who is the best puncher of all time

[jackallensfc]

names

[p4p1]

i think it would be foreman it was his punch that made him the oldest world champion in ring history

[Flump]

Donnie Long

[TheOneIsHere2008]

names

for you:


http://boxing.about.com/od/history/a/ring_punchers.htm

[I Feel Fine]

I would probably say Shavers. But pound for pound I'm not sure.

[Expug]

Bob Foster is up there.

[Big Bad John]

For one-punch power, it's Shavers. But being a great puncher means having precision and combination punching. Joe Louis was the best puncher boxing's ever seen.

[dempseyfire]

I would say the PFP best would have to be Sam Langford. Knocked out lightweights all the way up to Super Heavyweights, and he was a knockout puncher in every weight class he fought in.

2nd place for me would be Bob Fitzimmons.

Honorable mentions to Tommy Hearns and Julian Jackson.

Manny Pacquao is creeping into a solid top 10 spot, especially if he knocks out a Soto or a Guzman.

[Big Bad John]

Pacquiao's a solid top-40 puncher of all time, pound-for-pound, but knocking off some nobody isn't going to propell him into all-time-great status.

[raylawpc]

Three old timers who immediately came to find were Bob Fitzsimmons, Stanley Ketchel, and Terry McGovern.

[Borinken25]

How about Wilfredo Gomez, Edwin Rosario, Naseem Hammed, George Foreman, and John Mugabi.

[elmersalsa]

To me, it got to be either Jimmy Wilde, George Foreman, Joe Louis or Sandy Saddler. Their records of KO wins are SUPER IMPRESSIVE.

Not to mention Carlos Zarate and Ruben Olivares.

[Robinson]

For me it would be
Shavers and Foreman.

Shavers had a dynamic right hand which he threw with
perfection, and had he thrown a decent jab and not
over relied on that trump card of a right hand then he
may have done that bit better.

Foreman even at such a late age, when in shape had
thunder in his fists. His jab was methodic, but like a
battering ram it shook foundations, his right hand looked
slow and lazy to some but when it hit, which it often did
it separated senses.

[elmersalsa]

The great George Foreman did not looked that he hit that hard, but, of course, I was GLAD AND LUCKY that I was not at the end of his fists.

[Robinson]

Agreed.

When they impact there is something evil and un-natural
released through the leather.

[Big Bad John]

The great George Foreman did not looked that he hit that hard, but, of course, I was GLAD AND LUCKY that I was not at the end of his fists.

A lot of people confuse speed and power. Foreman didn't knock people out the way Mike Tyson did, with sudden bursts of energy. He was good at maneuvering his opponents to where he wanted them and landing his long, painfully thudding punches. Simply watching Foreman work the heavybag was a terrifying experience. When Ali and Foreman were training in the same gym in Kinshasa, Ali wouldn't even look near Foreman when he worked the heavybag.

[Diamond WEAPON]

IMO by weight class:

Heavyweight:
George Foreman

Cruiserweight:
Evander Holyfield

Light Heavyweight:
Michael Moorer

Super Middleweight:
Nigel Benn

Middleweight:
Gerald McClellan

Light Middleweight:
Julian Jackson

Welterweight:
Tommy Hearns

Light Welterweight:
Aaron Pryor

Lightweight:
Roberto Duran

Super Featherweight:
Julio Cesar Chavez

Featherweight:
Danny "Little Red" Lopez

Super Bantamweight:
Wilfredo Gomez

Bantamweight:
Ruben Olivares

Super Flyweight:
Khaosai Galaxy

Flyweight:
Fernando Montiel

Light Flyweight:
Jorge Arce

Strawweight:
Ricardo Lopez

[Borinken25]

For me in terms of one punch KO power

Heavy – Ernie Shavers – honorable mention to George Foreman and Mike Tyson
Cruiserweight – David Haye
Light Heavy – Bob Fitzsimmons
Super Middle - Nigel Ben
Middle – Stanley Ketchell
Light middle – John Mugabi - honorable mention to Julian Jackson
Welter – Thomas Hearns - honorable mention to Ray Robinson and Pipino Cuevas
Light welter – Kostya Tszyu
Lightweight – Edwin Rosario - honorable mention to Roberto Duran
Super Feather – Alexis Arguello
Feather – Sandly Sadler
Super Bantam – Wilfredo Gomez
Feather – Ruben Olivares - honorable mention to Carlos Zarate
Super Fly - Khaosai Galaxy
Fly – Jimmy Wilde - honorable mention to Pascual Perez
Light fly - Humberto Gonzales
Minimum – Ricardo Lopez

[Big Bad John]

If we're strictly talking about who fought under the weight limit, I'd go with the following, in no order:

Heavyweight – Joe Louis, George Foreman, Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson and Earnie Shavers
Cruiserweight – Rocky Marciano, Jack Dempsey, Joe Frazier and Joe Louis
Light Heavyweight – Sam Langford, Bob Foster, Michael Spinks, Tiger Jack Fox, Bob Satterfield, Tom Sharkey and Archie Moore
Super Middleweight - Stanley Ketchel, Bob Fitzsimmons
Middleweight – Stanley Ketchel, Gerald McClellan, Marvin Hagler
Jr. Middleweight – Tommy Hearns, John Mugabi and Julian Jackson
Welterweight – Ray Robinson, Charley Burley and Tommy Hearns
Jr. Welterweight – Kostya Tszyu, Julio Cesar Chavez, Aaron Pryor, Oscar de la Hoya
Lightweight – Edwin Rosario, Julio Cesar Chavez, Ike Williams, Joe Gans, Oscar de la Hoya
Super Featherweight – Alexis Arguello, Julio Cesar Chavez and Sandy Saddler
Featherweight – Sandy Saddler, Naseem Hamed, Terry McGovern, Henry Armstrong, Manny Pacquiao
Super Bantamweight – Wilfredo Gomez, Manny Pacquiao
Bantamweight – Ruben Olivares, Eder Jofre, Carlos Zarate, Alfonso Zamora
Super Flyweight - Jimmy Wilde, Khosai Galaxy
Flyweight – Jimmy Wilde
Jr. Flyweight - Jimmy Wilde
Strawweight – Jimmy Wilde and Ricardo Lopez

[elmersalsa]

I have seen Sandy Saddler's record and he stopped 15 foes in one year: 1944. He had more than 100 KOs. Unbelivable.

[zslayton]

I would say the PFP best would have to be Sam Langford. Knocked out lightweights all the way up to Super Heavyweights, and he was a knockout puncher in every weight class he fought in.

2nd place for me would be Bob Fitzimmons.

Honorable mentions to Tommy Hearns and Julian Jackson.

Manny Pacquao is creeping into a solid top 10 spot, especially if he knocks out a Soto or a Guzman.

I'm not saying Julian Jackson is the greatest puncher of all time, but that guy could really hit!

[BoxBuzz]

IMO by weight class:

Heavyweight:
George Foreman

Cruiserweight:
Evander Holyfield

Light Heavyweight:
Michael Moorer

Super Middleweight:
Nigel Benn

Middleweight:
Gerald McClellan

Light Middleweight:
Julian Jackson

Welterweight:
Tommy Hearns

Light Welterweight:
Aaron Pryor

Lightweight:
Roberto Duran

Super Featherweight:
Julio Cesar Chavez

Featherweight:
Danny "Little Red" Lopez

Super Bantamweight:
Wilfredo Gomez

Bantamweight:
Ruben Olivares

Super Flyweight:
Khaosai Galaxy

Flyweight:
Fernando Montiel

Light Flyweight:
Jorge Arce

Strawweight:
Ricardo Lopez

DW that is good list HOWEVER (and I know your just going to say this is my bias) But Aaron Pryor was not a one shot puncher by any stretch of the imagination. Like Hatton he was pretty hard swatting swarmer. He was just relentless and numb.

[Big Bad John]

I have seen Sandy Saddler's record and he stopped 15 foes in one year: 1944. He had more than 100 KOs. Unbelivable.

I've made the comparison between Saddler and Armstrong before. Saddler's universally thought of as being a bigger puncher, but Armstrong - a fellow featherweight - also had 100 knockouts, and many of them were against lightweights, welterweights and middleweights. He had 10 knockouts in 1944, himself. And he retired 2 months into 1945. He had 27 consecutive knockouts from April 1937 to February of 1938, and had 26 knockouts in 1937 alone. Counted among those knockouts were stoppages of Chalky Wright, NYSAC World Featherweight Champion Mike Belliose, NBA World Featherweight Champion Petey Sarron and Benny Bass - Bass's only knockout loss in almost 250 fights.

[Knucklez]

A few points:

1) Nigel Benn was not a massive puncher at SMW. He didn't carry his power up from MW.

2) Am I the only one that thinks Foreman's power is slightly overrated? I'm not saying he wasn't a huge puncher but many, even most of his stoppages were against opponents who were knocked down several times. Which means that they GOT UP several times as well. Which suggest that the damage was more due to an accumulation of fairly heavy punches rather than a couple of massive punches.

Shavers, Liston, Tyson, Louis tended to put people down once and for all. I'm not saying every time of course, but more frequently than Foreman did.

[p4p1]

Agreed.

When they impact there is something evil and un-natural
released through the leather.

completely agree when you saw the punches they just looked weird especially with the effects they had when they hit