Rank These HW in terms of Functional boxing strength

foreman and liston the strongest...holmes the weakest.holmes had narrow shoulders,no chest,narrow back...a weak man for a heavyweight boxer.he did have really long arms and a great chin,great speed,good technique...but was weak for a boxer.*****s lookin FLABBY and sick like LARRY HOLMES

 

Foreman.
Liston.
Jeffries.
Tyson.
Ali.
Holmes.
Louis.
Johnson.
Louis and Johnson could be either way around imo.

 

As McGrain says, you can't really.

If we held a strongman competition between them, it would likley come down to Jeffries vs Foreman.

 

Don,t agree with you at all! how can a weak Heavyweight become Champion? with 20 defences

 

Foreman
Tyson ( 1986-1989 )
Liston
Holmes/Louis
Clay
Jeffries/Johnson

 

I think he means weak looking compared to say, Ken Norton. When they faced off in 1978, I can remember thinking that the bodybuilder WBC champ looked stronger and more powerful than Holmes, but it was not to be as Larrys jab always looked the harder whenever there was an exchange of jabs. Its not always about looks in boxing.

 

I don't even understand the question .. on a strength level I doubt anyone touches Foreman .. Imagine the 1973 Foreman on PED's ? He was off the chart as he was all natural .. as far as Holmes being weak, that is nonsense. he more than handled Norton, Weaver, Berbick, ****ey, Shavers, Smith, Witherspoon and Mercer .. name one guy that ever pushed him around ?

 

You'd have to define functional strength.

I would say boxing is more of a push / pull sport for the muscles in the upper body, not a press over the head or bench while braced of sport.

Best guess

Jeffries
Foreman
Liston
Tyson
Johnson
Holmes
Louis

 

Jeffries is documented as having lifted a 400lb + steer on to a truck, in front of a group of journalists.

That is about as reliably as anything from that era can be documented.

 

Foreman #1
Johnson is getting under sold here. He was very strong. Not sure if hes #2 but hed be up there. Im not sure about Liston either, I cant really think of anything he did that really impressed me strength wise. Jeffries was very strong as well. Even Ali, who wasnt known for his strength, handled guys like Frazier and Foreman pretty well in the clinches.

 

Ali and Johnson seemed to be masters at utilizing their strength thru leverage while Foreman seems to me to stand alone for raw strength .. I've been reading a ton on Johnson and it seemed he knew how to hold , push and pull that maximize strength and guys like Jeffries played right into it .. Dempsey was another guy that was a master at using leverage and grappling to his advantage n the prize ring .

 

you'r right about foreman,but wrong about holmes.
larry holmes had the worst physique of any hw champ.flabby with narrow shoulders,no chest and back....

he was 210 lbs,yes he wasn't ragdolled by his opponents cause he was fighting 200-210 lbs guys...he looked so weak compared to ****ey and ran from him like a *****.
even shavers only 210 lbs looked like a tank next to him.

rid**** bowe 235 lbs with his massive shoulders was the real deal.he would have crushed weak holmes on the inside,crush...