Which Heavyweight Champ Fought The Most Punchers?

Hard to say, exactly. I think Patterson is definitely a puncher, the others i'm not so sure about. I tried to include guys that were renowned for either a sunday punch or being heavy handed in general(although lacking in class, in some cases)

 

Duran deserves a mention

 

Sure, depending upon how you interpret a puncher, he might have more bouts with such fighters overal.

Bear in mind that he fought a lot of the punchers of his era three times each.

Overal I would be inclined to say Holyfield though.

 

I think we need to be honest that the 220+ monsters of the 1990's hit harder than Tommy Burns or Choynski or Jim Johnson...

 

What about the 220lb monsters of the 00s?

 

Id say Ali although Im not sure I would class Chuvalo as a puncher.

I dont think Lewis is even close. A lot of the guys listed by some here as punchers on his record were not punchers in the strictest sense and some that were considered punchers never really proved it against anyone of note: Briggs, Bruno, Tucker those guys were big but punchers? I would have to examine that more closely. Its like calling Billy Fox a puncher. Yeah he had a lot of KOs but if they were against bums or outright fixes does that qualify him as a puncher?

 

Briggs, Bruno & Tucker all hit like a truck, saying they're not punchers is crazy talk.

 

Depends on your definition.

Briggs and Bruno are two fighters who might have hit as hard as darn near anyone in terms of raw power.

Power is over rated of course.

 

What elite fighter did any of those guys ever KO that showed how hard they really hit? the only two "top" guys Briggs ever even dropped were Botha (who Briggs didnt even beat) and Laikovich... Bruno lost every time he stepped up with the exception of McCall and his KO record was built primarily on retreads that were more often than not coming off a loss or a string of losses. Tony Tucker was never considered a puncher. He was always a boxer. Id probably call him less of a puncher than Briggs and I dont really consider Briggs a big puncher. Id rate them in terms of power: Bruno, Briggs, Tucker and I dont think any of those three hold a candle to Foreman, Lewis, Liston, Tyson, etc (all of whom could hurt even very durable opponents with a single punch). Id say that at best Bruno and maybe the other two hit above average but I certainly wouldnt rate them as "punchers".

 

Power on its own is not enough to get knockouts against the best fighters in the division. Technique is a much more critical factor.

Based on the testimony of opponents and sparring partners, I have little doubt that there were some fairly ordinary heavyweights who had comparable power to Foreman, Lewis, Liston and Tyson.

 

The chinny Lennox Lewis.

 

Not really. Mike Weaver (albeit long in the tooth), Bruno, Ruddock, Morrison, Tua, Briggs and Tyson were giant punchers. I don't see any other way to qualify them. The likes of Chuvalo does not hold a candle to them in terms of power.