Which fighters said hit them the hardest ?

[Controversial]

Holyfield did have as much sheer power as some guys. However, he was effective because he was a very accurate puncher who threw a lot of punches.

Sometimes it's hard to know what to to make of a guy saying so and so was the hardest puncher he faced. Some guys won't be honest. Others might not even remember someone that they should. Probably the biggest problem is that they may not have actually been nailed by a a really hard puncher in their fight.
Some guys might happen to land their best punch(s) of their career against a guy. i.e. Maurice Hope probably thinks Benitez was a big puncher.

Still interesting anyway.

Exactly. It's also worth remembering that just because someone knocks you out doesn't mean they hurt you the most. I was knocked out many years ago and I don't remember a thing about it. So the big spectacular KOs may look painful but chances are the recipient is out before they feel anything.

[Caractacus]

Philadelphia Jack O'Brien once said about his first fight with Stanley Ketchel in March 1909.
when they fought a 10 round No Contest fight.
O'Brien was out-jabbing Ketchel silly for 9 rounds,
when in the final round Ketchel caught up with him
.O'Brien discribed the sensation as
"It just seemed as if all the lights went out".

O'Brien got up at the count of 8 and survived the round.
Presumably if Ketchel had knocked out O'Brien he then would have been the light-Heavyweight champion
and fought Jack Johnson as it which was his next fight.

[Controversial]

Frank Tate

BEST PUNCHER
David Telesco: He was a hard-puncher and he hurt me. I’d never been hurt in my whole career. He really hurt me, I’d never been hit like that.

[AntonioMartin]

Antonio Martin (myself)

Answer:
Michael at the gym. Because he hit me with a very sharp right to the chin in our sparring match. He gave me a temporary headache and some days later I went to the er with neck pain which was likely helped by that. It also was the only serious one out of two sparring matches I had.

[Controversial]

Nicky Piper said Crawford Ashley was the hardest puncher he faced, followed by Leeonzer Barber and then Nigel Benn.

[Controversial]

Milton McCrory

STRONGEST
Jones: I’m going to go with Colin Jones. He was shorter than me and he fought aggressive and he was strong. The bodyshots… everything hurt. We went 24 rounds.

BEST PUNCHER
Jones: Mike McCallum couldn’t punch hard… I was just tired. I took a 15-rounder at two weeks [notice] and went 10 rounds. Donald was a good puncher, he could punch. I’d stick with Colin Jones. He hurt me around the fifth round with a bodyshot.

[Controversial]

Lupe Pintor

STRONGEST
Gomez: He was very tough, he was like a train like me. It was like a train clash, unfortunately in the fourteenth round I got hit.

BEST PUNCHER
Gomez: Nobody that I fought felt bad when they hit me. I think Gomez surprised me because during the fourteen rounds we were exchanging punches.

[bollocks]

Going back through this thread it's interesting to note that most of the names mentioned come from the heavier divisions which is no great surprise. But when talking P4P some of the smaller guys deserve a mention and one of them Jimmy WIlde, is considered by some as the hardest hitting fighter that ever lived. But nobody really wants to consider a 108lb fighter as being at the very top of the heap in terms of punching power, do they?

I've always thought that the heavier the fighter, the less ability they have to take a punch comparatively, and therefore the higher KO% rate and also the more spectacular the KOs. Anwway...the smaller fighters take a comparatively better punch than the big boys is my theory

[adislav123]

your theory is bollocks.

the heavier guys just punch harder.

[bollocks]

your theory is bollocks.

the heavier guys just punch harder.

Trump supporter ey?

[adislav123]

your theory is bollocks.

the heavier guys just punch harder.

Trump supporter ey?

diminutive fvcker who thinks he packs some mighty punch ey? 'comparatively'

[Caractacus]

Thomas Hearns said that he thought that the punch he knocked out Pipino Cuevas with
may have been a harder punch then he knocked out Roberto Duran with.
but then of course he knocked down and then out Duran with more then one flush punch. in that fight

[Controversial]

David Haye

BEST PUNCHER
Monte Barrett: I remember him hitting me and being shocked at the difference in punch power between him and the cruiserweights. He was a very heavy-handed guy.

[Controversial]

Lennox Lewis

BEST PUNCHER
Shannon Briggs: He lacked endurance but Briggs certainly knew how to put his bodyweight behind a punch. Unfortunately for him you need the full package when you face me so power isn’t enough. Fans may expect me to say McCall or Hasim Rahman for punching power but I basically set myself up against both of them.

[Jimmy2020]

Herol Graham. Julian Jackson

[gilgamesh]

Herol Graham. Julian Jackson

I doubt Herol even felt that shot that put him out like a light. Doubt he felt anything for several minutes afterward. That's when a punch is REALLY devastating. When it doesn't even hurt. It just turns your brain off.

[Controversial]

Herol Graham. Julian Jackson

I doubt Herol even felt that shot that put him out like a light. Doubt he felt anything for several minutes afterward. That's when a punch is REALLY devastating. When it doesn't even hurt. It just turns your brain off.

Yep I've said this many times, those KO punches don't always hurt, it's the ones that don't knock you out that hurt more. To be fair though Graham did say Jackson was the hardest puncher he fought..

Herol Graham

Best puncher: The best puncher was Julian Jackson, come on, please. I don’t even have to think when it comes to that question. One shot and I was gone and it came just after the referee was going to stop the fight in my favor. I made the mistake of going for a sucker punch, when he was in the corner, and Jackson responded with a knockout punch. I had to go to the hospital and there were some scary moments because I couldn’t remember a thing about the fight. Three or four hours later it all came back to me and that was a really powerful right hand shot. There were a lot of broken hearts in Britain that night, especially mine. Another extremely hard puncher was Lindell Holmes, who I outpointed in Sheffield, but nobody tops Jackson.

Strongest: Sanderline Williams in 1985. I remember him because he wore army trunks, but more so because his shots seemed to go right through me. I really had to move that night, because he hit so hard. I would still give punch power to Julian Jackson though. I have to because he knocked me out.

[gilgamesh]

Herol Graham. Julian Jackson

I doubt Herol even felt that shot that put him out like a light. Doubt he felt anything for several minutes afterward. That's when a punch is REALLY devastating. When it doesn't even hurt. It just turns your brain off.

Yep I've said this many times, those KO punches don't hurt, it's the ones that don't knock you out that hurt more. To be fair though Graham did say Jackson was the hardest puncher he fought but probably based on other punches.

Herol Graham

Best puncher: The best puncher was Julian Jackson, come on, please. I don’t even have to think when it comes to that question. One shot and I was gone and it came just after the referee was going to stop the fight in my favor. I made the mistake of going for a sucker punch, when he was in the corner, and Jackson responded with a knockout punch. I had to go to the hospital and there were some scary moments because I couldn’t remember a thing about the fight. Three or four hours later it all came back to me and that was a really powerful right hand shot. There were a lot of broken hearts in Britain that night, especially mine. Another extremely hard puncher was Lindell Holmes, who I outpointed in Sheffield, but nobody tops Jackson.

Strongest: Sanderline Williams in 1985. I remember him because he wore army trunks, but more so because his shots seemed to go right through me. I really had to move that night, because he hit so hard. I would still give punch power to Julian Jackson though. I have to because he knocked me out.

As Evander Holyfield put it once "No matter how much it hurts. If you can feel the pain. You're still in the game. If you don't feel the pain, you're out"

And I'm not gonna lie the way the British commentators were so blatantly cheering on Herol Graham "He has so much tonight in comparison to Jackson who has, so little"

Followed by "OH NO! THAT'S WHAT WE WERE WORRIED ABOUT!" when he gets laid out. It's just priceless.

The commentators should never show their bias, and when they do like that. I want them to be disappointed.

[Controversial]

I doubt Herol even felt that shot that put him out like a light. Doubt he felt anything for several minutes afterward. That's when a punch is REALLY devastating. When it doesn't even hurt. It just turns your brain off.

Yep I've said this many times, those KO punches don't hurt, it's the ones that don't knock you out that hurt more. To be fair though Graham did say Jackson was the hardest puncher he fought but probably based on other punches.

Herol Graham

Best puncher: The best puncher was Julian Jackson, come on, please. I don’t even have to think when it comes to that question. One shot and I was gone and it came just after the referee was going to stop the fight in my favor. I made the mistake of going for a sucker punch, when he was in the corner, and Jackson responded with a knockout punch. I had to go to the hospital and there were some scary moments because I couldn’t remember a thing about the fight. Three or four hours later it all came back to me and that was a really powerful right hand shot. There were a lot of broken hearts in Britain that night, especially mine. Another extremely hard puncher was Lindell Holmes, who I outpointed in Sheffield, but nobody tops Jackson.

Strongest: Sanderline Williams in 1985. I remember him because he wore army trunks, but more so because his shots seemed to go right through me. I really had to move that night, because he hit so hard. I would still give punch power to Julian Jackson though. I have to because he knocked me out.

As Evander Holyfield put it once "No matter how much it hurts. If you can feel the pain. You're still in the game. If you don't feel the pain, you're out"

Exactly, we probably all get too focused on power, at the end of the day pain is pain and if you get hit with a decent shot in a fight its gonna hurt!

[Tuan_Jim]

Probably already been mentioned, but Foreman said Cooney and Lyle hit him so hard it didn't even hurt.

[Wee Tommy]

I doubt Herol even felt that shot that put him out like a light. Doubt he felt anything for several minutes afterward. That's when a punch is REALLY devastating. When it doesn't even hurt. It just turns your brain off.

Yep I've said this many times, those KO punches don't hurt, it's the ones that don't knock you out that hurt more. To be fair though Graham did say Jackson was the hardest puncher he fought but probably based on other punches.

Herol Graham

Best puncher: The best puncher was Julian Jackson, come on, please. I don’t even have to think when it comes to that question. One shot and I was gone and it came just after the referee was going to stop the fight in my favor. I made the mistake of going for a sucker punch, when he was in the corner, and Jackson responded with a knockout punch. I had to go to the hospital and there were some scary moments because I couldn’t remember a thing about the fight. Three or four hours later it all came back to me and that was a really powerful right hand shot. There were a lot of broken hearts in Britain that night, especially mine. Another extremely hard puncher was Lindell Holmes, who I outpointed in Sheffield, but nobody tops Jackson.

Strongest: Sanderline Williams in 1985. I remember him because he wore army trunks, but more so because his shots seemed to go right through me. I really had to move that night, because he hit so hard. I would still give punch power to Julian Jackson though. I have to because he knocked me out.

As Evander Holyfield put it once "No matter how much it hurts. If you can feel the pain. You're still in the game. If you don't feel the pain, you're out"

And I'm not gonna lie the way the British commentators were so blatantly cheering on Herol Graham "He has so much tonight in comparison to Jackson who has, so little"

Followed by "OH NO! THAT'S WHAT WE WERE WORRIED ABOUT!" when he gets laid out. It's just priceless.

The commentators should never show their bias, and when they do like that. I want them to be disappointed.

The much lauded Carpenter and Gutteridge were always heavily biased over here. Nothing much has changed with Smith and his cronies.

[bollocks]

"go on Frank, get stuck in"....Bruno V Tyson 1

[Caractacus]

Vito Antuofermo interview
"The hardest I been hit was by Cyclone Hart.
For the first three rounds my head felt like it was spinning all the way around"
You know like the girl in The Exorcist.
But he quit on e and I knocked him out in the Fifth round".

[Bodyshot3]

McGuigan - just done his book again - says that Juan Laporte was the only guy that put him on queer street.
Just finished Cyclone My Story (again) which is a really superb read and beyond the ring wars.

I might have posted on this earlier up the thread so apologies.

But this crossroads meeting of past and future featherweight kingpins in Belfast in 1985 was a brutal experience for Barry who freely admits that Laporte cracked him so hard he was dreaming about his childhood for a few seconds.

McGuigan somehow stayed upright and basically got an ice-bucket dumped on his head and managed to recover and win a belting fight.

But he is very clear that it was only Laporte that hit him so hard and bang on the button so that he did not know what he was doing for a while and other fights (even losses) were less frightening.

[bennie]

Herol Graham. Julian Jackson

I doubt Herol even felt that shot that put him out like a light. Doubt he felt anything for several minutes afterward. That's when a punch is REALLY devastating. When it doesn't even hurt. It just turns your brain off.

Yep I've said this many times, those KO punches don't always hurt, it's the ones that don't knock you out that hurt more. To be fair though Graham did say Jackson was the hardest puncher he fought..

Herol Graham

Best puncher: The best puncher was Julian Jackson, come on, please. I don’t even have to think when it comes to that question. One shot and I was gone and it came just after the referee was going to stop the fight in my favor. I made the mistake of going for a sucker punch, when he was in the corner, and Jackson responded with a knockout punch. I had to go to the hospital and there were some scary moments because I couldn’t remember a thing about the fight. Three or four hours later it all came back to me and that was a really powerful right hand shot. There were a lot of broken hearts in Britain that night, especially mine. Another extremely hard puncher was Lindell Holmes, who I outpointed in Sheffield, but nobody tops Jackson.

Strongest: Sanderline Williams in 1985. I remember him because he wore army trunks, but more so because his shots seemed to go right through me. I really had to move that night, because he hit so hard. I would still give punch power to Julian Jackson though. I have to because he knocked me out.

Graham's memory isn't too reliable. Ricky Stackhouse wore the army shorts (whom he stopped in eight rounds) and not Sanderline Williams.