Who Hit Harder at Heavyweight Walcott Or Patterson?

Punch for punch, my money would go on Walcott.

I think a lot of Floyd's ko's came from that "wow" factor his speed brought. Patterson could deliver power punches quicker than Walcott.

 

Difficult to say. Both men floored or KO'd great fighters. Some of whom were in their primes, while others were past their best. Frankly, I think that Walcott was arguably the better hitter though. He was able to deck fighters in the ultimate heat of competition. Joe could really bang while being hurt. Of course, so could Floyd, but I think most historians would go with Jersey by a narrow margin.

 

Patterson had more single shot power in his hook. Wlacott might have better skill at placing his shot, but I don't think it had the same amount of power.

I think Patterson hit harder.

 

I think Patterson had more power, but Walcott placed his punches better and was more accurate.

 

Walcotts KD's of Louis and Marciano and his KO of Charles were all beautifully placed, pinpoint power punches. Walcott's effectivness as a puncher was more from his accuracy and his ability to catch his opponent off-guard than pure power, imo. I think Walcott was the more effective puncher than Patterson, but I think Patterson had a bit more power on average.

 

Looking at men who appeared in Ring Magazine's yearly rankings:

1. Patterson--Tommy Harrison, Jimmy Slade, Archie Moore, Hurricane Jackson, Roy Harris, Brian London, Ingemar Johansson, Henry Cooper (plus Tom McNeeley & Charley Powell who were in monthly ratings)

2. Walcott--Elmer Ray, Curtis Sheppard, Tommy Gomez, Omelio Agramonte, Ezzard Charles (plus Ole Tandberg & Johnny Shkor who were in monthly ratings)

3. Ezzard Charles--Jimmy Bivins, Archie Moore, Elmer Ray, Joe Baksi, Pat Valentino, Lee Oma, Rex Layne, Joe Kahut, Tommy Harrison, Coley Wallace, Bob Satterfield (plus Gus Lesnevich, Freddie Beshore, and Bernie Reynolds who were in monthly ratings)

You pays your money and takes your choice, but I would see these three men (no one asked about Charles, but I decided to put him in as he is generally underrated as a puncher) at about the same level. Walcott, in fairness, has perhaps the least impressive list, except he stopped Charles with one punch and Harold Johnson is probably better than all but a few on the other lists.
Patterson was impressive against Moore, Johansson, and Cooper, but for the most part not against others. Johansson and McNeeley in 1961 were the last rated at the time fighters he stopped.
Charles never stopped a heavyweight champion, but he stopped more rated men and more durable men between 1947 and 1954 than the other two over their whole careers.

 

walcott hands down imo. the left hookercut delivered on charles is one of the best punches of all-time. he dropped joe louis and marciano with tremendous single punches. marciano looked shaken for a minute.

patterson had that great left he landed on Ingar but he didn't exactly have an iron chin himself :yep

 

It's INGO.. Ingemar JohanssON

 

Walcott has a well placed punch, it was pinpoint power, I think his KDs of Louis,Marciano and Ko over Charles were some good examples...Floyd have a good Ko over INGO and Moore with the left hook but Walcott had power in both hands and Dropped solid Heavys

 

As big a Floyd Patterson fan as I am (a true class act, with a very interesting story), I would have to give a slight edge to "Jersey Joe" in terms of who "hit harder".

Floyd Patterson's biggest strength was his overall speed, especially that hand-speed. He could hit hard, more so with the left-hand, and it would hurt because he put his body into it and you couldn't see it.

But Walcott had the benefit of a real Heavyweight body, and great technique. You got the sense he couldn't be sloppy if he tried. His KO victory over Ezzard Charles, to this day, remains one of the great examples of a perfect one-punch knockout - he had the technique, body, and timing to deliver.

So, in terms of power-punching, Walcott gets the nod, IMO.

 

Walcott floored Louis, Charles, and Marciano. Walcott by a long shot.

 

Leaving aside the stats ,I would go for Jersey Joe,the punch that kod Charles was perfect ,and how Marciano got up from that left hook is still a mystery.Both men had two fisted power but I give Walcott the edge.It is just possible that if the people behind a young Walcott had persevered,[they had Blackburn on board],we might be talking about Walcott in the same terms we talk about Louis ,lack of direction and training plus no financial resources kept Walcott back ,its a tribute to him that he eventually overcame all his disadvatages to win the crown .Floyd by contrast had the silver spoon treatment as a pro ,carefully and conservatively managed,though to be fair to him he proved his mettle after he lost the title ,taking on all styles . For Floyd not to knockdown Ali ,or Liston is surely no disgrace,he looked like he had killed Ingo,but I dont see Patterson dropping Marciano for some reason.