Experts rank the hardest-hitting heavyweights (RING, 1981)

Yeah. I have magazines from 1979 listing Shavers as arguably the hardest puncher in history. How Earnie didn't make a list in 1981 - and Tunney did - is odd.

 

The authors of the list seem to be confused, about whether they are rating pure power, or quality of punching.

In terms of pure power I would rate their top five thus:

1. Baer
2. Liston
3. Foreman
4. Marciano
5. Louis

In terms of who was the most dangerous finisher:

1. Louis
2. Liston
3. Marciano
4 Foreman
5 Baer

Not that much separating 3-5 on the second list.

 

Save Tunney good list....well explained...these guys saw these guys training and perform...Dempsey, Louis, Marciano were the best KO experts

 

It's 4/10th bad. Tunney, Johnson, Ingo, and Frazier are bad picks. They must have never heard of seen Ernie Shavers by 1981.

Sullivan, Fitzsimmons, and Jeffries rate as harder hitters than four who made the poll. No much to see here. You have to wonder if the process here...

 

Ali said Shavers was the hardest puncher HE ever faced. That's "expert" enough for me, at least for that era

 

I agree, but that second list isn’t Gallo’s. If I’m reading it right the list with Tunney in it is from another group of experts. Or, at least The Ring’s take on it after consulting the experts.

 

As far as raw results go Deontay Wilder is one of the hardest punchers ever. If we get more nuanced then probably not so much.

 

Louis didn't hit harder than Marciano so he's already got the rankings wrong.

 

Jeffries hit harder than Johnson and Tunney, I doubt he hit harder than Johannson ,or Frazier.

 

More horsesh*t...

"knocked out some good ones"? Gibbons never made a dent in the heavy division and Tunney was only able to wear him down and stop him in Tommy's 61st and final fight. Likewise for Carpentier, who was even more a heavyweight fraud. His 'greatest' heavyweight victory was against the fragile 189 pound Billy Wells 11 years before Tunney met him. How this amounts to good I have no idea. And if Heeney is ranked as good, we must question the entire era.

 

Only the Gen-X'ers

 

I do not. Frazier wasn't a top-level power puncher. He often required a lot landing and grinding to stop his better opponents.

Jeffries needed fewer blows landed to stop his opponents and produced more ten counts. Some of his fights had sudden endings, which is what a true puncher can do.

You would be best off reading Adam's book on Jeffries, and perhaps posting the positive in your own words.

INGO's power was good vs. whom? Patterson. Okay, but Patterson wasn't durable. And with just 17 KO's in 28 total fights ( 61% KO Ratio ), many went the distance with him.

 

I think that he might have hit harder then Frazier, but I doubt that he hit harder than Johansen.

 

Jeffries was wearing tiny gloves and hitting on super-middles and light heavies. I own and have read Pollack's book and corresponded with him on it. Jeffries was similar to Frazier in that he often needed rounds to grind down his opponents and unlike Frazier he wasn't fighting decent sized heavyweights except for Ruhlin whom Fitz had already ruined.