Something a little different from the usual question. Who would you consider the WORST punchers at actually finishing off an opponent once they had them hurt? The guys who had the skills and the hitting power to hurt people, but who just couldn't put a hurt opponent away to save their lives? And, bonus question once you nominate someone: Why do you think your selection couldn't pull off the finishes? What ingredient was missing from their toolbox?
Hopkins, mainly 2nd phase of career, Kalambay, Haye People who have good basics/Fundamentals seem to be better at finishing
Laporte. He should have put Castillo away, his legs were spaghetti for a good couple rounds at the end. Also the Miranda win. It was stopped between rounds because Laporte was by then outclassing and hurting him constantly, but he couldn't string those few shots together to stop him during the actual fighting. The opportunities were there by the score but he couldn't do it. Why? He was just too parsimonious with his output. Maybe he believed too much in his own power, maybe his personality was too laid back, who knows.
For as hard of a puncher as Bonecrusher Smith is, his finishing skills were pretty poor. He had lots of guys in trouble whom he couldn’t put away and either lost fights or had to settle for decisions because of it
Andrew Golota is by far the worst, Twice had Bowe on the canvas, twice Grant on the canvas, and twice John Ruiz. Although I think in the Ruiz fight he got screwed. Golota got too tense, if he was a more relaxed fighter, he could have finished the job.
I remembered being read in various threads about Curtis 'Hatchetman' Sheppard. Arguably a huge puncher. Archie Moore once stated that nobody hit him as hard. His knockout ratio wasn't that good though. It seems that he fits the bill.
At first I was like, "what!?!?" figuring it was a joke answer. But then I started thinking... Earnie had Jimmy Young, Ron Lyle, Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes, Bernardo Mercado, and James Tillis down or badly hurt and couldn't finish them.
Yeah, it's a more interesting answer the more you think about it. Here's a guy who everybody says was the hardest hitting contender they faced, and he clearly was able to deliver that power against top class opposition since he hurt everybody you mentioned. Yet he has so few stoppage wins over fellow contenders. Terrible finishing ability may be the explanation.
Frank Bruno. He had Smith, Witherspoon, Tyson & Lewis all hurt - but was stopped by all of them (Tyson 2x).
Bruno vs Lewis Is a good sample. Both Whyte and Old Klitschko had in their hands Joshua but... Others: Golota Weaver Lyle
David Haye was a pretty poor finisher, he had big power but often with one shot, when he needed to put a combination together or do something creative to finish a guy off he struggled, was a real sloppy finisher
