BoxRec

foreman probably hit the hardest IMO but P4P bear may of hit harder but as it is foreman hts harder

Certainly Louis belongs in the elite list of HW punchers.

The Great John L wrote:Certainly Louis belongs in the elite list of HW punchers.

No argument here. I think his speed actually over-shadows his raw hitting power.

Goodnight, Irene wrote:

The Great John L wrote:Certainly Louis belongs in the elite list of HW punchers.

No argument here. I think his speed actually over-shadows his raw hitting power.

No argument here either. His timing and speed are one of the all-time best p4p, not just heavy.

Right, I think those abilities probably leave people under-estimating his brute power, if anything.

Louis would have knocked a lot of guys out without the handspeed.

I'd say Mike Tyson, from that list.

As stated, raw power + speed, probably gave him the edge. Foreman, although slower, probably carried more strength, but I wouldn't say that alone is enough.

Baer - Sometimes I think people over-exagerate his power. Whilst no doubt they guy could punch very hard, not sure I would place him quite as highly as some people do. Maybe its people over compensating, dunno. However before I get flamed to bits, just want to say its perspective and I think Tyson, for his explosiveness, comes out on top here.

Louis & Tyson are neck-&-neck, IMO, for which Heavyweight champ had the best handspeed-to-power ratio. Absolutely neck-&-neck.

Of these 5:

1. Foreman
2. Tyson
3. Lewis
4. Marciano
5. Baer

If we are really do this pound per pound:

1. Foreman
2. Tyson
3. Marciano
4. Lewis
5. Baer

Adamj1987 wrote:foreman probably hit the hardest IMO but P4P bear may of hit harder but as it is foreman hts harder

P4p?? Baer was a huge man, Foreman was only about a quarter of an inch taller (Baer was just under 6'3) and peak for peak only 5-10 lbs heavier, even though Baer in his later career weighed in the 220s as well and carried the weight extremely well, no fat at all. Just look at Max's shoulders . . .just a naturally big guy.

Tyson hit harder than Baer,Baer knocked out mostly cruiseweights by today's standards with less padding gloves.Baer had a powerful right hand but Tyson had two powerful hands,also Baer was slow and Tyson had tremendous speed!!!

Tyson punched a lot harder than Foreman. A year before Foreman fought Alex Stewart Tyson fought him and softened him up for George.. Mike got him gone in the 1st round.. Foreman hit Stewart with the kitchen sink and couldn't put him away -- embarrassing.

Also in his prime Foreman fought little Jimmy Young, Levi Forte, Gregorio Peralta, and Roberto Davila in fights where he failed to score KO victories. They weren't big guys.. They didn't have lots of resistance.. They didn't have much power, size, or strength to keep Foreman off... but somehow they survived.. Davila, and especially Forte were knocked out multiple times by others before they fought Foreman.

Anthony Joshua has a 100% KO ratio including KO's in all 4 of his Heavyweight Title Fights... Foreman had 11 World Title Fights scoring 4 KO's -- for 36% KO's.

Joshua is the hardest puncher so far.. He goes 6'6" X 250.. For the peak fight of his life Foreman went 6'3" X 217.. Joshua would enjoy a bigger height and weight advantage over a peak Foreman than Liston enjoyed over Patterson. Joshua stays in shape between fights -- doesn't eat cheeseburgers and other fat food.

dempseyfire wrote:

Adamj1987 wrote:foreman probably hit the hardest IMO but P4P bear may of hit harder but as it is foreman hts harder

P4p?? Baer was a huge man, Foreman was only about a quarter of an inch taller (Baer was just under 6'3) and peak for peak only 5-10 lbs heavier, even though Baer in his later career weighed in the 220s as well and carried the weight extremely well, no fat at all. Just look at Max's shoulders . . .just a naturally big guy.

Joe Louis smashed a peak Max Baer with ease... Not even a contest so far as power... Joe Louis also got rid of punching bag Primo Carnera much faster than Max Baer could manage it...and that was when Louis had 19 fights... 11 months of pro experience... and weighed 196.

The great Iron Mike Tyson was the greatest puncher with one punch raw power. But the great George Foreman had more leverage in his punches. It didn't seem to hit someone hard, but it was the accumulation of punches per round that got opponents in queer street. I rated Big George over Iron Mike in a list of greatest punchers. Foreman is ranked higher, not by much in my view. I think he also has a better knockout percentage than Tyson.

They both get smashed through the canvas by Joshua... Jab too good... Right hand too good... Power too good.

elmersalsa wrote:The great Iron Mike Tyson was the greatest puncher with one punch raw power. But the great George Foreman had more leverage in his punches. It didn't seem to hit someone hard, but it was the accumulation of punches per round that got opponents in queer street. I rated Big George over Iron Mike in a list of greatest punchers. Foreman is ranked higher, not by much in my view. I think he also has a better knockout percentage than Tyson.

Foreman had greater one punch power. Tyson had a better left hand than Foreman did. KO% is not the reason foreman was the harder. KO % by itself can be deceiving. A lot of it depends on quality of opponents. A fight can be stopped by one ref that wouldn't be stopped by another. Tyson was probably #2. Foreman was just brutal. It should not be even be a question that he was the hardest hitting heavyweight champion ever.

Ambling Alp II wrote: KO % by itself can be deceiving. A lot of it depends on quality of opponents.

Foreman padded up his KO record without letup. And despite that, George couldn't stop bums like Levi Forte... Forte was knocked out 11 or 12 times before he went the distance with Foreman and 16 times altogether... Foreman couldn't stop Light Heavyweight Gregorio Peralta the first time he faced him -- which didn't bode well for his power development.

Many outstanding Heavyweight challengers go for a Heavyweight Title shot before they have 20 fights -- such as Muhammad Ali... Anthony Joshua... Jim Corbett... Jim Jeffries and many others.. Foreman hung around for over 3 dozen fights - padding his KO record with bums before he went for the Heavyweight Title in his 38th fight... From his 25th fight to his 37th fight Foreman fought guys with terrible records such as: 3-0 ... 1-2 ... 1-14-1 ... 4-15 ... 3-25-2 ... 21-40-0 ... 14-21-2 ... 8-10 ... and about any other punching bag he could find to pad his record.. Mike Tyson certainly didn't do that.

After Foreman lost to Jimmy Young, his next 24 opponents were bums to pad his KO record... George knocked out every one of them except Everett Martin who Foreman couldn't stop... Martin had previously been knocked out by Light Heavyweight Tony Willis and unknown Heavy Johnny Du Plooy.

Heavyweight Champions with BETTER KO ratios than Foreman include: Vitali Klitschko... Rocky Marciano... Deontay Wilder... and Anthony Joshua... Joshua has a KO ratio of 100% - the best KO ratio of ALL Heavyweight Champions - and has already knocked out more Heavyweight Title Challengers than George Foreman EVER did.. Foreman knocked out the less than sturdy chinned Ken Norton and the ridiculous cherry-pick Joe Roman, who was knocked out 11 times in his career. Joshua knocked out Dominic Breazeale who has never been beaten except by Joshua.. He vanquished Wladimir Klitschko, who hadn't been knocked out in 13 years.. and he put Eric Molina out, a soft chinned fill-in challenger when a Joseph Parker fight couldn't be signed.

It's pretty obvious that Anthony Joshua is that hardest puncher in Heavyweight History -- and that Levi Forte who went the distance with George Foreman would never make it out of the 1st round with AJ.

Elmer and Kalan....

Point of order

Tyson was more accurate because of his speed, thus creating a better recorded outcome of the explosive nature of his punches.

He certainly did not hit harder than Foreman....but he could direct it more efficiently....often right to the sweet spot that gets the job done quickly.

He was a surgeon in his early days, Forman was a Hod Carrier

Tyson was focused on accuracy.....Foreman didn't even need to be accurate....he could deflate a person from even an inaccurate point of impact.

If Foreman's best punches landed in the way some of Tyson's did.....those victims might be dead vs simply being knocked out.

It was hard not to see Foremans punches coming.....so people had time to react/brace/avoid/defend/absorb in a safe fashio9n.....making Foreman's power overall less effective.

But raw power? Foreman>Tyson Didn't Ali call Foreman "The Mummy"?......sounds about right.

Please rethink and re submit your thesis by week's end.

Speed kills, the punch you don't see is the one that normally knocks you out. I think Foreman had more brute strength than Tyson but Tyson was the more dangerous puncher. Several Tyson opponents said he didn't hit as hard as some other boxers they had fought but his speed, combinations and two handed power gave him a huge edge.

Speed kills, the punch you don't see is the one that normally knocks you out. I think Foreman had more brute strength than Tyson but Tyson was the more dangerous puncher. Several Tyson opponents said he didn't hit as hard as some other boxers they had fought but his speed, combinations and two handed power gave him a huge edge.

Good post

Speed is certainly part of the equation. However Ali and Patterson had great speed and not that kind of power. Strength, accuracy, and technique plays a huge role. And some of it is natural ability. Look at what Foreman did against Frazier, Norton (please no BS about him not having a good chin) and Lyle. Tyson nor anyone else matches that.

Ambling Alp II wrote:Speed is certainly part of the equation. However Ali and Patterson had great speed and not that kind of power. Strength, accuracy, and technique plays a huge role. And some of it is natural ability. Look at what Foreman did against Frazier, Norton (please no BS about him not having a good chin) and Lyle. Tyson nor anyone else matches that.

Of course Foreman could punch and I think he was physically stronger than Tyson, I just think Tyson was a more dangerous puncher as he had speed and combination punching on his side. Foreman just pounded and clubbed guys with no real science. What also gets overlooked is Foreman was often the bigger guy by some margin, most of his early opponents were under 200lb and he didn't beat anyone of note before winning the title.

Foreman
Tyson
Baer
Lewis
Marciano

Ambling Alp II wrote:Speed is certainly part of the equation. However Ali and Patterson had great speed and not that kind of power. Strength, accuracy, and technique plays a huge role. And some of it is natural ability. Look at what Foreman did against Frazier, Norton (please no BS about him not having a good chin) and Lyle. Tyson nor anyone else matches that.

Patterson packed terrific power in one punch. The best he landed was the Ingo rematch---an ice job.. Patterson's blazing speed helped his power tons.. P4P he was devastating but he gave up a lot of size to the big guys.. Foreman was too slow and couldn't get little Young out.. Tyson put Michael Spinks out for with a shot---he was comparable to Young. Foreman kept connecting with Frazier right on the jaw.. Little Smokin' kept getting up...

188-pound Jose Luis Garcia only had 12 wins when he knocked Norton dead on his ear. The 3rd time he decked him, Norton, stumbled to his corner and collapsed. He couldn't even crawl back to his corner. So much for Norton's chin. Foreman never kept him down for the count. The Tyson who fought Michael Spinks would have iced those cats for the duration.. Spinks was Mike's peak fight at 218 -- bigger than Foreman's peak at 217 and a lot more compact at 5'11"

George Foreman, most definitely. Even Cosby was weary of him in Let's Do It Again.

ecto55 wrote:What makes me think Baer hits hardest among that list is that in his day he was recognised as a harder single shot puncher than Louis, and was able to cause the deaths of two fighters in doing so ... BTW- the other fighter Baer is credited with killing was the guy (Schaff?) originally said to have died from primo Carnera- but the damage was all done in the fight prior to Carnera- against Max Baer.

In Boxing you're not "credited" with killing people... You're not an ace fighter pilot trying to exterminate the enemy. You're credited with KO's... Baer's KO ratio of 64% is pretty good, but not outstanding. Joe Louis's KO ratio was 75% fighting tougher fighters... Anthony Joshua leaves both of them in the dust with a 100% KO ratio -- but Louis was great for his day.. Baer was an awkward swinger and took forever (11 kds) to get rid of chinny Carnera.. Louis stopped him quickly.

Uzcudun, Braddock, and Nova all beat Max Baer, with Nova knocking Baer out X 2 -- Joe Louis knocked Uzcudun, Braddock, and Nova out with little effort -- And Louis was favored to beat Bear though he had only 14 months of pro experience.. Louis overpowered Baer and stopped him in 4... Max quit... He was no match for Louis's firepower and couldn't hang with a hitter.