Smallest fighter in the last 40 years who hit like a heavyweight *puncher*?

I'm guessing Barney Ross hit harder than Joe Louis.
I suspect the smaller you are, the harder you can punch.
Which makes you wonder whether chins at the lower weights are stronger too. I think they must be.

 

I agree with you about Ali.
And in the age of rehydration, Tyson's height (likely 5.10.5") is around average for a WW. Before then, 5.10" was around average for a MW. Now larger men can compete in the same divisions.

I understand what you are saying about Shavers. It is true, but since I think he would be beyond very powerful-among the very hardest hitters or possibly #1-it seems an understatement.
Tyson would be among many I would describe like you did-a 9 out of 10 for one punch power, but we can name a bunch of foks who hit harder for single shots.

I was describing being dimensionally challenged as relevant to what is the "smallest" HW who would hit very hard today.
Yes height & length deficits is another challenge.
But this supports my claim that there is diminishing returns-& at some point none-in power when you get above aq certain size.
If we can find ATG HWs who were not only eilte fighters but at times the best in the world for years-like a couple you mentioned...

That suggests that at the bigger sizes, these factors mean less.
If this was not true, then we could easily see or imagine much smaller guys dominating & beating the best who are larger-& being the best in the world 8without* even gaining weight or muscle!

People like Hagler or even likely the greatest ever, SRR.
Folks are correct that he likely would not be great like at MW if he moved up a mere 15 lbs. to LHW.
Now imagine like Tyson & Frazier he stayed at his weight & still had to fight the best LHWs.
Or SRR, who was about average for a LHW in his day in terms of height & reach.
He would never have been nearly as good at that weight, fuhgettibout if he stayed at WW or MW & trie to face naturally larger men.

Some great HWs have done so with as much or more of a weight defisit-& being much less tall & long than those they beat.

 

Yeah he could definitely bang

 

Pollack says Johnson wasn't much heavier than Choynski, he was22 years old and didn't start filling out until comparatively late in life.

 

Bert Cooper

 

Johnson’s slow physical development over a number of years is interesting.

Do you think it was a combination of lack of ideal nourishment and a progressive and pointed layering of muscle on a frame that wasn’t necessarily huge in natural terms in the first place (though big then of course)?

Despite obvious loss of prime muscle, a guy like Jeffries. still looked big in older age due to his naturally large frame from the get go. Conversely, as Johnson’s once well pronounced muscles atrophied with age, it seemed to shrink Jack markedly all over.

It’s also notable that, as his career progressed to the point when Johnson’s rating was top or near enough to and he began throwing out challenges to Jeffries - Jack would make particular note of his gains in weight/size to promote his viability.

Johnson’s jump in weight from Burns (now with title and more $$$) to Ketchel was quite marked over a shorter period - big gains in sheer muscle in the upper body -bearing in mind that Jack was relatively slender in the thighs and calves though still well muscled and strong in those depts.

As to the Choynski bout, more than possible it was a straight up fight and result but I’ve always held a gut feeling that maybe it wasn’t completely on the up and up - though Johnson always maintained the power of the punch that dropped him - but Lil Arthur claimed a lot of things that weren’t always true - with his own, ulterior motives in mind. LOL.

 

No, he wasn`t a one punch KO artist.

 

lol!

 

MAB changed the way people looked at Naseem Hamed.

 

I think middleweight and above is where smaller punchers can start hitting like heavyweights. You can probably even go as low as welter if you count in some punchers who are huge for the weight, ex. Hearns

 

Well...The very few hardest punchers at MW may hit as hard as an average HW.
Take Julian Jackson. Nobody around 154 hit as hard right? IF anyone hit harder pound for single shots, they were likely somewhat lighter. Then he fought at MW, & since he had day before weigh-ins, let us assume for his career his average in ring weight was well into the 160's, sound fair?

Now do you think he could hit as hard as the average HW from his time?
Which is a different proposition from the OP: being a hard hitter for a modern HW.

I suspect that a Jackson or Hearns could at best hit about, or maybe more like almost, as hard as an average HW from their time.
Which is still quite an accomplishment.
Maybe they would hit decently for an average mid-century HW who weighed under 200.
But all that speed & leverage with the mass they had would both not have the same effect on a HW...

And as impressive as the relative force is & looks, methinks it would not be hard compared to an exactly average hitting HW who weighed in the 220's or so.

 

McClellan was able to take Jackson`s shots despite being rocked because he was big for a middle so it makes sense that a heavyweight could take Jackson`s shots even better, same applies to Hearns, despite him stopping Andries he had to hit him with a lot of shots and if Hagler and DeWitt can take Hearns shots then heavyweights that have been stopped by hard punching heavies could take those same shots I`d say.