Rate Their Power

[The Surgeon]

Curious to see how The History Boys rate the following Fighters PURELY IN TERMS OF POWER

Tyson, Lewis, Marciano, Liston, Wlad, Tua, Lyle, Dempsey, Frazier and Bowe

1: Hitting the Hardest
10: The least powerful banger

This is just a random list btw, not my top 10 punchers or anything just so we're clear....

Poll to come.............

[The Surgeon]

Poll is just the most favoured puncher obviously but post ur top 10 of the chosen fighters if u would please

[Joeyzagz]

1. Foreman(Where is he on your list?)
2. Max Baer
3. Joe Louis
4. Earnie Shavers
5. Lennox Lewis
6. Sonny Liston
7. David Tua
8. Wladimir Klitschko
9. Mike Tyson
10. Max Schmelling

[The Surgeon]

1. Foreman(Where is he on your list?)
2. Max Baer
3. Joe Louis
4. Earnie Shavers
5. Lennox Lewis
6. Sonny Liston
7. David Tua
8. Wladimir Klitschko
9. Mike Tyson
10. Max Schmelling

Its not my top 10 man, just a random list otherwise Big George and Earnie would easily make the list

On your list, Schmelling is an odd choice no?

[Barn]

Curious to see how The History Boys rate the following Fighters PURELY IN TERMS OF POWER

Tyson, Lewis, Marciano, Liston, Wlad, Tua, Lyle, Dempsey, Frazier and Bowe

1: Hitting the Hardest
10: The least powerful banger

This is just a random list btw, not my top 10 punchers or anything just so we're clear....

Poll to come.............

Marciano
Liston
Tyson
Dempsey
Bowe
Tua
Lewis
Frazier
Wlad
Lyle

That was a lot more difficult than I anticipated.

[$Bullsfam$]

Curious to see how The History Boys rate the following Fighters PURELY IN TERMS OF POWER

Tyson, Lewis, Marciano, Liston, Wlad, Tua, Lyle, Dempsey, Frazier and Bowe

1: Hitting the Hardest
10: The least powerful banger

This is just a random list btw, not my top 10 punchers or anything just so we're clear....

Poll to come.............

That'd be epic if they all fought each other 3 times. See who would have the most wins.

1. Mike Tyson
2. Sonny Liston
3. Ron Lyle
4. Tua
5. Wlad
6. Lewis
7. Rocky
8. Bowe
9. Fraizer
10. Dempsey

[NChristo]

1. Sonny Liston
2. Wlad
3. Marciano
4. Tyson
5. Lewis
6. Tua
7. Dempsey
8. Lyle
9. Frazier
10. Bowe

Wasn't sure on 3 - 7, could mix them around but I'll stick with this.

[New England]

That'd be epic if they all fought each other 3 times. See who would have the most wins.

1. Mike Tyson
2. Sonny Liston
3. Ron Lyle
4. Tua
5. Wlad
6. Lewis
7. Rocky
8. Bowe
9. Fraizer
10. Dempsey

lol i wouldn't wish that on any man


of this list:
tyson
tua
wlad
lewis
liston
lyle
bowe
frazier
marciano
dempsey




line up a speed bag (or hang a chin out there) and this is an in order list of the guys who i believe will hit it the hardest
you'll see me favoring size in this because well... it matters. the two smallest guys are on the bottom of my list and it's no coincidence.


i'd like to add that i believe the two hardest punchers ever in the division, in order, are george foreman and acorn ernie shavers

foreman largely on the primal fear every man feels when seeing his power
and shavers on similar fear, but also testimony of many great fighters who have said he hits like a monster and harder than any other opponent they faced

[DeepSleep]

Curious to see how The History Boys rate the following Fighters PURELY IN TERMS OF POWER

Tyson, Lewis, Marciano, Liston, Wlad, Tua, Lyle, Dempsey, Frazier and Bowe

1: Hitting the Hardest
10: The least powerful banger

This is just a random list btw, not my top 10 punchers or anything just so we're clear....

Poll to come.............

Tyson
Wlad
Liston
Lewis
Tua
Bowe
Frazier
Marciano
Lyle
Dempsey

[nomadman]

Curious to see how The History Boys rate the following Fighters PURELY IN TERMS OF POWER

Tyson, Lewis, Marciano, Liston, Wlad, Tua, Lyle, Dempsey, Frazier and Bowe

1: Hitting the Hardest
10: The least powerful banger

This is just a random list btw, not my top 10 punchers or anything just so we're clear....

Poll to come.............

Questions like this are always difficult because there simply isn't a linear scale of power;everyone generates power in a slightly different way, from different body mechanics and techniques. And certain fighters can be more resilient against certain shots than others. Someone's best shot might turn fighter A's legs to jelly but have comparatively little effect on fighter B, who in turn might get dropped by a fighter who couldn't dent fighter A etc etc.

In terms of raw explosive power I've got to rank Tua near the top. His shots routinely had a devastating effect on normally durable fighters, and he could end fights in seconds regardless of how late into the fight it was. He also had very fast hands and excellent technique to go with that power. If he had faster feet and a better boxing brain then I don't think anyone would have any question about ranking him near the top.

Tyson's either an overrated or an underrated puncher depending on who you ask. His one hit power I think was exceptional, and he has the knockouts to prove it. His power generating mechanisms and technique were similar to Tua's, though I have to rate him below Tua for what I perceive in him of having slightly less physical power. His other traits made him a more devastating fighter however, but that's not the question.

Wlad and Lennox both have similar power I think. Lennox was the heavier handed, and tended to put his full weight into shots a lot more, resulting in some truly sickeing knockouts (Rahman II anyone?), whilst Wlad tends to be more reticent in unleashing his full power, preferring to hang back and shoot sharp shots down the pipe... which still often ends in a knockout. Were they both more aggressive (a futile thought given how large they are) they'd have close to 100% KO ratios. As it stands, very few fighters in history can boast the sorts of knockouts these two have had.

Frazier's left was a beautiful shot, discombobulating and dangerous at any stage of the fight. I rank Frazier extremely highly as a puncher.

Bowe's a good but not exceptional puncher. He used his weight and height to get power into shots, in the same way that Lennox and Wlad did, but his often sloppy technique and slight lack of speed forces me to rank him below them. Were he smaller, I doubt anyone would give him a second thought at all.

Ron Lyle is an interesting case. He's one of only a handful of men to seriously hurt Foreman and was dropping him with single shots, but aside from that there's really not much to go on. The Shavers's win is nice, but Shavers wasn't the most durable of opponents. I'd probably rank him below the above fighters (minus perhaps Bowe) but not by much. Hard to judge.

Liston: heavy handed but ponderous puncher, similar to Foreman. Could rattle your cage with just about any shot. Obviously possessing great physical strength and solidity, but his lack of speed and technique hurts him.

Rocky: great power for his size.

Dempsey: hard to rate his power given how little I've seen of him compared to the others. Also fought with different size gloves, which have to be factored in there. I wouldn't rate him anywhere near the others, based on what I've seen, however.