Rank Jimmy Young as a puncher.

Powder puff.

 

No, Young had a nice straight right hand. Nice left hook too. I think he probably punch as hard as the other powerfull heavys of his day, Lyle, Norten, Quarry, but it wasn't his style to wade in and start slugging, looking for a knockout. He would rather make his opponent miss with everything, and box inteligently, and I would rather see that anuways.

 

6 out of 10 is a good number.

Can't confuse him with a puncher, but when he snuck in a good, sharp right hand he sure could ring a bell.

 

Several notches below SNV. I say five.

 

He very well may have been a 5 or 6.

The bigger factor was his ability to land that "5 or 6" punch clean on his top caliber opponents. Lots of guys punch harder but they aren't going to land that big clean shot with any sort of consistency against elite competition. Young did that. And his punches were sharp enough to make those guys fall for feints, which is not easy to do.

So he was actually a rare breed that could be counted on to land his best punches in a fight. That straight right hand counter of his was a thing of beauty and fast. What heavyweight has thrown a better one since?

 

Jimmy sacrificed power for the good of his slippery defensive genius..but when he was in position..and at the same time, when his opponents were OUT of position, he could rattle a guy with his shots..but this was through sheer timing as opposed to any raw power. I saw him rattle Norton several times and he popped Ali good too..I suppose that, like Willie Pastrano, who wasn't known for his power either, that when he "sat down" on his shots, he could do some damage.

 

Actually Young shook up Norton more times than vice versa...only Foreman (outside of Shavers) "got to" Young, during Young's "golden era"...in that 7th round. Pretty damned good chin my man Jimmy Young had, wouldn't you say?

 

He punched hard enough to get the opponent's respect, but he was never going to be a knockout artist under any circumstances. Just didn't have that kind of power, but a respectable punch nonetheless.

 

He was average at best. He simply wasn't a puncher. I don't think he hit as hard as James Toney or Chris Byrd.

 

No disrespect intended, but I totally disagree with you. Young was a light hitter; I'd rate him a 4 (out of 10) at best. The upside for Young, though, was that he didn't need power to win. Young was so slippery defensively and so nimble with his hands that he could easily win decisions by jabbing and slapping guys around.

As for the examples you list of Young's power, I see things differently.

Foreman was not dropped by Young's power; it was more a case of Foreman being hopelessly exhausted and barely able to stand up in the final round of their bout. Anyone could have dropped Foreman in that state.

I don't think Young ever hurt or stunned Lyle. There may have been a moment or two when the sluggish, frustrated Lyle had his head snapped back by a sudden right, but certainly Lyle was not hurt.

True, Young did land some nice shots against Cooney, but this is evidence that Young was not a good puncher. After all, Cooney's durability was less-than-average, and Young never hurt or stunned Cooney.

 

Let's see, twenty four rounds with Lyle, fifteen with Norton, four with Cooney and twenty with Ocasio ... a total of 63 rounds against fighters with not the greatest chins and Young scored a total of ZERO knockdowns. The reason was that for a ranked contender, Young was an average puncher at best. None of the fighters mentioned had terrific chins as all were flattened several times over, just not by Jimmy. Young was a crafty, talented, safety first, defensive wizard and a world class fighter but no puncher.