Prime Hrgovic vs. 70s Foreman

Andre2000 · Sep 4, 2026

swagdelfadeel said: ↑

"None of those guys supposedly praising his power were dropped or visibly hurt by him." This is beyond nonsensical. Since when does a fighter have to be dropped or visibly hurt for his assessment of someone's punching power to count? Neither Ali nor Cobb hit the canvas against Shavers, yet both regarded him as the hardest puncher they faced. Ray Mercer wasn't dropped by Tommy Morrison, yet he named Morrison the hardest puncher he'd ever faced. Spoon wasn't dropped by Bruno, yet he also regarded Bruno as the hardest puncher he'd faced. And, perhaps most relevant to the point, Holyfield wasn't dropped by Foreman, yet he named Foreman the hardest puncher he'd ever faced.

So this idea that the testimony of fighters who weren't dropped somehow doesn't count is completely ridiculous. A fighter doesn't need to be knocked off his feet for another fighter to legitimately recognize his punching power. In fact, you're demanding a standard that plenty of universally recognized punchers wouldn't meet.

"And I've never heard reference to Valdes or Machen or Liston praising his power anywhere else. So you will need to provide a source."

Here's Nino Valdes explicitly saying that DeJohn "hurt" him with the right hand:

https://www.newspapers.com/article/syracuse-herald-journal/205221335/

Machen also expressed respect for DeJohn's punching power:

https://www.newspapers.com/article/winston-salem-journal/205221498/

Article clipped from Atlanta Daily World - Newspapers.com™

And there is contemporary newspaper evidence from the period repeatedly establishing DeJohn's reputation as a puncher:

https://www.newspapers.com/article/scrantonian-tribune/205236460/

https://www.newspapers.com/article/nevada-state-journal/205230368/

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-des-moines-register/205238459/

Again, DeJohn being regarded as a puncher isn't some obscure theory I've cobbled together from one stoppage and a couple of anecdotes. It was a well-known part of his reputation while he was actually fighting. The fact that you're apparently unfamiliar with that reputation doesn't somehow make the evidence disappear.

And Powell is another case where you're stripping away all the relevant context. Yes, he was stopped multiple times over the course of his career, but the majority of those stoppages came years after the DeJohn fight, when Powell had fallen out of the ratings and was well past his prime. You're treating every stoppage on his record as though it tells us equally much about the version of Powell DeJohn fought, which obviously isn't the case.

Furthermore, nobody knocked Powell out in the first round. DeJohn stopped a still-ranked contender in the first. So, citing later-career stoppages doesn't somehow make DeJohn's result meaningless.

So no, we're not simply "left with the Miteff stoppage." We have DeJohn's actual record, contemporary reports describing him as a puncher, opponents specifically commenting on his power, and a ranked contender stopped very early in a fight. You can argue about exactly how highly DeJohn's power should be rated, but pretending there was little or no evidence that he was a serious puncher—particularly contemporary evidence—is simply not accurate.
Click to expand...

Excellento!

Cojimar 1946 · Sep 7, 2026

swagdelfadeel said: ↑

"None of those guys supposedly praising his power were dropped or visibly hurt by him." This is beyond nonsensical. Since when does a fighter have to be dropped or visibly hurt for his assessment of someone's punching power to count? Neither Ali nor Cobb hit the canvas against Shavers, yet both regarded him as the hardest puncher they faced. Ray Mercer wasn't dropped by Tommy Morrison, yet he named Morrison the hardest puncher he'd ever faced. Spoon wasn't dropped by Bruno, yet he also regarded Bruno as the hardest puncher he'd faced. And, perhaps most relevant to the point, Holyfield wasn't dropped by Foreman, yet he named Foreman the hardest puncher he'd ever faced.

So this idea that the testimony of fighters who weren't dropped somehow doesn't count is completely ridiculous. A fighter doesn't need to be knocked off his feet for another fighter to legitimately recognize his punching power. In fact, you're demanding a standard that plenty of universally recognized punchers wouldn't meet.

"And I've never heard reference to Valdes or Machen or Liston praising his power anywhere else. So you will need to provide a source."

Here's Nino Valdes explicitly saying that DeJohn "hurt" him with the right hand:

https://www.newspapers.com/article/syracuse-herald-journal/205221335/

Machen also expressed respect for DeJohn's punching power:

https://www.newspapers.com/article/winston-salem-journal/205221498/

Article clipped from Atlanta Daily World - Newspapers.com™

And there is contemporary newspaper evidence from the period repeatedly establishing DeJohn's reputation as a puncher:

https://www.newspapers.com/article/scrantonian-tribune/205236460/

https://www.newspapers.com/article/nevada-state-journal/205230368/

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-des-moines-register/205238459/

Again, DeJohn being regarded as a puncher isn't some obscure theory I've cobbled together from one stoppage and a couple of anecdotes. It was a well-known part of his reputation while he was actually fighting. The fact that you're apparently unfamiliar with that reputation doesn't somehow make the evidence disappear.

And Powell is another case where you're stripping away all the relevant context. Yes, he was stopped multiple times over the course of his career, but the majority of those stoppages came years after the DeJohn fight, when Powell had fallen out of the ratings and was well past his prime. You're treating every stoppage on his record as though it tells us equally much about the version of Powell DeJohn fought, which obviously isn't the case.

Furthermore, nobody knocked Powell out in the first round. DeJohn stopped a still-ranked contender in the first. So, citing later-career stoppages doesn't somehow make DeJohn's result meaningless.

So no, we're not simply "left with the Miteff stoppage." We have DeJohn's actual record, contemporary reports describing him as a puncher, opponents specifically commenting on his power, and a ranked contender stopped very early in a fight. You can argue about exactly how highly DeJohn's power should be rated, but pretending there was little or no evidence that he was a serious puncher—particularly contemporary evidence—is simply not accurate.
Click to expand...

The anecdotes you have provided don't provide evidence for him being among the hardest punchers those guys faced though and the statements are pretty vague and hard for me to interpret. What are we to make of him supposedly hurting Valdes for example? Was it worse than he was hurt in other fights by say Moore or Machen or Folley etc? There just isn't enough context provided.

When I think of guys in Foremans league as a puncher I think of someone like Bonecrusher Smith or Ruddock. Think of them as baby Foremans if you will. I would assume that guys that do badly against them will probably get crushed by Foreman. It's not an exact science but I would assume Bruno and Weaver wouldn't match up well with Foreman if they can't get past an inferior version in Smith. I think Foreman is overrated in H2H matchups but the evidence doesn't point to DeJohn being remotely in his league power wise.

Regarding Powell he wasn't good enough to land fights with most of the top fighters since he was only briefly ranked and many of the guys that could have blasted him out early never fought him.

What do you think Liston or Satterfield do to him? Or even guys like Folley, Machen?

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Prime Hrgovic vs. 70s Foreman

Andre2000 Active Member Full Member

Cojimar 1946 Boxing Addict Full Member

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Prime Hrgovic vs. 70s Foreman

Andre2000 Active Member Full Member

Cojimar 1946 Boxing Addict Full Member