Jimmy Young rates the punchers....

"Louis was faster, with a barrage of punches. But Marciano hurt you more with one than Louis did with four." (I wish I knew what mutual sparring partner said that. Skehan's biography of Marciano did not identify him, as I recall.)

By Joe's own account (and that of eyewitness referee Arthur Donovan), the hardest single blow he delivered in his career was the right uppercut which floored Uzcudun. Significantly, Paulino beat the count at seven, and wanted to continue. Schmeling never stopped trying in their rematch, and was in the process of rising again when the towel from his corner flew into the ring before his eyes.

For my money, the best knockout of Joe's career on film is Braddock, who he genuinely cold cocked stiff with a single punch. Marciano did this on camera to Matthews, Layne and Walcott, and contextually, those three scalps are more impressive to me than an arthritic aging champion coming off a two year layoff. (For that matter, Uzcudun came out of retirement for Louis, and was 36 years old. Could Joe have stopped a prime Paulino, circa 1926 or 1927?)

 

It isn't. Ken was a very respectable puncher, but breaking Ali's jaw was more a case of Muhammad neglecting the needed removal of an impacted wisdom tooth in the left side of his mouth, an injury Frazier did not have the kind of right hand necessary to inflict. If Norton's right hadn't caused that fracture when it did, the rights of Foreman, Shavers or somebody else eventually would have. (Imagine Ali going into Kinshasa with that impacted wisdom tooth untreated!)

Ken hit Scott LeDoux with everything but the kitchen sink for seven rounds to absolutely no avail. Norton might as well have been Maxie Rosenbloom. But in LeDoux's previous outing, Ron Lyle came off the deck early to post the final significant win of his career after ten close rounds. While Scott managed to stay on his feet, he was wobbled more times than in any other single match of his career. (He knocked Ron dizzy a few times as well.) The markedly superior firepower of Lyle to Norton was never more obvious than in these back to back televised appearances by the Fighting Frenchman.

 

Watch Louis destroy iron chinned Max Baer. Watch Louis blow out other huge guys like Buddy Baer and Abe Simon. He literally lifts the 250 pound Simon off his feet with a shot. Watch Louis destroy the 240 pound Galento, a man who had never previously been knocked off his feet. Uz was another fighter that was never previously off his feet. If you are going to compare footage Louis has a far larger portfolio of devestatimng KO's than Rocky.

 

Joe was the most accurate puncher of all HW champions, and thus a better knockout artist, but his effectiveness was dramatically diminished when he became far more dependent on single punch power than combinations during his comeback. Galento returned the knockdown favor to Joe before he finally succumbed, and Pastor came off the floor multiple times in their title rematch to give Louis hell before Joe was able to put him away for keeps in 11. Nobody rallied from Marciano's punches like that after LaStarza came off the deck in their first bout.

Max Baer was looking for a soft spot to lie down on after Joe took his Sunday punch. The only time Maxie ever looked genuinely staggered to me was in the rematch with Nova.

Louis needed several rounds of the Godoy rematch to put Arturo down, yet the rugged Chilean still wanted more. If Rocky had teed off on Godoy with Joe's accuracy, he would have been carried out in a body bag after two rounds. (I'd favor the Louis of the Godoy rematch to beat any version of Marciano, but I just don't see Joe's power as a match for Rocky's on a punch for punch basis.)

 

Funny, though, that Rocky knocked him out cold and knocked his 4 front teeth out. There might be some bitter/resentment there.

 

Nice post Duodenum - thanks for the info/clear up.

 

Because he has a larger portfolio of fights with ranked men. That's not a discredit to Rocky, but an great impression with Louis and his standing in history. While all that is true, Rocky still has more impressive and more 1 punch KO's.

 

Very well said, you're on a roll man!

 

I never believed in Shaver really. But when you look at what he did to Lyle, Norton, Ali, and Holmes, and then they all confirm he hit the hardest...what else is there? He destroyed Lyle and Norton, and had Ali and Holmes close to stopped.

 

On a roll ? Baer went down on his own accord in a fight that meant his whole career ? The statement is way off and the cheer leading is funny. I guess the lightning fast triple punch combination that Dempsey said as the best he ever saw had nothing to do with it ...

 

I dont think Layne saw, felt or remembered Rocky punch, he was out cold in mid -air much like Pac vs Hatton

 

If you are going to Quote someone(He Gland) quote them correctly, I never said Shavers was an overated slugger, I was at about 7 of his fights and he could could punch, he happened to lose 6 of those fights. So while he could punch very hard it was not enough to win.

 

MR.T,

You've got balls the size of church bells....... Really, you do............ LOOK! I spoke to Foreman about punching power in the past, and Foreman told me that anyone 200+ pounds of muscle can punch when you get down to it...... He said: " If a guy 200 lbs. or more lands cleanly on your chin, it hurts." I tend to believe Ol' George........ "Weaver and Thomas" could whack in the 1980s...... Peace my dear boy............

MR.BILLthumbsup:hat

 

J.T.,

When I vacation next in Aussieville, I swear I'm gonna look you up in the phone book........
:hi::good:shock:

MR.BILL