Of all time? I know, say, Julian Jackson is a lock for JMW. Nearly consensus with Shaver's at Heavy... But what about middle? I know some are pretty adamant that Hart takes the cake at MW, and that's come from Hagler himself who was in with them all. Thoughts? If you feel he is the hardest hitting MW of all time, what's the most telling aspect of Hart that'd make you believe it?
For pure punching power, a case could be made for Rubin Carter. Also for the old-timers Ketchel, and recently Mccllelan, Cyclone is right there with all of them.
You really think Carter hit that hard? His KO record isn't overwhelmingly impressive, his stand out showing of it is a win many consider a fluke after psyching out Griffith. He definitely didn't dent Tiger's chin when Dick whipped his ass.
I think you can bracket guys like Hart, Valdez and Hearns. Antuofermo labelled Hart the hardest hitter he ever faced and talked about his enormous power.
I do. He's very definitely on the top level. His axing of Schuler, Roldan and severe hurting of Sutherland most every time he hit him clean put him right on the top rung. Add in his significant impact on the granite chinned Hagler with a punch not of his absolute finest type (Duran etc etc) and his significant power above middleweight and the case is open. Is he the absolute hardest? How could anyone EVER know? Is Hart? Again - we will never ever know. Both are certainly in the running IMO, and guys like Benn, McClellan, Jackson, Valdez, SRR, they all are worthy of mention. We have to factor in a guy like Gerald would weight something ridiculously heavy by fight time as opposed to the others.
Perhaps Fitzsimmons is the hardest hitting middleweight of all-time, although maybe Fitz was over 160 for most of his best KOs, making him a light-heavy if anything. If Rubin Carter's getting a mention, Henry Hank deserves one too. There have been loads of hard-punching middleweights though. Nigel Benn was a favourite of mine.
If its Just Punching Power Alone, Then there was probably quite a few Middles who had the Power, But not the Skills or Management, or Personal dedication and Commitment to hone what talent they had Slammin Sammy Nesmith was a case in point Thunderous Punching Middle Gretian Tonna When in the mood was extremely Dangerous, as was Dangerous Don Lee Floentino Fernandez was of Course a big Punching Contender
Did he ever display his power at world level though? I'll give him credit though the amount of clean KO's on his record is amazing.
Hart was a triple hook guy and a monster with that hand..Story is he was confined to a wheelchair as a youth and had most of his strength in his arms....I think Julian Jackson had power in both hands and freezing one punch power, However both men were lacking in other area, possibly because of there dependence on power
I guess I'll bring up the fabled knockout in sparring that Hart supposedly managed against Witherspoon. If true, that's unbelievable, considering Witherspoon's durability. Also, a story that's been verified as true, Hart sparred with Ali sometime in the 70's and supposedly busted his lip with his left hook. And that's when he "knew" he could make it as a boxer.
