Earnie Shavers, hardest puncher of all times?

[Willow The Wisp]

The question wasn't who had the best heavyweight power. It was who is the hardest puncher of all time. So since weight class wasn't specified, that includes any weight class. And 49 KOs in 55 wins is damn good punching power. Ditto for Nigel Benn (almost 73 KO percentage) and Carlos Zarate (90%).

A P4P question then? That opens some avenues. Sandy Saddler, Jimmy Wilde, George KO Chaney, Charles LeDoux, Archie Moore, Bob Fitzsimmons, Florentino Fernandez, Ruben Olivares, Thomas Hearns, Alexis Arguello, Pipino Cuevas, Carlos Zarate, Bob Foster, Khaosai Galaxy, Stanley Ketchel and Al Hostak are good candidates for starting that kind of discussion.
I asked Julian Jackson some years ago at the Hall where all that power comes from. He said to me "I don't know, it just comes".

[kara]

I'd be super inclined to say it was a far more modern heavyweight. Who I'm not sure, but if you're examining the hardest puncher ever I'd say it's someone who can knock a guy out with very little space. A good example would be Andy Ruiz vs Luis Ortiz just last year. Andy doesn't have any big windup's on his knockdown blows, Now Andy Ruiz isn't a hardest hitter ever...but it's this type of execution i would be looking for hardest hitter ever. A quick cross with enough power you dont ever need a full windup it's a rare trait. Marciano was extremely gifted with this also.

Deontay Wilder?

[YGriffith]

Deontay wilder, and no one even showcased anything close to his one hit power consistently throughout all divisions/history

[QueensburyRules]

A couple of observations. 1. Ruiz didn't come close to knocking OUT Luis Ortiz. Indeed, a razor thin fight. 2. Julian Jackson didn't have heavyweight power, as he wasn't a heavyweight. 3. Woman are indeed attracted to power. Of course, we all knew that.
My stock answer generally makes mention of the usual suspects like Fulton, Dempsey, Godfrey, Baer, Louis, Murray, Marciano, Satterfield, Liston, Williams, Foreman, Shavers, Lyle, Tyson, etc.

However, someone mentioned that the pick should go to a very modern heavyweight who routinely blows away the bigger heavyweights of the current century; and that distinction belongs to Deontay Wilder exclusively.
43-2-1 with 42 knockouts, 8 years at the top of the profession, 10 title fight wins, Olympic medalist, 2nd best of his generation and a draw and 4 knockdowns scored againt the 1st best.
Among the most modern-day heavyweights, Wilder stands completely alone as the biggest hitter.

Like all fighters, Wilder receives plenty of undue criticism from fans who wouldn't have what it takes to step into a ring against someone they didn't know who's there to feed their family; but my perception of them all is that they commonly operate with considerably less boxing knowledge than they perceive themselves as having, which is an easy thing to spot.

- - Snicker...Andy loves em!

Haymon and TUE TBE laid the groundwork for the To Be Announced Opponent career where some poor sap is given short notice to fight the titlest. Pretty much the whole latter half of Deyonce career where he is steadily outboxed by TBA before landing his sucker shot..

[GhostofDempsey]

Most of his opponents felt he was the hardest puncher. But it's all really subjective. Marciano was considered a big hitter for only being well under 200 pounds. Same with Louis and Dempsey. Foreman, Lyle, Liston, Tyson, had reputations as some of the biggest punchers as well. I have to believe that Lewis, Wilder, Vitali, Fury are all big hitters every bit as powerful as Shavers given their size.

[billeau2]

Deontay wilder, and no one even showcased anything close to his one hit power consistently throughout all divisions/history

Really? Take early Tyson, when he was knocking all his opponents out, and then lets say Wilder goes on to fight and doesn't KO opponents the same way... How would posters, 20-30 years from now, be speaking of Wilder then?

There have been plenty of exceptionally hard hitting heavyweights. Wilder is indeed one of them, but we need more perspective before we declare him in a class by himself.

[4truth]

Shaver's KO ratio against modern sized HWs (215+) wasn't very impressive, 11 of 23. Wilder is a much more powerful puncher as were Lewis, Wlad and numerous others.

[max baer]

A couple of observations. 1. Ruiz didn't come close to knocking OUT Luis Ortiz. Indeed, a razor thin fight. 2. Julian Jackson didn't have heavyweight power, as he wasn't a heavyweight. 3. Woman are indeed attracted to power. Of course, we all knew that.
My stock answer generally makes mention of the usual suspects like Fulton, Dempsey, Godfrey, Baer, Louis, Murray, Marciano, Satterfield, Liston, Williams, Foreman, Shavers, Lyle, Tyson, etc.

However, someone mentioned that the pick should go to a very modern heavyweight who routinely blows away the bigger heavyweights of the current century; and that distinction belongs to Deontay Wilder exclusively.
43-2-1 with 42 knockouts, 8 years at the top of the profession, 10 title fight wins, Olympic medalist, 2nd best of his generation and a draw and 4 knockdowns scored againt the 1st best.
Among the most modern-day heavyweights, Wilder stands completely alone as the biggest hitter.

Like all fighters, Wilder receives plenty of undue criticism from fans who wouldn't have what it takes to step into a ring against someone they didn't know who's there to feed their family; but my perception of them all is that they commonly operate with considerably less boxing knowledge than they perceive themselves as having, which is an easy thing to spot.

wilder's punches are so hard you can hear them through all the noise and he knocked out 42 out of 46 or something. this shows how good fury is to beat him up so much and get up from his knockdowns. but yeah, wilder's punches were so damn hard. i heard shavers had hardest punch all my life in books and bios etc. it is so widely known by fight fans. it must hold some truth.

[billeau2]

Shaver's KO ratio against modern sized HWs (215+) wasn't very impressive, 11 of 23. Wilder is a much more powerful puncher as were Lewis, Wlad and numerous others.

You really have to go beyond superficial stats here... For example, Shavers was fighting a much higher calibre of opponent. Ditto for Tyson by the way. According to statistics Archie Moore is the hardest puncher ever lol after all, he has the most KO's right? You see the problem here?

You really have to look at each man more carefully to consider their KO ability.

Let me put it this way: Imagine Hellinius fighting the Acorn (Shavers)... If you were a betting man what would you "bet" would happen?

[billeau2]

wilder's punches are so hard you can hear them through all the noise and he knocked out 42 out of 46 or something. this shows how good fury is to beat him up so much and get up from his knockdowns. but yeah, wilder's punches were so damn hard. i heard shavers had hardest punch all my life in books and bios etc. it is so widely known by fight fans. it must hold some truth.

If we look at this question with a real careful eye we have to ask certain questions.
1. Is the Hardest punch the same as the best KO%? Considering things like: the difference in competition, length of fights, whether a puncher hits once, or in combination, etc.
2. Are we looking for a period of time or a person? If we want to know who has the hardest punch we know that all fighters follow a pattern to their prime and twilight years... if we really want the hardest punch, it is probably going to be a section of a puncher's career, not their entire career.
3. Anecdotal information. In a fight sport it counts... always keeping in mind that there might be ulterior motives, etc, one should still be able to glean info about a puncher, through others who have felt his punch.