Heavyweight power (scale 1 to 10)

On a scale from 1 to 10, 10 obviously being the hardest, which heavies would you place at 10, 9.5, 9 etc.

This is based on punching power. Not who best combines hand speed and power but power itself and displays of it vs quality opponents (if it was about a combination of hand speed and power, Louis and Tyson would be clear winners)

You can only go up and down in increments of 0.5. So 9.5 is ok but not 9.75

Mine:

10 - elite in terms of raw power. I rank Foreman, Liston, Lewis, Shavers, Wlad, Tua, Wilder etc. here.

9.5 - close to 10's. Tyson and Louis are here IMO. They might have had very slightly less raw power but had extreme hand speed to make up for having slightly less raw power (though they had plenty of raw power). Both Joe and Mike displayed one punch power so while i think their raw power was slightly less than a Foreman, it was close enough.

Slightly controversial but i also put Marciano in here. I think Rocky was an unusually hard hitter despite his size. IMO he had the power to ko much bigger men. I don't think he hit as hard as a Lewis or Foreman but he packed serious power in both hands.

In this category, i also rank someone like Ruddock. He had a huge left (his left was a 10) but didn't have a big enough right. Whereas the guys in the 10 category had great raw power with both hands even if one hand was stronger than another.

9- hard hitters below elite level. Bowe is a great example. Ibeabuchi is another. I don't think either of these guys were one hitter quitter types. I think they wore guys down with substantial weight and power.

Others in this category : Anthony Joshua, Ron Lyle, Frank Bruno etc.

8.5 - slightly less than 8.5 guys but guys who could produce serious knockouts from time to time. Tim Witherspoon is a great example. Joe Frazier is another. Frazier had a sizzling left hook but it wore guys down with speed, precision and endless endurance. His right wasn't great.

(and i am a huge Frazier fan, he is #8 on my atg list but we are talking raw power here)

8. good punchers who could produce the occasional stoppage vs top fighters by demonstrating raw power. . Ali is a great example here- see his left hook stoppage vs hard hitting durable Bonavena or the dynamic right hand that helped tko Lyle.

Holyfield is another one- he had a underrated left hook that he could use to hurt much bigger men and he knew how to get every ounce of his energy into those punches.

7.5 - fairly hard punchers, above average but nothing to write home about. Larry Holmes is a good example. I know some people think he hit harder than Ali but i don't buy it. Ali's display of power vs durable opponents like Bonavena and Lyle is enough to convince me that Ali hit harder. Holyfield's left hook also packed more power than any of Holmes's punches.

(And before anyone attacks me, i have Holmes #3 on my list of ATG heavies)

There are guys who i find it hard to classify. Usyk is early in his career as a heavy and his left is clearly a good punch but he has yet to stop a notable heavy. I would classify Usyk as a 7 - 7.5 but he could move up if he can display more of his power vs a durable heavyweight.

Fury is a guy who i struggle with. Maybe an 8.5? He is a mamoth who has a strong right hand now but other than against Wilder, we haven't necessarily seen him utilize his power. He seems to be sitting down on his punches more now so perhaps his best displays of power will be in future.

 

@McGrain and/or other mods, can you please move this to classic boxing forum? I accidentally posted in wrong forum.