Obviously not at the level of Shavers.. Foreman... Liston .. So clearly he wouldn't be in the top top tier... and it's kinda hard to determin in a way because Johnson didn't often let loose fully.. sometimes because he was carrying his foe and other times to not expose himself. Yet, we've seen him unleash some punches and he clearly could crack.. So where would you rank him in the following list... Holyfield Bowe Floyd P. Schmeling Dempsey Wills Baer A. Moore Walcott Holmes
Baer and Dempsey hit harder. Holyfield - a notch under Johnson. Bowe - equals Johnson. Floyd P. - a notch under Johnson. Schmeling - a half-notch under Johnson. Wills - a half-notch under Johnson. A. Moore - a couple of notches under Johnson. Walcott - a half-notch under Johnson. Holmes - a notch under Johnson.
Good lord, Johnson did not hit very hard. His opponents remarked upon it. Unless you are a hophead middleweight running into an uppercut. Holyfield - a notch over Johnson. Bowe - much harder than Johnson. Floyd P. - a notch over Johnson. Schmeling - a full notch over Johnson. Wills - way over Johnson A. Moore - a couple of notches under Johnson. Walcott - a half-notch under Johnson. Holmes - over Johnson.
In my opinion (and also in the opinion of Corbett and Jeffries i think) Johnson was secretly one of the hardest hitters in the game - the way he pretty effortlessly lifted Jeffries over the middle rope and out of the ring with one uppercut - in fact in my opinion if he didn't have all the pressures and threats and was just allowed to fight like everyone else I think he would've ko'd pretty much all of his title opposition in one or two rounds - and of the fighters listed I'd probably only put Bowe as definately a heavier hitter
I'd put Johnson just above Holyfield,Patterson,Wills , Holmes, and Moore, maybe level with Walcott whom I feel is underated as a hitter. Bowe possibly a toss up . Definitely below the real bangers like Liston, Baer, Marciano,Louis, Dempsey, Foreman, Tyson etc. Johnson broke Jeffries nose, Langford's nose, sparked McVey not an easy thing to do, broke Kaufmans, and Moran's nose. I feel he is a trifle underated as a puncher, probably because he didn't cut loose that often.
Jack Johnson was a very POWEFUL man. And a very intelligent man who hit hard enough to do the job. No more , no less..like a man playing with a mouse....