Hardest puncher in the heavy weight division history?

[AchillesFury]

Who is the hardest hitter that ever existed in the heavyweight division?

My top two picks are Mike Tyson and Earnie Shavers

Those I picked cause that's what I read about on Google and because of watching Mike Tyson on heavybag and in his boxing matches.

[sentax]

You can't put Tyson over Foreman. Holyfield fought both and he said Foreman hit harder.

[AchillesFury]

Maybe he felt that way cause Tyson hardly ever hit Holyfield. Tyson missing almost all big shots in that fight and getting destroyed, maybe that is why.

[REDEEMER]

Hard not to pick Tyson here just because the impact of what we see on video. Guys like foreman are in the mix but how can we say he knocked out better guys to prove who hit harder? I would go with Tyson, it just seemed if he went for the K.O he usually got it.

[billeau2]

This thread comes up every now and then. Shavers is always mentioned, Foreman, Liston are usually in the mix. Joe Louis and Dempsey sometimes come up... Lennox Lewis also at times.

Tyson gets bandied around but lets consider him: He was not the fastest, he was not the biggest and he was not the strongest. His punches were very quick and he could hit you very hard either hand. So it probably was not TYson

[Ray Corso]

These three I know personally to be the hardest punchers I have ever witnessed.

Ernie Shavers
Mike Tyson
Ken Schmidt

Worked pads and held heavy bags with all three.

From my experience talking with inside fight people George Foreman is all ways mentioned. Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis are legendary along with Marciano.

Sonny Liston
Big Cat Williams
Max Baer
Elmer Ray
Bob Fitzsimmons

No need to get popped by any of them.........

Ray

[Joe Beamish]

Prime (young, with Rooney) Tyson would be my vote...though he was helped by the fact that he threw punches in combinations and was freakishly accurate. But you can see in the films -- he devastated his opponents, many of whom were big, healthy mofos.

[GhostofDempsey]

I would vote Liston and Shavers. Foreman himself said the hardest punch he ever took was from Liston in a sparring session.

[Ben Bolt]

I’m in the belief that Earnie was the hardest one-punch hitter, but that Foreman would do you more damage.

But what fighter would have been the most aching experience the day after a fight? Perhaps Frazier. I do think his body punches had reminded you for a week or two that you had been in a fight.

[HOUDINI563]

Only one fighter scared me in terms of punching power. I watched Foreman train in the mid 70’s. He hit a 300 pound heavy bag like it was nothing. The sound of his blows were thunderous off that bag. I weigh about the same as prime Foreman and have done lots of work on standard heavy bags. Seriously the one time I tried hitting a 300 pound bag I could not move it (barely) and after a few blows my shoulders felt as if they were dislocated! Anyway I’ve watched Ali, Frazier, Shavers and Tyson in training and none compare with what I saw that day watching George. Most were faster than Foreman but none offered his raw power.