Who is the hardest puncher in boxing history?

[rightsideup]

I cannot recall Shavers knocking Holmes unconscious with a single punch??

Shavers was managed by Don King just like Holmes & Ali were managed by King. All three fighters sparred together many times and were very good friends.. This is much to do with why both Holmes & Ali claim Shavers to be the hardest puncher..

Tyson knocked Holmes unconscious in there fight. it is the only time in Holmes career he was knocked out. ~Holmes went 23-3 after the Tyson KO loss including 2 world title fights, so you are way off the mark here Ray.

Ray. i have posted up a Trivia Question in another thread... With you working with Mike Tyson throughout his amateur career, you should be able to answer the trivia question without much thought?

Holmes and Ali were permoted by king not managed

[F l i c k e r]

Many people say Julian Jackson.

Marciano possibly too. Deadlined many top heavyweights when the dude himself was probably smaller than Tyson.

[vilhelmcarlberg]

1: Earnie Shavers
2: George Foreman
3: Lennox Lewis

[LacedUp]

Heavyweights there's the usual suspects. Recent times it is Tyson, Lewis, Wlad.

Overall we have Foreman, Shavers, Dempsey, Louis... Probably forgetting someone.

P4P I'm taking the all time king. Sugar Ray Robinson, although other guys were absolutely vicious as well. Alexis Arguello was a vicious puncher, Julian Jackson, Nigel Benn, Gerald McClellan.. Weltschmerz mentioned Naseem Hamed who was also a great 1 punch KO artist.

There's been a few great ones.

[The Old LefHook]

Who is going to do the most damage if they have a free shot at Jess Willard's side as he is stooped over trying to stand up?

[jiopsi]

Anyone can say what they wish k.o power is measured with how much damage can one shot do....no one has that like Tyson or W.Klitchko....either one i'll take over anybody....To those stating shavers..well how many rounds and punches did it take to get Holmes down?tyson barley hit Holmes with a clean shot until the 4th round in the short fight they had..As far as ali..well he was showing sighns of brain damage in that period with shavers so of course shavers is going to get clear shots in on him ,unlike Foreman...It was also a in shape 227 pound Holmes not the skinny 210 pounder shavers fought...oops I forgot weight doesn't mean anything...


I'll also go with the words of E.Stewart and F.Roach two established guys...roach being the one who said Wlad hits harder than Tyson and trained with both..and Stewart saying Wlad along with Tyson are the two guys who hit the hardest hes ever seen with one punch k.o ability.I'd also add pad work doesn't measure power its for accuracy,you can only hit so hard on pads...Heavy bag is much more accurate setting for power besides video footage and quality opponets which does matter also.shavers ran his k.o career up fighting undersized ,under talented fighters for the most part.

[juggernaut666]

....

Remember though ,Mercer had arguably the best chin next to 90's Foreman ,prime or not Wlad completely crushed his chin...still going with Wlad on one punch k.o ability here but can make case for Tyson as well.Rember as well Tyson was losing to Botha and probably put more into that punch that k.od Botha because he was being out boxed ,

[AlexKid]

Is it possible that Mariano or Louis were the hardest punchers ever?

Or is that simply impossible due to their relatively small size and weight?

[juggernaut666]

Or is that simply impossible due to their relatively small size and weight?

Its not that its impossible however..i see no video evidence of it...take into account the much smaller guys they fought on average and the small size gloves.If this was the case how did guys like Conn not get k.od by Louis until a rematch,many small guys survived Louis's punches ,who would be flattened by modern fighters ,Marciano hit hard for his weight,yes but who did he k.o that would be considered a Tyson like ,Holyfield like guy...the answer is simple no one of a good sized REAL fighter existed in their eras..I would be more sold on Marciano had he fought liston and k.od him.If these guys were the hardest hitters ever they would both have 99% k.o records.If I had to pick between the 2 ,I would say Marciano hits harder because his training on film looks a bit better with actual power being thrown.Louis doesn't have a real k.o of showing his power with a good HW,a real HW in his prime,Carnera while huge wasn't a real fighter he was a groomed pro wrestler turned fighter,turned pro wrestler/Circus strong man.As weight goes up for each opponent you will see a drop in k.o percentage this applies to all champions ,this is not even debatable its proven thru facts on paper.This shows the small guys who should've been k.od weren't ,at times,i would say anyone who says yes to this thread is very delusional to think marciano is the hardest hitter ever.

[Ray Corso]

..Carnera while huge wasn't a real fighter he was a groomed pro wrestler turned fighter,turned pro wrestler/" .... False!

Carnera became a pro wrestler after having a kidney removed (diabetic) which ended his boxing career. He fought from 1928 to 1944.

When discussing punching power the most important condition to consider is the chin that the power will be connecting to.
If Marciano hits anypone cleanly it will hurt, the same with Louis!
When the better quality contenders go up against known punchers they will
be more cautious about engaging them with exchanges.
A regference to Billy Conn was made however inaccurately, Conn was doing well against Louis by remaining on the move and at long range, once he decided to exchange the bout was OVER!

Carnera at 6' 5.5" and 244lbs was Ko'd by Louis mainly because of Louis's superior technical abilities. His arm angles and rotations along with his power
allows him to hurt anyone he lands cleanly on.
By the way Louis isn't exactly small....6' 2" 190--212lbs along with poccessing
techniques that no other heavy has matched. The closest technical heavy in a simular style would be Evander and some of the techniques used by Holmes.
The current heavies are one dimentional in comparison!!
If anyone thinks Wlad or Lewis is still standing after getting hit by Marciano or Louis your delusional, they were beat up by far less talents.
Alex techniques are the primary reasons for success in boxing along with experience. Size is a genetic gift not a learned skill, size can also be used against a fighter and if he hasn't been taught to adapt his "adavantage" could spell doom. Tyson took advantage of many opponents with height & weight numbers that exceeded his. It's not the "size of the dog in a fight it's about the fight inside the dog"!
Ray.