and took him out fairly quickly.

It's not uncommon for boxers who took a sustained beating to name the guy who did it as the hardest hitter since they had to sit there and endure Savage punishment for a long period of time. Kind of like how Shannon Briggs makes a big deal out of Vitali's punching power even thought he remained on his feet the whole time and other boxers actually took him out much faster.

Part of this is due to Liston being the more composed boxer puncher while Foreman was like an aggressive shark who went berserk as soon as he smelled blood.

It's also interesting that poor Wepner endured such gruesome injuries in both fights. In the Liston fight, his face was drenched in blood as if he was pelted by tomatoes and he needed dozens of stiches. In the Foreman fight, he got hit so hard it broke a chunk of his eye socket and caused blood vessels to burst. The only thing more impressive than the punching power of these two behemoths is that Wepner lived to tell the tale and doesn't have slurred speech!

 

I very much like a few of Liston’s post title fights.

I think you can see some degradation in his ability to physically impose himself and perhaps some loss of peak power but those deteriorations served to better isolate and hold Sonny’s boxing skills in their best light with a good degree of formidable power still in tow.

In the Clark fight and the better part of the Leotis Martin fight, Sonny’s boxing and uniformly high power of punch is a real joy to watch.

Sonny holds the distinction of being the only fighter to put and keep Patterson down for the full 10 count and he did it twice. Even the repeated strikes of Thor’s hammer couldn’t turn that trick.

 

Good interview with Johnson. Lots of good info in there.

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Thanks for that! Thoroughly enjoyable.

As a quality interview, it was the whole package. George, such a nice guy, in his own home, more than happy to talk and an interviewer actually happy to listen and only provide subtle guidance on the direction of the conversation. Great info and insights.

Scrap Iron is a great nick name in its own right but no one could’ve worn it better than George.

 

Well Foreman was a 20 yr old kid with 3 pro fights when he stopped Wepner in 3...not yet a man

 

I think that although Foreman WAS quite the young fighter at that point, and Wepner's analysis of the two's strength isn't exactly "fair", it still seems to check out alongside everyone else who's faced the two. Johnson, Ali, etc.

 

From the renowned and respected poster Unforgiven

"He had a blind, scared, panicky opponent who even when fully-sighted had been put down by Henry Cooper.
Sonny had a couple of minutes to kill this sightless young man and he failed to even knock him down"