BoxRec

Jose Luis Costello interview

BEST PUNCHER
Juan Lazcano: Juan Lazcano had a very hard punch.

Manny Pacquiao interview

BEST PUNCHER
Miguel Cotto: I can still feel some of those punches he threw at me. Staying on the ropes is not the best place to be when you are fighting him. He’s also accurate. He’s incredible.

John Conteh interview

Best puncher: Matthew Saad Muhammad because he was the only fighter who ever stopped me. I can’t tell you how hard he punched because I didn’t really feel much (laughs). I’m not taking anything away from Saad but I was coming towards the end of my career in 1980. Jorge Victor Ahumada, who I won the title against, was another big puncher and he could also take a shot.

Nigel Benn interview

Best puncher: Gerald McClellan. As I said the gap between him and the rest, in terms of power, was huge. He was in a league of his own but I had to win that fight because everyone thought I was going to lose. What happened was I was due to fight Michael Nunn and it got back to me that I would have to take ┬ú100,000 less and I said; “Are you mad?” Michael was a slippery southpaw, his name was “Second to” Nunn and I’ve to take ┬ú100,000 less? That could have been my last fight because Michael was one of the best around at that time, so I said no chance. The answer I got was fight Nunn or we’ll bring over a mini Mike Tyson (McClellan). Now, you have to understand I was in the army and had a ton of street fights, so I’m not scared to take on anyone. I’m not made that way but once my fight with Gerald was over I should have retired.

Steve Collins interview

Best puncher: Nigel Benn hit the hardest. I don’t even think Benn knew how hard he hit to be honest (laughs). Nigel caught me flush in the first fight and I thought he had broken all of my teeth and this horrible taste filled my mouth. I actually felt sick to my stomach and nobody had ever hit me like that before.

Ray Mercer interview (previously said Tommy Morrison in an earlier interview)

BEST PUNCHER
Wladimir Klitschko: He was a bigger and stronger guy. I really didn’t know him so when he hit me I was like, ‘Damn, where did he come from?’ I was in shape and he was just a powerful dude, his jab and everything, very heavy-handed, more than Lewis.

Lennox Lewis interview

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.

Mike Tyson interview

BEST PUNCHER
Holyfield: He threw terrific shots with both hands and with bad intentions.

Tony Tubbs interview

BEST PUNCHER
TYSON: When Tyson hit me I felt dazed. When you’re younger you can take the puncher better than when you get older. If I had stayed on the outside he wouldn’t have beaten me. He gave up all his strength after five rounds. He was a hitter. Certain fighters would never fought Tyson, Riddick Bowe would never fight Mike Tyson. Bowe never fought nobody, he never fought Lennox Lewis. I’m glad I had the fights I had.

Pinklon Thomas interview

BEST PUNCHER
TOMMY MORRISON: Mike Weaver had a big left hook, a good right hand. He hit me with one punch and I felt it big time. I felt Berbick’s punch. Tyson to be honest, the first round was crazy because he was knocking everyone out. I knew he was going to come out strong like that, but after the second round I kind of had Tyson figured out. He wasn’t really reaching me with big punches. It didn’t happen till after the fifth round when my glove got split; I got hit and my right shoulder popped out. I would say when I got hit by [Tommy] Morrison it was like being hit by a baseball bat. I got hit to the ribs and my leg came up, I got hit with one punch and my eye split. Tommy hit me harder than anyone else I was ever hit by.

Frank Bruno interview

BEST PUNCHER
James “Bonecrusher” Smith: Smith had a hard punch and he was strong. This was one of my hardest fights. I was quite young at the time and he was a lot older. I lost this fight outright but it gave me a lot of experience. I learned a lot from his punches and tried to use his style later on in my boxing.

James Tillis interview on youtube he said Earnie Shavers.

Michael Moorer interview

BEST PUNCHER

David Tua: There was a lot of big punchers. Francois Botha hit hard. Foreman hit hard – at that time he caught me with a good punch. Holyfield hit hard. Anyone, if they get hit the right way, will go. Tua knew how to deliver the power, being more flatfooted than being on his toes and being that he kept a fist. Most boxers keep their hands open, and he knew the way he came in – short, stocky – and he had a good chin, but he could do the hitting as well.

John Ruiz interview

BEST PUNCHER
David Tua: He hit like a mule. Sometimes things happen and I admit he really got me.

Roberto Duran interview

BEST PUNCHER
Esteban De Jesus: De Jesus was the first opponent to knock me down and he had me down again in the second fight. When I lost to Thomas Hearns I was drained from losing weight too quickly, and that had a bad effect on me. Hearns got me with a great punch but I could have performed far better in a rematch. Marvin Hagler, who is a good friend of mine, told Hearns the only reason he knocked me out is because I wasn’t at my best.

Guts Ishimatsu interview

BEST PUNCHER
DURAN: Duran, Muangsurin and Gonzalez were all hard-punchers, but the quality of their punching power was different respectively: Duran; hard punches in succession, Muangsurin; hard single pinpoint punch, Gonzalez; very solid puncher, though I could fortunately defeat him twice.

Nicolai Firtha ( who in 2011 after he just fought Tyson Fury)
claimed he had been hit harder by Oliver McCall and Thomas Ademek (in sparring)
and Milton Littles.
He also said that Alexander Povetkin was the sharpest boxer he had ever faced.

Caractacus wrote: ↑24 Oct 2019, 15:48

I had to listen to that a few times before I could work out what he was saying. Ron Lyle if anyone else can't work it out.

Controversial wrote: ↑23 Oct 2019, 11:20 Mike Tyson interview

BEST PUNCHER
Holyfield: He threw terrific shots with both hands and with bad intentions.

I'm surprised at that.

I would have thought he would have said Razor Ruddock?

Syntax Error wrote: ↑24 Nov 2019, 17:41

Controversial wrote: ↑23 Oct 2019, 11:20 Mike Tyson interview

BEST PUNCHER
Holyfield: He threw terrific shots with both hands and with bad intentions.

I'm surprised at that.

I would have thought he would have said Razor Ruddock?

Or Lennox.

Holy is the most underrated puncher ever

Onetimeonly wrote: ↑24 Nov 2019, 21:01 Holy is the most underrated puncher ever

Evander was one of the most "effective" punchers in HW history.

Syntax Error wrote: ↑24 Nov 2019, 17:41

Controversial wrote: ↑23 Oct 2019, 11:20 Mike Tyson interview

BEST PUNCHER
Holyfield: He threw terrific shots with both hands and with bad intentions.

I'm surprised at that.

I would have thought he would have said Razor Ruddock?

He did say Bruno at one stage before he fought Holyfield, and I'm pretty sure he has said Ruddock too at some point as well.

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.