Shavers: NOT the hardest punching heavyweight of all time

He did. Years later he decided to say Shavers. Maybe Mike touched him up in a bar or something?

 

I think the Tillis episode shows that fighters tend to say whatever suits them at the time. Saying Tyson hit harder than Shavers immediately after fighting him certainly made more sense for Tillis then considering his more recent, highly competitive effort against Tyson.

 

Don't forget about Ron Lyle.

 

He is the hardest hitting heavyweight in my opinion but he never had finishing ability

 

Joe Louis is the hardest hitter in HW history: composite punching, finishing ability and raw punching. The man had it all.

 

Of course he had finishing ability, he KO'ed a ton of guys .. his problems were his limitations; a less than granite chin, questionable stamina, decent but not exceptional speed ... superior fighters with the right style or even lesser fighters with the right style could and did exploit his limitations. He was able to finish a Norton or a Ellis but not a Holmes or Ali ...