Vitali Klitschko has stopped 34 opponents in 35 wins, where do you rate him with the other big heavyweight punchers like Shavers, Foreman, Tyson, Lewis, Liston, etc.
KO ratio doesn't have **** to do with real punching power. Vitali was/is definately a hard hitter, but his 97% KO percentage is misleading. Foreman's KO percentage isn't as high as that, but I think we all know who hit harder :good
Vitali punched hard for sure, but not in the same class as Shavers, Tyson, Marciano etc, if we're talking about one punch. What caused his high KO percentage is the fact that he has a high punch output (around 60 per round) and often throws them at pretty weird angles. His punching is very hard to time; perhaps because he started as a kick boxer. His roots to step back from punches may lay there as well. Watch for instance when he lands a big right hand flush on Lennox Lewis during the 2nd round of their fight. First it seems asif he's jabbing but it turns into a right hand. He caught Sanders that way pretty often, too. Danny Williams, who fought both Tyson and Vitali, said that Tyson punched harder with one punch, but that Vitali kept his output up constantly at very high power. I think that nails it pretty well.
Julius Francis, who was a decent journeyman fought both Vitali Klitshcko and Mike Tyson. While both Klitschko and Tyson scored a 2nd round TKO over Francis, Francis said Vitlai hit harder. Did Vitlai hit harder than Tyson, Marciano or Shavers? I'd say probably not harder than Shavers, but it is hard to say as Vitali did not feast on many light heavies / cruiser weight sized fighters like Shavers and Marciano did. Even Tyson fought some smallish heavies. Vitlai pretty much stopped his opponents faster than the field of fighters who faced the same opponent in most cases. He also stopped some hard to TKO fighters. Before the injuries started to mount ( shoulder, knee, leg and back ) Vitlai was a huge puncher. I'd say Vitlai power should rate an 8.5 to 9 out of 10.
I think Vitali's power is overrated. Obviously anyone that size hits like a truck, but relatively speaking I think he was a stiff puncher, but not a legitimate power puncher. How many clean, hard punches did he land on Corrie Sanders without dropping him?? His brother is definitely the harder hitter, so is Lewis, Tyson, Foreman etc etc...
I dont think he can hit as hard with one shot as Vlad but he punches well and has an awkward style so he can catch you with punches from weird angles, his punch output is amazing for a big guy and he places his punches well...the Kirk Johnson fight,Danny Williams fight is an example but the Sanders,Donald ko's were a combo of his punching output and late power
