Someone should do more research on the background of Denny Kelliher.
What had he done for a living to give him such punching power in the ring ?
Why didn't he become a champion ?
No wind ? weak chin ? too slow ?
couldn't think on his feet ?
Re: Which fighters said hit them the hardest ?
Posted: 26 May 2021, 11:25
by Caractacus
Here is what Bob Fitzsimmons had said about the punching power of Jim J. Jeffries
(particularly his left to the body)in their first fight in June 1899 at Coney island NY.(KO 11)
"The first time he really hit me in the Body""
Fitzsimmons remembered
"I thought his Fist had gone right through me"
Re: Which fighters said hit them the hardest ?
Posted: 06 Apr 2022, 13:03
by Caractacus
Tony Zale had once said that the "Hardest Hitter" that he had ever faced was Al Hostak.
Re: Which fighters said hit them the hardest ?
Posted: 19 Jul 2022, 15:04
by Caractacus
a lot of people at ringside at the "Fight of the Centry" (March 1971)
said that the left hook that Frazier landed on Ali when he was against the ropes
in the sixth round was a harder punch then the one that had knocked Ali down in the 15th round.
Re: Which fighters said hit them the hardest ?
Posted: 16 Jan 2023, 06:47
by Controversial
Bodyshot3 wrote: ↑23 Mar 2021, 15:20
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.
Just been listening to Barry being interviewed on Ringside Rewind, he once again said Laporte was the hardest he'd been hit and after the punch landed he thought he was in his mums shop lol. He named the second hardest as an amateur called Tumat Sogolik who apparently almost took his head off.
Re: Which fighters said hit them the hardest ?
Posted: 16 Jan 2023, 14:17
by Bodyshot3
Just been listening to Barry being interviewed on Ringside Rewind, he once again said Laporte was the hardest he'd been hit and after the punch landed he thought he was in his mums shop lol. He named the second hardest as an amateur called Tumat Sogolik who apparently almost took his head off.
Barry is great for a funny anecdote - he really has the gift of the gab - although I don't think he could even say 'hello' after Laporte cracked him. I might catch the fight again and see if they did throw the ice bucket over him
Just been listening to Barry being interviewed on Ringside Rewind, he once again said Laporte was the hardest he'd been hit and after the punch landed he thought he was in his mums shop lol. He named the second hardest as an amateur called Tumat Sogolik who apparently almost took his head off.
Barry is great for a funny anecdote - he really has the gift of the gab - although I don't think he could even say 'hello' after Laporte cracked him. I might catch the fight again and see if they did throw the ice bucket over him
Have a listen to the Ringside Rewind podcast with him, it's a good podcast as they cover a lot of things each week. Barry is a great talker, amazing to think he was only 28 when he retired.
Re: Which fighters said hit them the hardest ?
Posted: 16 Jan 2023, 14:34
by Bodyshot3
Have a listen to the Ringside Rewind podcast with him, it's a good podcast as they cover a lot of things each week. Barry is a great talker, amazing to think he was only 28 when he retired.
I will give it a whirl.....always loved the Cyclone and it is a shame that a supposedly sharp-operator like Eastwood could not read the small print and had his man fighting in a Nevada frying pan. That loss to Cruz was a total disaster.
Bloody amazing that Barry did not die of heatstroke, he did end up on a drip in hospital
Re: Which fighters said hit them the hardest ?
Posted: 16 Jan 2023, 14:37
by gilgamesh
I always found it interesting that James Toney said Drake Thadzi hit him hardest.
Have a listen to the Ringside Rewind podcast with him, it's a good podcast as they cover a lot of things each week. Barry is a great talker, amazing to think he was only 28 when he retired.
I will give it a whirl.....always loved the Cyclone and it is a shame that a supposedly sharp-operator like Eastwood could not read the small print and had his man fighting in a Nevada frying pan. That loss to Cruz was a total disaster.
Bloody amazing that Barry did not die of heatstroke, he did end up on a drip in hospital
He mentions having a serious ankle injury before the fight too and says he has to be careful what he said as it ended up in court action against Eastwood but from what he says it sounds like he wasn't in the best condition going into the fight, amazing that he went the full 15
Re: Which fighters said hit them the hardest ?
Posted: 16 Jan 2023, 15:07
by Controversial
gilgamesh wrote: ↑16 Jan 2023, 14:37
I always found it interesting that James Toney said Drake Thadzi hit him hardest.
He must've changed his mind as he said this when interviewed in Ring Magazine
Best puncher: Merqui Sosa — Sam Peter is the hardest puncher I’ve fought, but pound-for-pound it’s Sosa because he hurt me the most. I’ll never forget that fight, we fought on an ESPN show in Atlantic City on a Sunday. I went at him like I did everyone back then and that mother f_____ hit me so hard in the third round I was seeing triple for the next three rounds. He knew how to hit and he was so awkward that I couldn’t time him and he caught me high on the head.
gilgamesh wrote: ↑16 Jan 2023, 14:37
I always found it interesting that James Toney said Drake Thadzi hit him hardest.
He must've changed his mind as he said this when interviewed in Ring Magazine
Best puncher: Merqui Sosa — Sam Peter is the hardest puncher I’ve fought, but pound-for-pound it’s Sosa because he hurt me the most. I’ll never forget that fight, we fought on an ESPN show in Atlantic City on a Sunday. I went at him like I did everyone back then and that mother f_____ hit me so hard in the third round I was seeing triple for the next three rounds. He knew how to hit and he was so awkward that I couldn’t time him and he caught me high on the head.
Yeah his answer of Drake Thadzi was when Brian Kenny asked him on ESPN. He was in the booth with him on Friday Night Fights as I recall.
Re: Which fighters said hit them the hardest ?
Posted: 16 Jan 2023, 15:35
by Bodyshot3
He mentions having a serious ankle injury before the fight too and says he has to be careful what he said as it ended up in court action against Eastwood but from what he says it sounds like he wasn't in the best condition going into the fight, amazing that he went the full 15
The fight was a disaster on just about every count.
Cruz was a late-ish replacement they had not trained for and knew almost nil about, Eastwood got very greedy-dull and had the bout dialled back so it was not on in the wee small hours (for a UK audience) but that meant the heat was still horrific.
And McGuigan was also shedding lead to make the weight and wanted to move up.
It was a masterclass in poor decision-making and on another night McGuigan would have thrashed Cruz.
It is quite annoying really because we missed the whole McGuigan-Mitchell-Nelson-Fenech quartet up at Super Feather.
Re: Which fighters said hit them the hardest ?
Posted: 16 Jan 2023, 16:31
by Noxy
Guys, I was a starry eyed McGuigan fan in those days. I would have loved to have been at one of his fights. But, let’s be real here. Cruz had his chance and he took it. It was hot for him and all.
Barry did retire young. I think it was the way he fought. He never stopped pressing, it probably burnt him out. Although he was pretty much unstoppable until then.
Re: Which fighters said hit them the hardest ?
Posted: 16 Jan 2023, 17:01
by orbtastic
Taking nothing away from Cruz but McGuigan looked seriously ill towards the end of that fight. There's a shot of him in the corner staring into space and his eyes look so blank. They were massaging his ear lobes and all sorts to get him back into the land of the living.
LaPorte could crack, he absolutely levelled Rocky Lockridge and nobody else came close to managing that.
Re: Which fighters said hit them the hardest ?
Posted: 16 Jan 2023, 17:28
by irongloves
Caractacus wrote: ↑14 May 2021, 12:44
I just read this in Sugar Ray Robinson's 1970 autobiography SUGAR RAY.
Concerning his first two fights with Jake LaMotta
first fight was in October 1942 ,Robinson's 36th pro fight (27 by KO)
(in which LaMotta had 10 pounds on him)
Sugar Ray Robinson was hitting LaMotta with so many punches his arms were getting weary (which rarely happened)
Robinson was thinking "Man, he has fall any moment now"
But not the Bull,
"his head popped up and he let go a left hook that almost tore through my stomach.
It hurt so much I had tears in my eyes, like a kid.
I got the decision but I learned that Jake La Motta was some animal"
in the second fight a few months later (February 1943-Robibson's 43rd pro fight)
"IIn the Eighth round, he did something nobody had ever done to me before.
He hit me with a right hand in my mid-section and when I doubled up,he let go a left hook to my jaw.
For the first time in my career,I had no legs.I sagged through the ropes and onto the ring apron and sprawled there.
In my daze I could here the referre Sam Hennnessy counting"...Six....Seven...Eight.."
I made it back into the ring In time."
I need to read this book.
I'm quite well read wrt heavyweight literature and almanacs (and boxing sociology), but this is one I haven't read yet.
Re: Which fighters said hit them the hardest ?
Posted: 17 Jan 2023, 12:30
by Alguiffer
Was looking through some old saved boxing stuff and came across this from Mr. Joey DeJohn's obit:
French middleweight Robert Villemain beat DeJohn in 1952, but said, "That DeJohn's not human. I was never hit so hard in my life."
Re: Which fighters said hit them the hardest ?
Posted: 17 Jan 2023, 13:26
by Caractacus
hey, I mainly used to read only auto-biographies of HW's
( such as A MAN MUST FIGHT by Gene Tunney, which was a great read.
but now I've branched out to reading the autobiographies of the lighter weights.
you should also read
SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME by Rocky Graziano ( published 1955)
and
NO MAN STANDS ALONE by Barney Ross ( published 1957)
RAGING BULL by Jake La Motta ( published 1970)is also considered a boxing classic,
but I read that Jake La Motta had done a 20 page synopsis of it in 3 days and 2 nights in his cheap crummy hotel room in 1969,
and his good riend Pete Savage, wrote most of it, and made himself
a main character, but even then it is still good reading. http://wardproject.org
Re: Which fighters said hit them the hardest ?
Posted: 18 Jan 2023, 10:38
by Alguiffer
That is a great list of titles - I will check them out - thank you.
Re: Which fighters said hit them the hardest ?
Posted: 18 Jan 2023, 14:15
by Caractacus
there was a entire thread on boxers autobiographies here a couple years ago.
I will try and bump it up.
Re: Which fighters said hit them the hardest ?
Posted: 18 Jan 2023, 15:06
by Bodyshot3
Guys, I was a starry eyed McGuigan fan in those days. I would have loved to have been at one of his fights. But, let’s be real here. Cruz had his chance and he took it. It was hot for him and all.
Barry did retire young. I think it was the way he fought. He never stopped pressing, it probably burnt him out. Although he was pretty much unstoppable until then.
Fair call Noxy....I was a big McGuigan fan too (still am) but was too young to go and see him fight. So it was the telly.
And yes you're right, Stevie Cruz did what he had to do.
But the fight was badly (even ineptly) plotted by Eastwood and put Barry at a massive disadvantage.
Eubank Senior said Benn hit like a sledgehammer when they met for the WBO MW title in Birmingham and that he was in far too much pain to celebrate and had blood in his pee. That feels about right.
Re: Which fighters said hit them the hardest ?
Posted: 18 Aug 2023, 17:00
by Caractacus
check out this story of Alan Sugar sparring with Rubin "Hurricane" carter.
Regarding the great Sam Langford (boxed 1902-1926) the whole sport marveled at his remarkable punching power and by maybe 1910 he was being widely hailed as the hardest hitter of that rich era. Harry Wills, Joe Jeannette, Sam McVea, Bill Lang, Gunboat Smith, Fireman Jim Flynn and many other middles, light-heavies + heavies he fought over the years singled him out as supreme hitter of the first order, but he was always blessed with power even down at lightweight and welter in his early seasons 1902-04. He put Elbows McFadden out cold for 2 minutes in '04.
To give an example of the danger he brought, in his first (of an eventual fifteen) battle(s) with the great hall of fame heavyweight Sam McVea (April 1911), Langford gave up 40 lbs (in 4 ounce gloves) to the Idol of Paris yet still forced the feared Oxnard Cyclone to fight on the retreat for 20 rounds. Even the hitters had to switch it up. With his chin, experience and power you simply couldn't bang with him. Even long past his prime his power stood out as bizarre.
After Langford it was the legendary Joe Louis many years later that finally earned justified comparisons to Sam's KO power from any position. Louis' great mentor Jack Blackburn fought Sam multiple times early in their careers and later saw him grow into the most feared hitter in the game, he knew what was up. Sam had a crazy build (5'7" 1/2 w/ long arms, huge shoulders and a 44" chest), but also vast high-level experience, and a chin of granite to match. One of the greatest to ever do it and had more fights vs hall of famers than anyone.
Re: Which fighters said hit them the hardest ?
Posted: 14 Sep 2023, 10:26
by Controversial
597065 wrote: ↑13 Sep 2023, 19:04
Regarding the great Sam Langford (boxed 1902-1926) the whole sport marveled at his remarkable punching power and by maybe 1910 he was being widely hailed as the hardest hitter of that rich era. Harry Wills, Joe Jeannette, Sam McVea, Bill Lang, Gunboat Smith, Fireman Jim Flynn and many other middles, light-heavies + heavies he fought over the years singled him out as supreme hitter of the first order, but he was always blessed with power even down at lightweight and welter in his early seasons 1902-04. He put Elbows McFadden out cold for 2 minutes in '04.
To give an example of the danger he brought, in his first (of an eventual fifteen) battle(s) with the great hall of fame heavyweight Sam McVea (April 1911), Langford gave up 40 lbs (in 4 ounce gloves) to the Idol of Paris yet still forced the feared Oxnard Cyclone to fight on the retreat for 20 rounds. Even the hitters had to switch it up. With his chin, experience and power you simply couldn't bang with him. Even long past his prime his power stood out as bizarre.
After Langford it was the legendary Joe Louis many years later that finally earned justified comparisons to Sam's KO power from any position. Louis' great mentor Jack Blackburn fought Sam multiple times early in their careers and later saw him grow into the most feared hitter in the game, he knew what was up. Sam had a crazy build (5'7" 1/2 w/ long arms, huge shoulders and a 44" chest), but also vast high-level experience, and a chin of granite to match. One of the greatest to ever do it and had more fights vs hall of famers than anyone.
Different era different times. I don't think eras should be compared as you can only fight who is around at that time however I've seen footage of Langford and there is just no way he would be beating future HW greats, too short, too light and too open. Hands down by his waist, hardy a jab thrown and walking forward worked for him in those times.
Re: Which fighters said hit them the hardest ?
Posted: 14 Sep 2023, 14:49
by Caractacus
Can you imagine the punching power that Sam Langford would have had,
if he was an even 6 ft tall like Earnie Shavers ?
