a friend of mine interviewed jose ribalta today....he said the hardest and heaviest puncher he faced was james bonecrusher smith....punch for punch .....he said tyson was very fast and heavy.....but bonecrusher hits harder than vitali/ruddock/tyson who ribalta all fought.:smoke:smoke:smoke
He didn't get that nickname for nothing. He was enormously powerful. But he wasn't as skilled as any of these other guys mentioned by a long shot.
Doesnt suprise me , Bonecrusher is forgotten when talk comes up of great hw punchers... His 1 round ko of Tim Witherspoon (for the title)was explosive and his best win... Witherspoon had an excellent chin and was never kod before or after(not till he was old). He regularly turned things around with one punch... Could be outboxed by any decent hw, but his equalizer made the difference... He was the guy who exposed Brunos chin.. Way behind on card he kod Bruno.... Even in his fight with Tyson he hugged,clinched and lost about every round Then with seconds left he nailed Tyson and hurt him bad , but the bell rang... Maybe he could have pulled the trick if he let loose earlier. Theres really not too many HW from years past that i could hit harder than Bonecrusher.
"The Acorn" Ernie Shavers. Ali said when Shavers hit him, he rocked my kin folk back in Africa! But really? Prob Tyson in his prime...
In current interviews Holmes always mentions Shavers as definitely the hardest pundher... But i disitinctively remember, in a interview after the fight Holmes was asked if Tyson hit harder than Shavers.. He said they were different kind of punchers.. He said Shavers ther harder puncher and Tyson was the sharper puncher.
I guess Ribalta's interpretation of "hardest puncher" comes down to pure raw power, for blunt force trauma. Bonecrusher did look absolutely devastating when he obliterated Witherspoon in a round: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rN8jL3ylPU[/ame]
I watched a video not long ago where Danny Williams was talking about Tyson and Vitali's power. He said Tyson's power would daze you, but Vitali's power was more painful.
tyson was still punching heavy when he fought williams......but not the speed that he had in the 80s.....thats the differance
NOt really.... I know when Tyson stopped him he needed an accumulation of shots and the ref stopped it.. Didnt see the Vitali fight. Could be Ribalta was able to hold on or Bonecrusher just didnt capitalize on what he started... Its easy to understand how he felt Bonecrushers power more.
