Oliver McCall: "Bert Cooper. Left hook. That was the hardest punch that I ever felt and that I had to overcome. It felt like a truck had hit me. I never got hit by a truck but it felt like if a truck would have hit me." Boxinginsider.com: Who else was up there? Lennox? Oliver McCall: "No, Lennox wasn't one of the hardest punchers that I - Buster Douglas hit me harder than Lennox did. Right hand." Boxinginsider.com: How about Tyson? He has to be up there? Oliver McCall: "Tyson's right there too. Lennox would probably be about fifth." Boxinginsider.com: You sparred hundreds of rounds with Tyson, right? Oliver McCall: "I guess I sparred more than 300 rounds with Tyson and he never knocked me down once. But I put him down once. We had a hell of a battle every time. That's why he paid me $2,000 a week." Boxinginsider.com: You've never been knocked down, true? Oliver McCall: "I've never been down sparring or in a fight, amateur or pro. In fact, I've never been shook up. I can take a helluva shot."
I wouldn't say it closes the book. That's just one man's perspective. Although Buster Douglas IS an underrated puncher.
I think the best way to explain it is the way Evander Holyfield explained it .....You’re asking ME who hit ME the hardest ( the key word is ME) ...Lennox Lewis might be able to punch harder than Buster Douglas...but he didn’t catch Oliver McCall with the best punch he ever got caught with
Look at the right hand Lennox Lewis landed on Razor Ruddock ...or the one he landed on Hasim Rahman...or the uppercut he landed on Vitali ....Buster Douglas is capable of that ??
But then he says the 2 best punchers he faced were Bruno and Lewis, so which story do you believe? https://www.ringtv.com/596520-best-i-faced-oliver-mccall/
If you have been punched in the head as many times as McCall, being confused about who punched you the hardest is understandable. He didn't go down or out but that doesn't mean he didn't get scrambled.