The objective is to produce a definition of a “big puncher”. Is it solely the brute force a fighter can generate behind a single shot (i.e. the mass of their fist multiplied by the velocity of their arm movement) or is it more about the success rate of achieving stoppage victories? And if it’s neither of those, then should we classify punch types instead?
For instance, to plagiarise the terminology used by Stephen "Breadman" Edwards, puncher’s can be categorised accordingly:
Electric Slasher:
• Deontay Wilder
Heavy handed Debilitator:
• Murat Gassiev
• Genady Golovkin
• Mikey Garcia
• Errol Spence Jr.
Speed Thudder:
• Adonis Stevenson
• Anthony Joshua
• Monster Inuoe”
• Gervonta Davis
Swordsmen:
• Krusher Kovalev
Where:
• Swordsmen = Punches where their sharpness results in delayed reactions (like Thomas Hearns). You don't see their shots thrown, so they land like a sucker punch.
• Heavy handed debilitator = Heavy handed boom, boom, boom type punches that ruins their opponents (like Marvin Hagler and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.)
• Electric Slashers = Throws slashing, punishing shots. They need their entire bodies to generate the electric energy (like: Ray Leonard, Shane Mosley, Manny Pacquiao, Roy Jones etc.). For instance, you couldn't class George Foreman as an "Electric Slasher", because he didn't need to use the leverage of his entire body (like Wilder does) to generate the power behind his shots. He sort of just let his hands go whilst standing upright.
• Speed Thudders = The best puncher ever when you combine power, accuracy, technique and punch delivery (like Joe Louis, Bob Foster, Julian Jackson, Roberto Duran, Mike Tyson)
• Bludgeon Crew = This is usually a man strong enough to punch through anything (like George Foreman). It doesn’t matter if their opponents hands are up or not. Punchers like this don’t care what they hit because they hurt and break everything (like Sonny Liston, David Tua, Marcos Maidana, Gerald McClellan, Earnie Shavers etc.). The difference between a "Heavy handed Debilitator" and a member of the "Bludgeon Crew" relates to the fact that those classified as the former are usually fundamentally sound (i.e. GGG, Hagler), whereas members of the latter simply punch very hard, whilst adopting an unrefined fighting style (i.e. Foreman, Maidana).
For example:
• A skilled fighter like GGG lacks the sword-like speed of a "Swordsmen", so he should be classed as a "Heavy Handed Debilitator", because his opponents are covering up and bracing for the onslaught.
Therefore, I don’t classify a “big puncher” using one-dimensional criteria, because stoppages can be forced in a variety of ways, such as via a one-punch KO achieved by a lightning-fast straight right hand thrown with surgical precision or resulting from the cumulative effect of consecutively-landed heavy blows.
Thoughts?
