I'll go for technique, speed and timing.
Announcement
Collapse
No announcement yet.
Hardest puncher ever
Collapse
-
Punch for punch I believe Dempsey hit as hard or harder than Louis.
Dempsey and Louis were both sharpshooters. Hitting ko blows via speed, technique.
Foreman is in another category. Never seen anything like it before or since. George did not have the technique of either Dempsey or Louis but he was deceptively fast and incredibly strong. I will never be able to remove from my mind the power punching exhibition I saw that day from him.
Foreman had overwhelming raw power while both Louis and Dempsey were both highly refined and focused with delivering their punching power.
Comment
-
Way too many factors and there are different types of power if I had to pick the one guy I'd not want to get hit by the most it'd probably be Frank Bruno.
He's the only fighter I've ever seen shake up Oliver McCall.
He badly buzzed Tyson with one shot also.
Probably an unpopular one but by God that man could crack.
Comment
-
Bruno was more a bodybuilder than a fighter. He could hit but his lack of speed or technique limited the effectiveness of his punches.
Comment
-
Originally posted by HOUDINI563 View PostBruno was more a bodybuilder than a fighter. He could hit but his lack of speed or technique limited the effectiveness of his punches.
I think that is a bit unfair, Bruno's skills and technique are horribly underrated. I don't know why he's talked of like he was this big, stiff robot when he moved pretty well for a guy his size & was a fundamentally sound fighter with better fundamentals than most of top HWs today. Anyone 6ft4 & a good 240 isn't going to the most fluid, he's a big, big man. He was a little upright and tended to push his shots when tired but I wouldn't say he lacked technique, he was quite textbook. I think the excess muscle mass effected his cardio more than anything.
A good fighter in an era full of killers.
38K.Os in 40 wins and the only two he didn't stop were the granite chinned McCall and a very durable Brown.
Comment
-
Punching is a lot like life itself: It does not matter where/what you start with, its where/what you wind up with... Every fighter starts a punch with efficiency and power in mind, yet what arrives, what transfers to the opponent, makes for great differences.
In terms of pure force, the heavy handed fighters hit very hard. Foreman, Lyle, shavers...
In terms of speed and accuracy we have Dempsey, Louis, Baer, Tyson. Wilder belongs here as well...
Guys in the middle who showed great power using a bit of both would include Liston, Jeffries (at least how he was described).
The reason one cannot say who hit the hardest is we would have to know the amount of force transferred to the opponent, not the amount of force on a stationary target.
It looked to me like one of the absolute hardest blows I ever saw was the second coming of Big George catching Moore...lacking.
I say this because a powerful punch should be thrown naturally with no attempt to make the blow "hard." George was tired enough that he just followed through with all his weight and nothing to slow down momentum...
Comment
-
It’s much more than speed and accuracy. Loughran was very fast and accurate but had little power. Being able to set oneself to put the body weight behind blows is the key. Add speed and accuracy to it you get a Joe Louis. Dempsey with his technique to step into his punches to amplify their power was unique. Dempsey was also very quick.
Comment
-
Originally posted by HOUDINI563 View PostIt’s much more than speed and accuracy. Loughran was very fast and accurate but had little power. Being able to set oneself to put the body weight behind blows is the key. Add speed and accuracy to it you get a Joe Louis. Dempsey with his technique to step into his punches to amplify their power was unique. Dempsey was also very quick.
Kind of funny because in Western boxing with the cross, it is not intuitive to drop the weight down with a cross and it is far from the most efficient way to get to the target fast, and with weight behind.
Also with a cross, by hitting "across" the body you lose reach.
Comment
Comment