Ok, so p4p (obviously heavyweights hit the hardest usually) who is the biggest puncher of all time, who had the best one punch KO power???

( base your choice on their KO %, and the quality of the people they KO'd, not just some guy who Ko'd like 100 bums in a row)

Foreman is the hardest puncher in any division. Because unlike Shavers, he actually proved his power by knocking out elite heavyweights in their prime. Frazier was always known for being tough with a very good chin and no one has ever came close to doing what Foreman did to him, blitzing him in 2 rounds. Not only that, Frazier was also in his prime when he did it.

Foreman is the hardest puncher in any division. Because unlike Shavers, he actually proved his power by knocking out elite heavyweights in their prime. Frazier was always known for being tough with a very good chin and no one has ever came close to doing what Foreman did to him, blitzing him in 2 rounds. Not only that, Frazier was also in his prime when he did it.


Good post....

A greed SlickSouthPaw16 and not only that Foreman had the power to hurt good fighters when he was well past his prime with one punch. Not many other fightes could say they could do the same.

Personally, I think Julian Jackson is the man. He had power that was above and beyond the norm for a guy his size and the KO ratio to prove it

Jackson's power was incredible as well, He would be on the list, Foreman, Prince Nassem Hamed could bang. There were other fighters who were hard punchers but only against 3 tier fighters. Tua was a hard puncher but who did he knock out? John Ruiz a man who started his career off a light heavyweight and has yet to show that he has any skills. Joe Louis knocked out bums, Marciano, Dempsey, and Max Baer knocked out bums.

Foreman is the hardest puncher in any division. Because unlike Shavers, he actually proved his power by knocking out elite heavyweights in their prime. Frazier was always known for being tough with a very good chin and no one has ever came close to doing what Foreman did to him, blitzing him in 2 rounds. Not only that, Frazier was also in his prime when he did it.

It just means he was a BETTER puncher and fighter, not a harder puncher. If you use that argument I don't agree. And Frazier was not in his prime when he did it. Still very good, yes. But not the same fighter as he was(after the first fight against Ali).

Jackson's power was incredible as well, He would be on the list, Foreman, Prince Nassem Hamed could bang. There were other fighters who were hard punchers but only against 3 tier fighters. Tua was a hard puncher but who did he knock out? John Ruiz a man who started his career off a light heavyweight and has yet to show that he has any skills. Joe Louis knocked out bums, Marciano, Dempsey, and Max Baer knocked out bums.

They knocked out bums just like every other fighter, but they also knocked out quality fighters. Tua's best ones were over Maskaev and Rahman, Rocky KO'd the likes of Walcott and Moore and so on. You don't know what you're talking about.

It's gotta be Julian Jackson..he could put everything behind his punches. 1 punch could end a lop sided fight at any given moment. Even against bigger opponents.

It just means he was a BETTER puncher and fighter, not a harder puncher. If you use that argument I don't agree. And Frazier was not in his prime when he did it. Still very good, yes. But not the same fighter as he was(after the first fight against Ali).


I personally rank punchers on who they have shown their punching power against rather than how hard the punch look. Foreman has proven his power against elite heavyweights while Shavers has looked powerful, but with the exception of Ken Norton( who has always lost to fighters that were physically strong enough to push him back and was also past his prime) he has not knocked out an upper echelon heavyweight. He was powerful, although what convinces us that he punches harder than Foreman? Tex Cobb stood in front of him and took his biggest punches for the entire fight and even stopped him if i am remembering correctly. He was past his best, although your punch is the last thing to go. Can we really see Cobb standing in front of any version of Foreman and lasting long? Let alone stopping him. Cobb has been stopped before then by far lesser fighters as well.

Frazier was in his prime when he fought Foreman the first time but obviously we judge by different things. He was the champion, had just come off of a win over Ali months earlier and was also unbeaten.

thomas hearns anyone???

i dont know maybe not hardest of all time but he did KO duran who had a great chin and he carried his power up to cruiserweight, against naturally bigger guys and he still KO'd them

1-Julian Jackson
2-Shavers
3-Foreman
4-Marciano
5-Hearns (he had power even as a cruiserweight)

He was powerful, although what convinces us that he punches harder than Foreman?

How about the the words of someone like Ali who has stated many times that Shavers hit harder than Foreman by calling Shavers the hardest puncher he ever faced?

Or how about the testimony of some of Shavers & Foreman's other common opponents like Jimmy Young, Ron Lyle, Ken Norton and Leroy Caldwell (I posted these before)?

"Oooh man, that man is always with me. He hit so hard, the hardest. 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 harder between Shavers and Foreman

"Lyle hit about the same as Foreman. Shavers hit harder than Lyle and Foreman put together." - Leroy Caldwell

They were all convinced that Shavers hit harder than did Foreman (and with some emphasis), and considering they were in the best position to compare each of their power because they actually had to take the punches of each, I'm not going to be one to disagree in the least with any of them.

For single punch power, Shavers hit harder than Foreman.

P.S. They weren't common opponents of each of those two, but Holmes, Ellis, Cobb, Mercado, Stander, and probably a few others that I'm not remembering off hand, are all on record stating that Shavers was the hardest puncher they ever faced.

Edwin Valero

I agree with Yogi about shavers, i believe he hit harder than foreman did.

Tommy Hearns would have to be up there p4p punchers

Frazier was in his prime when he fought Foreman the first time but obviously we judge by different things. He was the champion, had just come off of a win over Ali months earlier and was also unbeaten.

The fight with Ali had actually been almost 2 years earlier (March 1971, the Foreman fight was held in January 1973), after winning that fight Frazier defended his title against two easy opponents, Ron Stander and Terry Daniels, disposing of them rather easily but looking unmotivated and out of shape while doing so.

Not taking any credit from Foreman, he destroyed the champion and showed what a nightmare match-up he was for pressure fighters but I don't believe that Frazier was at his best ever again after the first fight with Ali...

How about the the words of someone like Ali who has stated many times that Shavers hit harder than Foreman by calling Shavers the hardest puncher he ever faced?

Or how about the testimony of some of Shavers & Foreman's other common opponents like Jimmy Young, Ron Lyle, Ken Norton and Leroy Caldwell (I posted these before)?

"Oooh man, that man is always with me. He hit so hard, the hardest. 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 harder between Shavers and Foreman

"Lyle hit about the same as Foreman. Shavers hit harder than Lyle and Foreman put together." - Leroy Caldwell

They were all convinced that Shavers hit harder than did Foreman (and with some emphasis), and considering they were in the best position to compare each of their power because they actually had to take the punches of each, I'm not going to be one to disagree in the least with any of them.

For single punch power, Shavers hit harder than Foreman.

P.S. They weren't common opponents of each of those two, but Holmes, Ellis, Cobb, Mercado, Stander, and probably a few others that I'm not remembering off hand, are all on record stating that Shavers was the hardest puncher they ever faced.

James Toney also said that Merqi Sosa even at middleweight punches harder than Roy Jones, Samuel Peter and Evander Holyfield so its all depending on the fighters. Now would we really buy into that? Ricardo Mayorga also stated that De La Hoya punches harder than Tito Trinidad ect. Ali was past his prime and Jimmy Young was not even a contender yet, he only had a couple of fights if i remembering right. So, again we judge by different things, i personally figure since Foreman actually won those fights instead of being stopped in them and also being able to finish his opponents, then Foreman was the harder and better puncher. I go by opposition, not by how hard a punch look. You can look like anything against anyone. Foreman knocked out the better opponents.

I personally rank punchers on who they have shown their punching power against rather than how hard the punch look. Foreman has proven his power against elite heavyweights while Shavers has looked powerful, but with the exception of Ken Norton( who has always lost to fighters that were physically strong enough to push him back and was also past his prime) he has not knocked out an upper echelon heavyweight. He was powerful, although what convinces us that he punches harder than Foreman? Tex Cobb stood in front of him and took his biggest punches for the entire fight and even stopped him if i am remembering correctly. He was past his best, although your punch is the last thing to go. Can we really see Cobb standing in front of any version of Foreman and lasting long? Let alone stopping him. Cobb has been stopped before then by far lesser fighters as well.

Frazier was in his prime when he fought Foreman the first time but obviously we judge by different things. He was the champion, had just come off of a win over Ali months earlier and was also unbeaten.

You said it yourself in the first sentence of your post. You rank punchers, not powerpunchers. There is a huge diffirence. Joe Louis and Mike Tyson were superior punchers compared to Foreman and Shavers. But ask any expert who hit harder, and they'll tell you Foreman and Shavers.

Foreman and Shavers both proved their power against elite heavyweights. If you ask me, Shavers proved he hit harder according to the opponents who fought both of them as Yogi so ever lovingly has shown for the 100th time lol. Ali who probably took the most punishment from big George and actually beat him has always said Shavers hit harder.

It's just that Foreman was a superior fighter compared to Shavers is why he was able to knock out the likes of Frazier, Norton etc. Just compare their attributes. But to counter your other comment, Shavers did stop the likes of Young, Ellis and he probably hurt Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes more than anyone else(I believe Ali and Holmes said so themselves).

You're confusing quality as a fighter and pure ability to hit hard. Just an example. Punchers based on punching TECHNIQUE: Louis, Tyson, Lewis, Holyfield. Power punchers based on pure power: Foreman, Shavers, Baer, Cooney, Marciano.

And don't you know who Randall "Tex" Cobb is? Watch some of his wars. He is known to have one of the greatest chins of all time. It seems you just took a glimpse at his record or something.
Foreman however, was slugging with Lou Savarese for the entire fight and couldn't stop him either. I reckon Cobb could take more punishment than Tyson's punching bag.

Joe Frazier was never the same again after his first fight against Ali. He slipped physically and mentally(more interested in his music career at the time). Not to take anything away from Foreman though. That was something.

Shavers and Foreman were easily the hardest punchers of all time. Yogi has a point, but he forgot to elaborate on their specialty punches. Shavers' uppercut would put anybody to sleep, just ask Jimmy Ellis(who looked like he was shot by a sniper, when he got ko'd). Foreman's jab is deceptively strong, and sets up his bludgeoning right cross, which ko'd Ron Lyle and Michael Moorer. It's Shaver's uppercut vs. Foreman's jab-right cross combo. This is like comparing the Frazier left hook and my personal favorite... The Tyson uppercut(short, compact, powerful). Also, Shaver's power tends to dwindle as the rounds mount and he gets slower. Foreman maintains his power through-out and is still dangerous in later rounds(Moorer, Qawi). Still, I have to agree over-all on Yogi's knowledge.

Shavers and Jackson are my choices based on watching their fights and their opponents thoughts on their respected power. Anybody who faced Shavers and Foreman would favour Shavers as the hardest hitter of the two.

You know i once read this interview in a boxing magazine with Emanuel Stewart and they were asking him lots of different things about different fighter etc etc
They asked him who was the hardest puncher he had ever held the pads for ! And his reply was: "Nassem Hamed no question" !
he went on to say that Nassem had a natural power you just dont see every day!
This shocked me cause i thought he might of said Lennox Lewis or Tommy Hearns ! But no he said Hamed!