doez Zhang hit harder than George Foreman ?

Hard to say, both are monstrous punchers. But Zhang has better hand speed, his punches are more explosive

 

Of course zhang, he is much bigger heavier and has a higher Ko precentage against much bigger opponents, foreman koed many people that would be classified as middleweights today

 

a) Zhang does not have higher % of knockouts. It's 89% to 80%. Prime Foreman only went the distance with some of the greatest defensive wizards in history in Ali, Young, and Peralta. Zhang went the distance with quite a few guys early in his career, and later with Rudenko (not counting the Forrest injury) and Hrgovic.

b) Being heavier alone is not a definitive argument. Whyte, Helenius, Franklin, Joshua, Dubois all bring into the ring 240+lbs, but there is no argument to be made that they have better chins that Chuvalo, Lyle, Cobb, Mercer, McCall, Ali, or Foreman, all of whom either brought into the ring around 220lbs max (because they weren't obese slobs or musclebound bodybuilders who never had to potentially fight 12/15 rounders) or were shorter. Weight and height definitely influences chin and power, but does not define them.

c) Just to be through though, his lightest opponent weighed 190lbs or so, but it was by no means the average. At best you could claim some of his opponents would be cruisers now. Even then, stopping 6'6 O'Halloran or 6'5 Chuck Wepner did far less to compliment his punching power than stopping 6'0 Chuvalo or 6'2 Lyle, which is my main point. Eye test, stopping proven chins, and knockout percentage all matter.

 

At some point, certain punchers simply enter the elite society of the hardest punchers and it becomes extremely hard to argue who hits harder. Foreman has higher knockout percentage, knocked men out with some of the most casual punches I've seen, and made even more fighters absolutely writhe with body blows. He stopped Chuvalo and Lyle, and has plethora of accolades from fighters describing his power.

Zhang stopped Joyce, which is already a huge accomplishments since he had proved his chin against Dubois, and made Hrgovic rethink his life.

 

We are talking about peak Foreman version 1 here right? If so, can't believe l dignified this poll by voting in it.

 

Oh Lord please!

 

Lol man who weighs 50 pounds more obviously

 

Probably Zhang if you look at pure power

 

I mean higher ko precentage against heavier opponents. Of course a lot of foreman opponents would be middle weights today, for example joe frazier. its not only about weight itself but also the quality of the weight. Fighters back then were lighter and on top less muscular

 

Joe Frazier would not be a middleweight. He consistently scaled at above 200 pounds while conditioned for fifteen rounds of extremely active and energetically demanding style. He was 205lbs during FotC and 215 during Thrilla in Manilla, both fights an example of daunting activity and effort. Not to mention he is actually historically a hard hitting attrition puncher. Definitely wasn't fighting above his weight, though he would likely be cutting to Cruiserweight today. To reach and try to label him as middleweight or even light-heavyweight is nonsense. Bob Foster was light-heavyweight trying to conquer the glamour division, and Joe Frazier was the one to brutally remind him why there are weight classes.

What quality of the weight? Most of today heavies either carry excessive fat or useless muscle mass. The likes of Parker (recent outings), Whyte, or Joshua would absolutely need to cut weight in the 70's or 80's. There are examples of modern superheavies like Joyce carrying massive weight extremely well, but majority of heavies are not it. Regarding Joyce's phenomenon, it's worth noting that decades ago Primo Carnera already walked around at 270lbs looking extremely fit, and fighting for fifteen rounds without ever gassing. The likes of Louis and Baer still displayed that while size definitely helps, chin is chin, be it 6'0 or 6'6.

Here is quality weight:

https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-309c1a0044e7c28eec5bf87286d45e2a
https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-864295680e9d61e43bc89c6861b156ed

220lbs of pure manhood and destructive power. No juices. Just good ol' Archie Moore ABC training.

 

Power is a fair bit related to proper weight transfer. Zhang isn't just over 280 lbs but he's 280 lbs and knows how to hit and use that weight transfer. Look at the difference as to how Joyce couldn't benefit at all from himself being 280+

So yes, it's likely the 40+ lbs weight difference between him and 70s Foreman gives him that power edge.

 

Both hit hard af that's all we know

 

Yes. He’s bigger and stronger…Zhang would’ve destroyed Foreman, Ali and Frazier in my opinion.

 

Yet another one of these 'today's heavyweights are bigger so they must be better' threads.

How come each generation of heavyweights wasn't dominated by the biggest heavyweight in them?

The answer is, because many factors come into play in determining who is the best or who hit the hardest and size is only one of them.