Hardest Heavyweight Puncher?

Indeed great right hands. I like watching those. Poor Golota wasn’t too coherent in the post fight IV - Mike laid some pretty devastating shots on the man.

 

Don’t worry Swag. Maybe he meant:-

Sorry To F **k U-around (STFU). I’ve been brushing up on these acronyms. I’m pretty jiggy with this stuff.

 

Raw punching power is often discussed.

I’m sure we all understand what it means in theory - but aside from a machine specifically designed to measure same, it seems raw punching power, as upheld in the ring, rarely, if ever, exists in its own right without being assisted by some degree of technique etc. -

Every guy who has fought as a pro has been trained to punch in some way shape or form. Very difficult to isolate (and agree on) how much technique does or doesn’t contribute to the sheer power of punch.

Then there is the speed factor, a wholly legit consideration since it can contribute to the literal sum total of the impact force.

Naturally, fighters whose speed comprises the power of their punch will LOSE power as their speed deteriorates.

Others not so reliant on speed contributing to their punch, will lose little if any power when their speed deserts them - that might make them seem like more “natural” punchers, still whacking people out into old age (Hello, George!) but I would say not necessarily - because speed is a natural asset but prone to greater decline than perhaps other features of a fighter that allow them to punch hard.

Okay, I’ve taken the scenic route to a certain proposition/question - a sort of marriage of concepts -

Which fighter, most devoid of technique, as reliably observed and agreed upon - hit the hardest? What I’m saying is, let’s just look at the hardest puncher(s) of the least skilled.

Shavers is often cited as a natural puncher - which should mean isolating his punch from technique etc. - but I actually believe Earnie had excellent technique for optimal power - and Earnie was also assisted by excellent hand speed and his singular accent on punching hard every time out. Just imo and no doubt many might disagree.

There’s probably not a large pool of fighters that we could clearly divorce mainly
from technique - a few I would offer would be George Foreman, Jeff Merritt and Ingemar Johansson.

Now George could and did use technique - but also threw wild shots that clearly still carried formidable power and wobbled his opposition. I think we have several examples of Foreman displaying pretty much RAW power.

Not much vision on Merritt, but his punch execution v Stander was pretty raw and well telegraphed - but the impact force was unmistakable. Durable Stander was a nice litmus test - and he was knocked into another world - a one time career discombobulation (you gotta love that word).

Then there is my man Ingemar, always and forever, the thinking man’s GOAT. I’m not dropping him in due to his obvious lack of all round skills - that doesn’t count. It comes down to his power punch - the right hand. Was that punch in any way educated or refined? Or was it just an inherently, purely powerful punch that Ingo let fly “au naturale” - as us Swedes so often like to be

Finally, don’t cringe, but can we agree Butterbean possessed as little skill as possible - yet, tbh, he could hit a ton and could hurt a lot of fighters IF he made reasonable connection? He was as raw as it gets - you know, banjo playing, squeal like a pig…..backwoods RAW.

Anyway, just some very random thoughts on the subject……specific questions will not be necessarily fielded

 

Jiggy you are!

 

You're the immature one, not me.

 

Holmes did indeed get hit by Tyson........oops.

 

Impossible to make a definite statement on.
Do we know if Wilder hits harder than Efe Ajagba?
Ruddock harder than Tommy Gomez? I'd say Satterfield hit harder than Marciano,can I prove it? No!

 

Exactly. What i will say is that when you get such a consensus among so many high level fighters that Shavers enjoys and whom quite a few shared the ring with Foreman you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that guy isn't going to be easily eclipsed even with the variables involved. Of course this makes statements such as "Shavers is nowhere near no. 1. Wlad, Wilder, Lewis, Foreman - all hit harder" and "No, Shavers did not hit harder than either of them" even more ridiculous.

 

Only by Tyson, not the rest. And Tyson hit him with a short, crisp punch, not an overhand punch with all his weight behind it like Shavers.

 

Right. It's like I'm reading letters from readers from a boxing magazine in the 1980s. Earnie Shavers? Ingo? Jeff Merritt?

Jesus.

The 6'7" guy champion who knocked out every man he faced (good, bad, or otherwise) for 12 years, who held the WBC title for five years, who made 10 successful WBC heavyweight title defenses ... the guy who VAPORIZES people with his right hand ... the guy who has only lost to the best fighter in the sport who also happens to be the largest WORLD heavyweight champion in history (but he still floored him four times) ... IS THE HARDEST PUNCHER.

If Earnie Shavers knocked out everyone he fought for 12 years, held the WBC heavyweight title for five years, made 10 successful title defenses ... and only lost to the best fighter in the sport ... but Earnie still dropped him four times ... then it would Earnie.

But Earnie went the distance and/or lost to a lot of bad fighters who the best puncher in the division's history would've knocked out.

 

I sympathize with some of what you wrote, but though I'm a fan of Deontay I'm not sure he'd get past prime Ron Lyle. Quarry would be interesting.

 

Poll needed.

Anyway, it's George Foreman for me.

 

After all these years, Ingo still doesn’t get the respect he deserves.

It’s also too bad when a reader doesn’t comprehend that the likes of Ingo and Merritt weren’t referenced as being absolutely, the hardest punchers but rather, as powerful punchers who you didn’t have to mentally divorce from their technique to calculate their sheer punching power - because it can be very reliably said that they more or less had NO technique.

As to letters to the editor, I NEVER wrote any…unless you count Playboy, you know, pulled up at a gas station, her crotch burning gaze made my d*ck harder than Chinese arithmetic, she immediately noticed my “tell tale” bulge, type thing………and I only did it once because I wanted to get published for my “uniquely” descriptive prose…..only nerds wrote to boxing magazines, ; )

 

Agree, let’s go to the poll, with the usual boxer non boxer qualification.

 

I think Shavers said Merritt is the hardest puncher right?