The hardest hitting heavyweights of all time

The power of a punch consists of two components: the mass (weight) behind it and the speed it's delivered with. That gives a pretty good indication who punches the harder.

For example Marciano would have to punch a lot faster than Lewis or V. Klitschko for his punches to be as hard as theirs, since he was much smaller. For this reason I think we could rule out guys like Dempsey, Louis and Marciano since they were both smaller and had lesser handspeed than for example Mike Tyson, and were much smaller than Lewis and the Klitschko-brothers without having vastly superior handspeed.

Of course, what style the fighter has and how he is proportioned also factors in. For example, Foreman was only 3-4 pounds heavier than Ali in their fight and had the lesser handspeed, but still punched harder. I would say that the reasons for that was that Foreman's chest, shoulders arms (the part of the body you primarily put behind a punch) made up a larger amount of his total mass (weight) than it did for Ali, and that his style was such that he put more or less maximum power behind every punch. Ali's power is often underrated because he seldom did that.

So, taking this into account I think you can make a good assesment of a fighters punching-power by looking at his size and handspeed. This of course puts a 220 pound guy with the speed of Tyson right up there, but also Bowe, Lewis the Klitscko-brothers etc should be seriously considered taking into account their relative speed for their large size. I haven't seen enough of Shavers to say anything about his handspeed, but he wasn't that big - even though he seemed proportioned like a puncher. Foreman (in his prime) was 220 pounds with massive shoulders and chest and a underrated handspeed (his wide swings make them look slower then what they really were), so he probably makes the list as well IMO.

 

A lot of guys had power but it was not evident when they moveup in class

The best of the class punchers not in order

Dempsey,Louis,Baer,Schmeling,Marciano,Liston,,Foreman,Frazier,Tyson,Lewis.........dangerous punchers lacking in other areas....Johanasen,Satterfeild,Shavers,Cooney,Coetzee,Sanders

present fighters....Vlad can hit

 

The way I look at it, there are all sorts of power. There are the thudding power hitters like George Foreman, there are the cracking power hitters like Tommy Hearns, there are 1 shot, lights out power like Marciano, and there are the just plain hard hitters like Shavers. A lot of people had mixes of this power. Tyson had the mix of Foreman thudding power with his body punches, but he also had some of the cracking like power of Tommy Hearns to the head. Different people can take different powers better. Some guys can walk straight through a guy like Foreman's power, but they are dropped a lot by Tommy Hearns like power. When I'm in the ring I noticed the cracking type power bothers me more than the thuds.

Size IMO is overrated regarding power. Who hit harder, Ali or Marciano? Who hit harder, Dempsey or Valuev? As of today, the only guy that can be rated among the top 25 hardest hitters would be Wlad, and even there I'm a bit hesitent.

 

Tyson
Liston
Depsey
Louis
Marciano
Foreman
Zelenoff

HM: Galento, Lewis, Baer

 

Not good examples IMO. You've picked out lighter hitting bigger guys against the biggest hitting smaller guys. Arguello moved all the way up from 126 to 135 but who hit harder out of he and Howard Davis?
I am a firm believer that size in the heavyweight ranks at this point of time becomes a bit of a non issue once we hit about 210-230 pounds (ROUGHLY!) for power. Co-ordination or functional power and athleticism seems to drop off above this a little if one follows IMO. I believe the upper poundage limit is getting higher as mild evolution goes forward.

In a Dempsey's day or Marciano's the limit seemed much lower and indeed both were close to or the best hitter of the day.

This has now changed IMO and it is obvious to see.

My deep thought of the day Chris

:smoke

 

Definately, his hook is 700lbs.:rofl That guy is such an idiot.

 

I notice your weekend-thought-deep-thought-of-the-day's are a bit better, or should i say deeper, than the during-the-week ones!


p.s. Are you ready to see Povetkin vs Chambers? Have you seen a bit on Povetkin yet?


p.p.s. i see you brought back an avatar of old. I remember you having one of a man with a beer in the garden before that, was that you ?

 

LMAO!!!!! It's called Jack Daniels in a can

And yes, your perception is as razor sharp as ever :tong

I better get some of that sukker

That was indeed moi. I've got a very sloppy of late and am seriously thinking of rejoining the gym. Hit it 2-4 days a week for 6 bloody years when playing grade cricket and tennis then let it all slip for a damn woman of all things! Both are gone now

If i had my old hard drive loaded (soon) i'd post an older pic lol

 

Actually here's the most recent

This content is protected

They say size doesn't matter but i am here to tell you it does - at least until i leanr to resize things better

 

People say mass x velocity, which is correct, but it's a matter of transfering that force into a punch. That means technique.

Obviously it you dropped Nicolay Valuev's limp body from a 20 ft wall you'd have a more powerful missile than Marciano's or Lewis's limp body.

But punching power is different.
Handspeed can be used to increase punch power, but handspeed isn't identical with the velocity of the punch. The speed at which the bodyweight is dropped into the punch is far more relevant than the speed at which the fist itself travels.
It all comes down to body positioning and the use of gravity at the moment of impact.

Muhammad Ali was not a weaker puncher than Foreman because of having a different build, it's a matter of technique.
Neither of them had a correct punching technique, but Foreman consistently put his body behind the punches, Ali did not.

But when Ali DID punch more correctly and with all his mass dropped quickly behind a punch he was a banger. Look at the punch that had Ron Lyle reeling across the ring, that was a better punch that any of the clubbing blows that Foreman bludgeoned Lyle with.

For the real low-down on the science of explosive punching, I suggest reading "Championship Fighting" by the great Jack Dempsey.

 

Frank Bruno......

 

I was pretty close with guessing what you looked like. I pictured your hair a little longer. You look like you've seen your share of scraps there John, am I right?

 

Shavers' overhand right had everything: proper leverage and thrust to maximize power and speed, the consensus of history...and the evident results: neither Foreman nor Liston ever shook Ali with one punch the way Shavers did in Round 2.

But as regards sheer power, I think the more recent big boys Tua, Bowe, Lewis and the Klitschkos give any classic powerhouse a run for his money because they all combine proper punching technique with extraordinary size (weight).

 

No.

Just the physical side effects of remonstrating with me.

 

Hahahaha, that is absolute first class humour mate

:yep