Comparing Tyson's power with Shavers'

I've read that article, if it's in the paper it must be true.

 

The Independent has high editorial standards. They would not publish this, without at least some sort of evidence.

 

The worst thing about this, is the way the crowd treated him!

They should have sleepless nights over this!

 

Give over, he was clearly fine and had just started getting back in the fight when he quit.

 

Some of the punches he landed on Ali, were insane. No idea how an over the hill Ali stayed on his feet at times. He copped some while Shavers was fresh too. He was throwing them quite straight.

 

I'd probably rate Shavers the hardest puncher ever. He was quite limited overall, pretty cumbersome, small gas tank, somewhat fragile and average skillset. This is why he didn't achieve a whole lot more than what he did given how hard he punches. History is littered with massive bangers who didn't reach heights many would think they might. This doesn't mean they weren't frightening punchers, they just weren't good enough overall to take full advantage of that insane power, particularly against higher class opposition who weren't stylistic candy for them. Shavers certainly had insane power. His left hook is almost completely overshadowed by his huge right hand but it too carried immense power.

Having said all that i really don't think Tyson is as far behind as the mainstream believes. Much of the focus for a long long time has been on the speed of his punches and ability to put them together at the expense of his actual one punch power. Tyson seldom swung from the rafters like Shavers did. Shavers really sat down and put a lot into those punches of his. Tyson was more about form and putting them together but even so his power was simply devastating. Not many lasted at his best and some that did mostly fought for survival.

Have a look at the single right hand Tyson first drops Holmes with. Small arc, quite compact and short but the power behind it was immense. The fight finishing punch also carried great power even tho it was thrown with his shoulders square. Holmes was way past it but he was still extremely durable as shown numerous times thereafter. It's huge punching.

A punch out of no-where from a tired Tyson against Douglas also had a notable one punch effect. When he hit people even with a single flush punch they certainly knew about it, or didn't. Later on in his career he loaded up more and invested in single punches more than he did at his peak. We can see the power some of these contained.

 

Ernie by a small margin with the right hand ( even though Tyson had a great one himself). Both guys had killer right uppercuts as well.

Defoe Tyson with the left hook though. Mike had a great one.

Larry Holmes doesn’t get enough credit for getting up when Tyson smashed him with a vicious overhand type right when Larry was an old man. It was nearly as big an effort as him rising from that bomb Shavers landed. To me it looked even harder than the one Mike landed on Golota as Tyson was a lot more explosive in his youth.

Cheers All.

 

Just read your post JT, very nice to see someone else mention that bomb Tyson landed on Holmes. It sounded like a ball bat hitting a heavy bag.

Cheers Mate.

 

Way to go, Wass. Admit defeat gracefully. It might not be 100% conclusive evidence but it's a reputable newspaper and is, to be fair, more than you have produced to back up your assertion that Golota was unhurt.

The only third party evidence we have been presented with in this thread supports the claim that Golota sustained the described injuries. Other than that, it's one poster's word against another's. And let's be honest. You're not without agenda here, are you? I mean, you'd have to be a really good puncher to inflict that kind of damage, wouldn't you? Who hit Golota again?

 

I actually meant to mention the sound of the punch. It went off alright. Tyson's up there with the biggest hitters in history without a shadow of a doubt for mine.

His power, persona and aggression brought boxing alive again. He was a juggernaut.

 

The 8 inch right a washed up Tyson axed Botha with was also a thing of beauty, even Steward was impressed by it and Botha was not weak chinned.

 

Brilliant post.

Agree on everything written and I sit in the small section that believes that Tyson potentially took a little steam off his punches in his prime to focus on landing in combination rather than the Hail Mary, every single fibre of mass into the glory shot that a Shavers did.

 

Great Post JT (I haven't reproduced all of it, above) - I don't even have to go back and review video to consider the right hand that Tyson landed on Holmes to begin the TKO win. It is etched into the memory.

As to who hit harder... ...Well, there's just that category of 'savage' or 'monster' puncher, within which discernment becomes a little vague and, perhaps quite fruitless. Personally, I think Shavers just had that naturally concussive edge to his punches (without the rest of the package to harness this innate ability, as you detail), while Tyson's punches delivered on a focused fury, which were more in tune with his overall aims and approach to his boxing.

 

Probably Shavers, but not much in it. Tyson was a very, very hard puncher as well. There were lots of very hard punchers around in the 80's and 90's. Smith, Bruno, Ruddock, Morrison, Tua etc were all up there with the hardest punchers ever. Steroids probably made serious inroads in the sport in the 70's and 80's and you can see that on the number of absolutely brutal punchers that suddenly started to pop up.