"Murat Gassiev is the hardest puncher I've ever been in a ring with" - Ola Afolabi

Man, imagine Olawale had been a few years fresher/younger/closer to prime when the WBSS started? Would've made things extra spicy. Wouldn't change Usyk and Gassiev being tourney co-faves but still.

 

I'm not really sure what your point is. You can't possibly be naive enough to believe that KO ratios can be directly interpreted as quantitative measurements of someone's power, can you? Situational contexts such as matchmaking (among others) don't factor in?

So then, would you say Ali Raymi ranks among the hardest punchers of all time p4p? How about Tyrone Brunson?

Cool Abdoul, the "guy with 27 losses", has been stopped precisely once in just one shy of a hundred career bouts. He is slick and cagey and to boot, INCREDIBLY tough. Very high-level journeyman, guaranteed to give your prospect a long night's workout and usually cede victory on the cards (though he's good enough to misplace the script and spring the occasional whoops upset even though it diminishes his market value, can't help it sometimes)

Of course then we have notorious glass jawed tomato can Denis Lebedev, right?

Of the remaining five: Bacurin has been stopped five times in 42 bouts, all by punchers, and Gassiev did put him down thrice (just was too green to know how to finish well); Serbin & Zakharenko never got stopped as professionals; Mirzoev was Gassiev's debut and he only had four rounds, and he did stop Mirzoev in the rematch; ditto Pylypenko he dropped but didn't finish the first time, and then splattered all over the canvas in the rematch.

 

Noooooooooooooo he'd finally get over against the smelly Bosniak caveman!! I believe to my soul, one more chance and he would finally solve the puzzle.

 

Happy two year anniversary, thread.