He is known as the hardest one-punch hitter in history

[PEBBLES!]

I refuse to believe that Shavers hit proportionately as hard as The Hawk.

[IronDanHamza]

shavers could hurt the best but he couldn't beat them.

Exactly.

Shavers was a decent fighter at best. He was far from a great fighter.

But if he could do anything, he could punch.

Your post is the best way to put it, he could hurt the best, but he couldn't beat the best.

Saying he had average power is baffling.

[PEBBLES!]

Larry Holmes was the ****in man to be able to get up from that..most men would've been out cold.

To get up and then kick his ass.

[LeG00N]

P4P Jackson is the hardest hitter

[KingTito]

That man could definitely crack. It's hard to say who the hardest puncher ever is, but Shavers has to be considered when discussing it.

[dannyl15]

Julian Jackson

I believe he was a middleweight, so no, he did not hit harder than a heavyweight

[SonnyDempsey]

Something about Julian Jackson's shots just seems plain eerie.
Short response: Julian Jackson

Longer response:
I'm all for saying Shavers hit harder than anyone, and I wouldn't argue with that, mainly because I have no idea. Earnie Shavers never hit me.

But, if you look at youtube highlight reels of Shavers, Jackson, Hearns, etc., Julian Jackson stands out in some intangible way. He's like a spring loaded stone statue. You can see his rear foot pivot and transfer the energy through his trunk, torso and out from his low-slung shoulder and disproportionately-long forearm. His head never moves out of sync with the horizon line.

His energy transferral is so efficient that he seems to have plenty of time to reset and do his move where he points downward with his glove after he knocks someone out, sometimes while they're still in midair from the shot.

Shavers being a heavyweight, well - all heavyweights hit hard, even John Ruiz. Shavers just happened to hit harder than the rest that Ali and Holmes fought.

Thomas Hearns is my favorite fighter, so I would be more inclined to choose him as the harder puncher. But I don't choose Thomas Hearns - it's Julian Jackson.

The only bizarre thing - Jackson didn't carry his power up in weight at all. He could turn a planet into space junk with one shot, seemingly, but Gerald McLellan said he felt like a welterweight was hitting him when they fought. Bizarre indeed.

[SplitSecond]

seems like alot of hard hitters are just arm punchers

[etlux]

Ali fought them both, I think his opinion counts

george foreman also called lennox lewis the greatest heavyweight of all time, better than ali. Shannon Briggs said Vitali is much better than both Lennox Lewis and George Foreman, having fought all 3.

Sometimes boxers' opinions aren't that accurate

[edgarg]

It's about single-punch power.

For sure, Iron Mike was more devastating, but fighters who faced him said it was his speed that hurt them. They never saw them coming.

For a pound-for-pound choice, Julian Jackson is a good pick.

If it's going to be lb4lb it has to be Jimmy Wilde.