Charles, Folley, Machen, Ali, Holmes, Lyle, Norton, Berbick, Spinks, and Tillis. I'll admit, a lot of them were not big hitters, but hit harder than many think, like Ali, Holmes, Tillis, Charles, and Machen.
100% on Curtis Sheppard pretty much everyone that fought him said he was the hardest hitter they faced including Archie Moore. Mercardo was a very big puncher another would be Bert Cooper or even Mac Foster.
Here's another 80's puncher that could whallop a bit: Johnny du Plooy. He flattened a few decent guys like Tillis, Bey, Broad and Weaver but tended to fail at the highest level.
Johnny swung for the fences with almost every punch... and often paid for it against higher level opposition. Mac Foster was not overlooked in his day but is forgotten today. He could whack. Similarly, someone mentioned David Price, which is the perfect call. By all accounts his power was top level but he will be forgotten in 10 years.
James Bonecrusher Smith is a guy who packs a wallop and is underrated due to his horrible record and slow footed ponderous style. Frank Bruno and Tim Witherspoon both mention him as a particularly hard puncher despite having faced dozens of top notch heavies in their heyday. No one ever just walked through his punches or shrugged them off. More of a clubbing heavy handed guy than a turn your lights out explosive hitter or sharp puncher (although he does have a couple early stoppages). Frazier's power is sometimes underrated. Yes he tended to grind guys down and didn't always start fast, but Frazier himself points out that both his amateur and professional record mostly read "Ko, ko, ko, ko...on and on". He does have some noteworthy early stoppages too, like Jimmy Ellis and the iron chinned George Chuvalo. One of only 3 men to drop Ali. Dropped the big iron chinned cautious Joe Bugner. Stopped the huge Buster Mathis. Randall Cobb could really crack if you stood in front of him. Couldn't really do much with a moving target or guys with responsible defense.
correct, but you should add that this was old and shot ali, preparing for holmes in '80, so how much significance does this have?
Take it easy bro. I'm sure most on this site understand the word "sparring " and many world class fighters have been hurt/ cut by average fighters during sparring sessions. It wasn't a shot at Ali, my favorite fighter. It was Sims biggest claim to fame , cutting Ali. And knocking out and robbing people on the street before someone put a end to it by shooting him dead.
Wow some amazing posts here .. Bruno is on my list, Bonecrusher is on my list. DaVarryl Williamson is another .. brutal puncher .. Anyone mention Jimmy Thunder ? ' This content is protected
Grimsley's first fight after going the distance with Foreman. I believe this KO is still the fastest KO in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Charley Retzlaff has big ko record. 54 ko’d in 60 wins. 6’3 198lbs. Similar to a bob foster in build. He knocked out several of the B raters of his era, Al Ettore, Art Lasky, Stanley Poreda, and holds a win over the iron jawed Braddock and Risko. His fight against Joe Louis is filmed and even though it is brief you can see in his jab and right hand that he had snap and power. Louis times him with a brilliant check hook, which I think the referee misses it was that fast as he doesn’t give a count. Dazed Retzlaff tries to fight back when he gets blasted with a perfect uppercut that sends him to the ropes, where Louis finishes him in an almost identical scenario to his second Schmeling fight.