Top 10 combination punchers in heavyweight history

I once saw a video entitled "The lost boxing art of combination punching" and it was all about how you could throw more than one punch at a time if you knew the trick of combining. Something that these old timers used to do with great frequentosity. But these days? Most fighters don't even know that this is legal, and a fair few refs if I don't say so myself or if you or nobody else minds me saying. But it is totally legal to string together punches, and there's not even a legal maximum unless you're on a break. You can throw as many together as you want to until the ref breaks you or there's a bell. The biggest problem is the limitation on numberal limit of humanoid arms. Most fighters only have two, so the amount of punches you can put together is usually in a one-two, where you're using your one arm and then your two arm.

 

Patterson

I'd put Tyson quite a bit above everyone else though, he had a lot more speed and power than Louis

 

Tyson, Louis, Ali, Patterson, Holyfield is my confident choice for the top 5. But they are all different and all very close together. I put Mike on number 1 and all the others on a tie rank 2. But i'm still not sure about this.


1. Mike Tyson!? (most explosive, best sum of speed, power and effective aggressiveness)
2a. Joe Louis (best timing, accuracy, punch selection, best finisher, the most effortless combination puncher)
2b Muhammad Ali (fastest straights, is even able to put many shots together when he is dancing and moving)
2c Floyd Patterson (fastest power shot combos)
2d Evander Holyfield (among the best in evey aspect + best distance controll, best residual defense, very efficient trading )
6. Tommy Morrison (most beautiful and fluid combos but also very vulnerable, often got countered)
7... Liston / Foreman / Dempsey (best in putting much force together)
Maybe i missed one. Dokes was also very fast but often ineffective. Douglas' combo vs Tysons was sick...

I think it's just about what the main criteria is. most flawless: Evander. most accurate: Louis.

 

Tommy Morrison is nowhere close to being an ATG but i also thought he was a very good combination puncher.

Floyd Patterson is another good example.

 

Much, if not most, of Tyson’s career he was a one-punch-and-done (fall inside and clinch or at least not punch) kind of guy.

I know he had that nice right hook to the body/right uppercut combo (all of two punches) that he used sometimes, but in which fights against decent opposition did he really show himself to be a great (some have him No. 1 on here) combo puncher? How often did he string, say, three or four punches together?

I’m a bit mystified but then Tyson is kind of a mythic character to whom is often ascribed abilities that he didn’t show in the ring (like ‘back when Tyson used his jab a lot,’ which is rarely if ever; ‘back when Tyson used head movement,’ show me when he did this over say 7+ rounds in a fight, etc.).

I have seen these things sometimes early in fights, but I’m talking sustained over the course of more than a couple of rounds and not just in flashes. Comparing him to Muhammad Ali as a combination puncher just seems like a joke.

 

I've always considered Joe Louis as the yard stick by which all other heavyweight combo punchers are measured

 

Yeah it's funny, Tyson seems to get overrated on certain things like head movement, combo punching, etc & underrated on things like quality of wins, his fighting heart and toughness.

 

Charles
Holmes
Bowe

Deserve recognition in this category

 

Dokes
Tubbs
Pinky
Frazier
Holmes
Povetkin

all deserve a mention.

 

Some in this list I've seen more than others, but I gotta throw Bowe in there at 7. Holy **** and what about Smokin Joe? His crazy hooks. If you throw a hook 5 times is that a combo? XD

 

1# Joe Louis:
Louis is my pick for the best because unlike my 2nd pick, he was much more intuitive, he was never predictable , and used a punch to set up where the next punch would go, knowing that a hole would be their as the opponent changed his guard. Tops with speed, accuracy, timing, and power. But he wasn't the most powerful.
That would go to
# 2 Mike Tyson.
Tyson hit harder than Louis, but wasn't as fast, or accurate. His combo's also were more predictable. As his right hook to the body, followed by the right uppercut. His bread and butter, but could've been a weakness if he fought the right counter puncher.
# 3 Evander Holyfield:
Before he started adding extra muscle Holyfield was a beautiful combination puncher. He could double the left hook with ease. He didn't have the power of the two above him. But he could put punches together effortlessly. Especially before he started bulking up.
# 4 Ali:
Ali's combo's were pretty basic, but he could do with ease, what the fighters above rarely did.
That's lead with the right hand, and hook after. Which Is testimony to how fast he was.
#5 Liston:
Put his punches together very well , lethal with the hook off the jab.
# 6 Bowe:
For such a big man, Bowe's combo's were effortless in his prime and in shape, he was also deceptively fast.
#7 Joe Frazier:
Yes , some see Frazier as a limited puncher. But watch him close, though the left hook was his money, he used combo's much more frequently than some think. Especially to the body.
#8 Ike Ibeabuchi :
Ibeabuchi is the poster child of what could've been. A large man who was also deceptively fast, and could combo easily. Unfortunately, his body of work is very limited because of his personal demons.
# 9 Foreman
Another fighter that seems to be just a big punching Bomber, but even into his forties he put punches together well.
#10 Larry Holmes
Holmes jab set up his combo's. Usually he was basic. But effective.

 

Louis
Ali
Patterson

In consideration, I’ve allowed not just for 1) putting punches together in combination but also 2) the quality of the punches therein.

If I allowed just for criterion 1), I might’ve put Ali at top but weighing in Louis’s power and accuracy also, I can rationalise putting Joe at # 1.

Have to think a bit more about the rest.

 

I'm going to go against the grain here, and nominate Liston as my number one. One of the aforementioned reasons is his legendary jab, but their are two other reasons he makes my number 1.

1. He had an uncanny ability to anticipate what his opponents were going to do and knew exactly what to do to put an end it it and/or counter them.

2. Upon close inspection of Liston's combos he does something very rarely seen. He ducks in between punches when his opponents are trying to fight him off, and utilizes faints excellently to keep them off balance.