How hard did tyson punch?.

[Abe Attell]

Like I said, Rooney said Tyson's punch wasn't measured, but he always says Mike punched "hard" so I guess it doesn't matter

[Verstyle]

Like I said, Rooney said Tyson's punch wasn't measured, but he always says Mike punched "hard" so I guess it doesn't matter

rooney cant really do the punching mitts ne more cause he has arthritis from tyson punching so hard for years before. this i know cause i talked to 1 of his fighters when i went to catskills this year

[catskills23]

Like I said, Rooney said Tyson's punch wasn't measured, but he always says Mike punched "hard" so I guess it doesn't matter

Rooney was only with tyson until 1988 . Tyson could have got his punching power measured after that .He did it get it measured before the lewis fight but the results werent in psi .All it said was that tysons punch was the equivalent of a 17 lb wooden mallet hitting you at 35 mph .

[Kid Achilles]

If I had to guess, I think Tyson hit on the 1200-1300 level. Sam McVea (or McVey as I've also seen it), who physically was built a lot like Tyson, hit at this PSI in the early 1900's. For a comparison, Michael Spinks (a decent puncher even at heavyweight) hit at 700-750 PSI or so.

These tests have been around for a long time, over a hundred years. It's interesting that Bob Fitzsimmons, at 160-170 pounds, actually hit at something like 1050 PSI, just a hundred less than modern heavyweight sized Jim Jeffries. Reminds me of Jeff Lacy scoring higher than any of the heavyweights on his olympic team, though I don't think even Lacy hits at 1000 PSI. Fitz was a freak of nature.

[catskills23]

If I had to guess, I think Tyson hit on the 1200-1300 level. Sam McVea (or McVey as I've also seen it), who physically was built a lot like Tyson, hit at this PSI in the early 1900's. For a comparison, Michael Spinks (a decent puncher even at heavyweight) hit at 700-750 PSI or so.

These tests have been around for a long time, over a hundred years. It's interesting that Bob Fitzsimmons, at 160-170 pounds, actually hit at something like 1050 PSI, just a hundred less than modern heavyweight sized Jim Jeffries. Reminds me of Jeff Lacy scoring higher than any of the heavyweights on his olympic team, though I don't think even Lacy hits at 1000 PSI. Fitz was a freak of nature.

i think tyson hits over 1300 psi now . Vitali klitschko hits at 1300 psi and willams and francis who fought both guys have said that tyson hit harder . In tysons prime he probably hit as hard as shavers or foreman because of his handspeed . he probably hit at 1600 psi +

[Southpaw Stinger]

In tysons prime he probably hit as hard as shavers or foreman because of his handspeed . he probably hit at 1600 psi +

You can't just make assumptions like that. Tysons hand speed wouldn't have made much difference to his actual punch power, it just meant he could hit people with more power shots. I don't know why people overate Tyson's punching power that much, his power was ok but nothing special. It was his skill and speedy combinations which knocked out his opponents.

[BKM-]

You can't just make assumptions like that. Tysons hand speed wouldn't have made much difference to his actual punch power, it just meant he could hit people with more power shots. I don't know why people overate Tyson's punching power that much, his power was ok but nothing special. It was his skill and speedy combinations which knocked out his opponents.

I dont agree. His power was more than special. He had huge power in both hands. His accuracy and speed was NOT the reason why he ko'd his oppponents. There have been lots of heavyweights with the same speed and accuracy. Muhammad Ali, Chris Byrd, Floyd Patterson etc. But They were no knockout machines like Tyson because they didnt have the power. Tyson was one of the hardest hitters of all time. But people overrate it. I agree with that. But not as much as some say.

[catskills23]

You can't just make assumptions like that. Tysons hand speed wouldn't have made much difference to his actual punch power, it just meant he could hit people with more power shots. I don't know why people overate Tyson's punching power that much, his power was ok but nothing special. It was his skill and speedy combinations which knocked out his opponents.

Speed equals power . power equals acceleration multiplied by mass . I have no doubt shavers and foreman had more mass behind their punches but tyson had much more acceleration which gives him the extra power . without tysons speed he wouldnt of being able to generate the same force behind his punches as foreman or shavers but speed gave him the extra force to enable him to generate as much power as foreman and shavers if not more .

[Southpaw Stinger]

Speed equals power . power equals acceleration multiplied by mass

That is the theory but that also means that Ali would have tremendous KO power since he was both bigger and faster than Tyson.

[hemichromis]

tysons speed and precision is waht made him dangerous but he was powerful also