Who is more powerful- David Tua or George Foreman

The impression I get is that Tua was indeed a slightly harder puncher than Foreman, though not as hard a puncher as Shavers.

What's so freakish about George was his combination of size, physical strength AND punching power. His muscular endurance was also insane. Foreman sustained his level of impact against Ali much longer than Shavers could have possibly done at the same pace in the same climate. In this respect, Tua seems to again compare favorably with Foreman, although I need to study Tua more carefully.

 

Foreman has a more powerful punch than Tua, perhaps the hardest in heavyweight history. Only Shavers right hand might be considered more powerful than Foremans. Tua's left hook is a harder punch than Foremans.

 

I don't believe Shavers was definitely a more powerful hitter than Foreman, and definitely not a more powerful fighter in general.

 

They had several common opponents and sparring partners. Who among them gave the edge in punching power to George? (I think most everybody agrees that Foreman was probably the most physically strong world class boxer of modern times.)

 

First-hand accounts of a fighter's power are almost always biased, in addition to inaccurate.

If two guys both KO you cold with one shot, how do you know who punched you harder?

Fighters are also quite often guilty of the "Fighter A, who I beat, was way more powerful than Fighter B, even though Fighter B knocked me clean out".

 

Yes, but when boxers as disparate as Ali, Holmes and Leroy Caldwell all agree on the supremacy of Earnie's power, then that ought to cause pause for thought.

This is why I tend to dismiss the reports of Jimmy Ellis not being impressed with the power of Shavers. I don't believe Jimmy ever knew what hit him. I tend to go by who a given competitor remembers getting hit by.

Power punchers frequently go downstairs, providing the recipient of these blows with an opportunity to experience this force first hand in a memorable way.

Leroy Caldwell lost to Lyle, Foreman and Shavers in early rounds, while Ali defeated all three.

By the time Muhammad defended against Shavers, he was no longer the athlete he once was, but he was an extremely strong and durable customer at that stage of his career. Nobody ever buckled Ali as much as Earnie did. Foreman nailed Muhammad with flush rights to the body.

Ali would not have been able to compare the punching power of Cleveland Williams to that of Foreman and Shavers, simply because the Big Cat never had a chance to nail him well. But Muhammad is perfectly qualified to compare the firepower of George, Earnie and Liston.

Foreman and Shavers both bombed out Norton quickly. But George took two rounds to do it wearing eight ounce gloves. Earnie needed less than two minutes to do it wearing TEN ounce gloves. While Shavers initially stunned Kenny with his underrated hook, it was a right hand to Norton's body which produced the first knockdown.

He needed only one round to drop Bugner, and stopped him in two. (It took Frank Bruno six rounds to do it five and a half years later.)

Aside from Jimmy Ellis, Jerry Quarry did not even realize he'd been hit by Shavers until he saw footage of their bout the following day, so intense was his concentration. He did gush about Mac Foster's power immediately after knocking him from the unbeaten ranks during the postfight interview, so I'd guess that's the opponent whose force he might have rated most highly among his adversaries.

Effective power can vary from fight to fight and opponent to opponent. The day following his first match with Frazier, Jerry stated that Ellis hit him harder, although Jimmy didn't have the style to bust Jerry up the way Smoke did. Could Quarry have been telling the truth? Well, the fact is that Ellis previously put Bonavena on the deck twice, while Frazier hadn't come close in 25 rounds. Jimmy really followed through with his rights. Frazier's hook landed more consistently though. Unlike the Ellis cross, Joe's hook was effective to the body, for a greater cumulative effect.

Sure, the account of ONE fighter can be dismissed as biase, but how do you discount an overwhelming consensus?

 

Ken Norton, Jimmy Young, and Ron Lyle also have all stated that Shavers hit harder than did Foreman and each of them did so by making it seem it wasn't by a little bit either.

I have posted each of their quotes in the past and could do so again if you're interested.

 

I'm interested.

 

Here you go then;

"Oooh man, that man is always with me. He hit so hard, the HARDEST (emphasis taken directly from quote). I still feel his punches today." - Jimmy Young on Shavers

"Shavers hit me so hard it felt like needles were jabbing the back of my head. Without hesitation, Shavers was the hardest puncher I met." - Ron Lyle

"Shavers. No question. At least with Foreman I was able to get up. When Shavers hit me I went down and stayed down." - Ken Norton when asked who hit the hardest out of the two.

 

Well done Sam. My favorite is Leroy Caldwell's, "Lyle hit about the same as Foreman. Shavers hit harder than Lyle and Foreman put together.":scaredas:

I guess the person whose honest feedback I'd be most interested in hearing is Tiger Williams. For ten rounds, Roy took right hand after right hand to the breadbasket, yet almost came back in the final stanza to win, forcing a standing eight count on Earnie before finally collapsing. (Tiger must have been urinating blood for a month.) Above all other opponents of Earnie's, he felt the Shavers power most. (Nobody else ever stopped Roy Williams, and this was his final career defeat. After Ali, he may have been the toughest heavyweight of his era. Apparently, Shavers was the only one to ever drop him, and that was during the closing seconds after the most punishment Earnie ever delivered to one man.)

 

Enlighten me and elaborate please.

I'll give you my opinion. 1967-1969 Joe Frazier would KO George Foreman inside 10 rounds if not earlier. 1967 - 1969 Joe Frazier would probably KO any version of David Tua inside 10 rounds as well, if not earlier. Too much emphasis is placed on the Frazier that showed up to Jamaica who got destroyed by Foreman, and that Frazier still finished the fight on his feet. Neither Foreman or Tua would beat a prime Joe Frazier, period.

Tua was a powerful heavyweight no doubt and probably a harder puncher overall than Frazier with his right hand. Frazier's left hook is arguably the best in heavweight history and is more powerful than most give him credit for. People forget that Frazier was a converted southpaw, so a lot of his power is naturally on the left. David Tua stands up and boxes in a more conventional style as opposed to the Frazier/Patterson/Marciano crouching and weaving. The Tua that I saw against Lennox Lewis had nothing to offer other than rushing in to try to attack his body, only to be countered by Lewis' right hand.

Tua wouldn't be able to handle Foreman's punches unless he was able to get inside and work to the body. Besides Tua doesn't weave and slip as much compared to the shorter heavyweights and he'd be an easier target for Foreman than Frazier was. Don't tell me that Tua, weighing in excess of 220 lbs would be quick enough to get inside a prime George Foreman. As much as some on this forum say George was wild and reckless and could be outboxed by smarter fighters, he was an athelete and a gold medalist himself, which is a factor that Frazier completely ignored, reflective of the shape he showed up to fight Foreman in Jamaica. Tua, in the shape he was against Lennox Lewis, probably gets knocked out by Foreman the same way Frazier did. If Tua comes to this fight in shape, and is able to work Foreman's body early, he has a fighting chance at stopping George late or winning a 12 round decision. I'd bet that old George, who Ko'd Michael Moorer would have an easier fight with David Tua.

 

George Foreman's Punching power made him a Multi Heavyweight Champion of the world.
He knocked out an ATG in Fraizer & Norton among others.. not close.
If Tua is stronger or not, it didn't help him as much as it did Big George.

"Im bout to fry up a Burger in my Tua grill"..

 

Tua hit harder than Foreman, but slightly.

I'd still give it to Foreman. Foreman wouldn't let Tua rush him. He's just push him back (unless of course, your name just happened to be Ron Lyle).

 

That´s the same point I was making about Johnson, Willard and Klitschko in the other thread