Hardest Light Heavyweight Punchers

Jaclem · Post by **Jaclem** » 13 Dec 2005, 02:13

..thanks, barry, but the listing of the highest percentage kayo rates was in an earlier issue...was just about the light heavies..and was by fleischer. at the time billy fox handn't entered and muddied it up yet with his phony one. haven't given up.....the next pile of magazines is only five feet tall so i may have it before valentine's day.

fitzie fitzpatrick!!!! yes indeed. deaf...or at least partially so...and had the hearts of all ezzard's fans (and backers) in their mouths with that knockdown!!! ezz was damn near out.... eyes somewhere near the back of his head....before he came on later to kayo hilton the hitter. i think fitzie fought most of his fights on the west coast. as written..he ws especially dangerous in the early rounds.

barry · Post by **barry** » 13 Dec 2005, 06:24

Martin---Thank you for the updates, you have done a fantastic job of researching South American fighters and adding their records to the database of which I have scanned over countless times...great work. There are many South American fighters that I am very interested in, though I don't have a lot of information about yet, only what has been written and published in mostly magazines published in the United States. I've been putting material together for a couple of years now on boxings hardest hitters, which I have the U.S. covered and a good portion of Mexico, Australia and some of Europe, but there is still a lot of data that I intend to get and then hopefully start writing an encyclopedia of knockouts artists, but that will be a couple of years down the road before I even try to start it...I'm just putting togather lists and getting the fighters that I plan to cover together right now. Of course there are more than this, but some of the Argentinian fighters that immediately come to mind are Eduardo Lausse, Jose Gatica, Rafael Merentino, Jose Giorgetti, Rinaldo Ansaloni, Jose Bruno, Andres Selpa and Jorge Fernandez. Unfortunately I have not yet learned any other languages, so many magazines that are not printed in English I cannot read. I'll update my consecutive KO list, which originally I just had consecutive knockouts that a fighter scored from the start of their career, but I'm expanding it to consecutive KO's at any time. Again, thanks for the updates.

Jaclem---I'm missing several Ring mags from the 1920s thru around 1946, but I aqlso recall another, I think from the 30s that list KO percentages from the biggest of heavyweights up to that point...fighters like Dunkhorst, Jose Santa and fighters of that ilk. I'd like to see the one that you are talking about, do you recall what issue it is?

Berlenbach was a viscous puncher and another from that time, who was a big rival of him was also a big puncher, Jack Delaney, but like Berlenbach, he gets little recognition nowadays. Berlenbach was brutal to the body, possibly one of the best body-punching fighters ever. Berlenbach also suffered from some kind of disability, but I don't recall what it was.

barry · Post by **barry** » 13 Dec 2005, 09:51

Another really hard-punching light heavy was Danny Nardico...he put out some very tough fighters.

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 13 Dec 2005, 10:56

How about Tiger Jack Fox, don't think he's been mentioned yet... 100 koes nothing to sneeze at and he fought some real live wires too...

Matt · Post by **Matt** » 13 Dec 2005, 13:47

Fox was a pretty crafty guy, who fought more as a counterpuncher. His most powerful hand seemed to be his right hand, though he knocked guys out with the left hook. He liked to fight out of a stance (when he was younger), that could be described as looking similar to the stance a tailback uses before the snap. My impression of him, is that he liked to lure his opponents into traps, where he would use his power to either control them, or get them out of there. When his opponent chose to box him, or to not engage him at all, his fighters were extermely boring. He fought in spurts throughout his career as well, because he liked to spend as much time partying as he did at the gym. When he was taking a break he often clowned in the ring, or laid on the ropes.

He was both loved and hated in Spokane. Those that loved him, realized that he was the best fighter Spokane ever had, and those that hated him wanted to see his cocky butt get knocked out.

barry · Post by **barry** » 13 Dec 2005, 14:03

The 30s and 40s had a slew of really hard punching light heavyweights.

"Tiger" Jack Fox is one of my all-time favorites. He should have been a champion. He fought Melio Bettina for the title, although he had suffered a stab wound from a jealous woman something like a week, or two before the fight with Bettina...as if that wasn't enough, Bettina's manager, who practiced hypnotisim, prior to the bout it was claimed that he put the "Evil Eye" on Fox and hexed him, which certainly would seem ridiculous to most, but I believe that Fox was a very superstitious man and the thought of being hexed really shook him up.

Ray Actis—Brutal punching light heavyweight. I have mentioned this before, but Billy Conn said that Actis hit him harder than anyone in his career. He had to retire because he constantly was breaking bones in his hands. It wasn't that they were all that brittle, he just hit so hard that it was enevitable.

Bob Foxworth—I don’t know a lot about Foxworth other than he could really punch and he sort of just disappeared from boxing all at once after a brief, but successful career. Does anyone know why he just quit fighting?

George Courtney—He fought at both middleweight and light heavy and carried his punch when he moved up. The best asset of detrmining a really hard puncher is not his total number of knockouts, but the quality of opposition that he knocked out and Courtney has some quality knockouts.

Leo Lomski—Dropped Tommy Loughran in the first round of a title bout and had Loughran out, but some how he survived.

Bob Dunlap—He fought several heavyweights though he was rarely bigger than a light heavyweight, but like Satterfield, he carried the punch up to the heavy division.

Matt · Post by **Matt** » 13 Dec 2005, 14:39

Wesley (Kayo) Ketchell was another brutal puncher on the West coast during the early 30s. He was a southpaw, with a murderous left cross. He had Lomski down twice when he had something still left, while giving up 15 pounds. He also kayoed George Manley, Fred Lenhart and a pretty durable trialhorse on the West Coast Young George Dixon three times, he also came closer to knocking out Ace Hudkins than anyone.

Ketchell was very one-dimensional though, and had really nothing much else, other than the left hand. Still he was able to make a little bit of noise in the Light Heavyweight division, with just that one punch.

barry · Post by **barry** » 13 Dec 2005, 14:46

I thought about Ketchel, but I don't know a lot about him...another guy that I have heard some about is Young Firpo.

ebeneezer · Post by **ebeneezer** » 13 Dec 2005, 15:43

Don`t forget "Irish" Bob Murphy.

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 13 Dec 2005, 18:08

Berlenbach suffered scarlette fever when he was 2 which left him deaf and dumb... he only learned to talk after he was electrocuted in an accident aged 15 and found his hearing restored afterwards.

tiredoldngrey · Post by **tiredoldngrey** » 13 Dec 2005, 21:39

Here's one from no where, other than a good friend of mine knew this guy well and said he was a murderously hard puncher: Larry Buck. He fought some of the better LHWs of his time and had 21 kos in 25 wins.
Also, what does anybody know about the Alabama Kid. He had 103 kos in 166 wins.

Chuck1052 · Post by **Chuck1052** » 14 Dec 2005, 01:42

Tommy Gibbons is another fighter who had alot of
knockouts at a time when many top fighters scored
a low percentage of knockouts. But much like Sam
McVey, Gibbons didn't stop that many top fighters.

- Chuck Johnston

barry · Post by **barry** » 14 Dec 2005, 04:14

I've done a lot of research on Alabama Kid. He started out around the bantamweight limit and peeked around middleweight, though he was still successful fighting at light heavy and even some at heavyweight. He was a boxer-puncher type and was very popular around the state of Ohio, where he later settled down to train boxers and run a pool hall, though I lost track of him during the middle 1950s. His record is still incomplete, though I have found about 30+ new bouts for him during that last couple of years and now I have his career record at: 196-61-20 (114 KO) NC 4, in 281 total bouts. There are still probably between 20 and 50 unrecorded bouts during his first few years fighting that have yet to be found, but hopefully that can be done within the next few years. The main source for someone to check would be Akron daily newspapers from around middle 1927 through about 1935, thats where most of his unrecorded bouts will be found. The second recorded bout that I have for Kid is July 23, 1928 and the newspaper article stated that the bout made 17 wins in his last 19 bouts.

barry · Post by **barry** » 14 Dec 2005, 04:17

Actually, his weight range that I have is between 114 pounds to 186 pounds...which he carried his punch with him through all those weight classes.

Chuck1052 · Post by **Chuck1052** » 14 Dec 2005, 12:46

Although Young Stribling had alot of knockouts, his knockout
percentage isn't that good. But in reply to the most recent
posts on Alabama Kid, I have read that Stribling started
out as a bantamweight and would go on to fight as a
heavyweight. Of course, so many fighters started boxing
professionally at an early age at the time.

Strib had a brother named Babe Stribling, who also had
quite a few pro bouts. But unlike his brother, Babe scored
very few knockouts.

- Chuck Johnston

barry · Post by **barry** » 14 Dec 2005, 13:00

I think Babe only had 1 knockout in something 100+ bouts.

Georges Carpentier was another like Stribling and Alabama Kid by fighting in nearly all weight classes...he also carried his punch up to all the weight classess he fought in.

barry · Post by **barry** » 14 Dec 2005, 15:02

Charles Ledoux was a hell of puncher for his size.

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 14 Dec 2005, 15:59

Ledoux had a very famous fight with Jim Driscoll at the end of Driscolls career... Driscoll outboxed Ledouxe for 15 rounds till he took a body shot that drained him of all his strength and he was then koed in the 16th round... Driscoll was already suffering from tuberculosis by this point...

Martin Sosa Cameron · Post by **Martin Sosa Cameron** » 14 Dec 2005, 17:35

Barry, thanks you very much for your very kind answer. I'm always to be grateful to the great help of Nippon Man, a great boy of a great country; when I have troubles in my PC, he put in BoxRec the records I compile, what a good boy! Does you remember Boxing Illustrated?, in that magazine I wrote the first works of South American fighters in the United States, as the first article over Carlos Monzón, or Carlos Aro or Godfrey Stevens or Juan Corradi (and I was only 15 when I begin this work...) In a move I lost a lot of material of magazines, but, fortunate, I still having boxing books. You have interest in same of the great Argentinian fighters: Lausse, Merentino, Selpa, Jorge Fernández... In the rich history of the Argentinian boxing, there are three names who are synonym of K.O.: José Carattoli, Eduardo Lausse and Rafael Merentino. After read your letter in the Forum, I take my time for to search any facts. I wants they will to contribute for your index of K.O. and punchers.

Career Knock Out Percentage
(Any names, only) (WKO in TB and %)

José Luis Ramírez, 82 in 111, 73,9%
Bobby Chacón, 47 in 67, 70,1%
José Luis Castillo, 47 in 61, 77,0%
Rocky Mattioli, 52 in 74, 70,3%
Fulgencio Obelmejías, 41 in 57, 71,9%
Alexis Argüello, 65 in 90, 72,2%
Eduardo Lausse, 63 in 87, 72,4%
Rafael Merentino, 45 in 58, 77,6%
Jo Gonzales, 39 in 52, 75,0%
Jesús Pimentel, 68 in 84, 80,9%
Bob Foster, 46 in 65, 70,8%
Pedro Cobas, 25 in 35, 71,4%

Consecutive K.O. Streaks

Lamar Clark 44 (1958-1960)
Charley Parnam 28* (1940-1941)
Carlos Zárate (a) 28 (1974-1978)
Jesús Pimentel 28 (1961-1964)
Darío Azuaga 27 (1994-1997)
Earnie Shavers 27 (1970-1972)
Kid Chocolate 25*
Carlos Zárate (b) 23* (1970-1974)
Rubén Olivares (a) 23* (1965-1967)
Rubén Olivares (b) 21 (1968-1970)
Marcos Giménez 21 (1970-1972)
Julio César Chávez 21 (1980-1982)
Ricardo (Pajarito) Moreno (a) 21 (1961-1966)
Rodolfo Martínez 20 (1965-1968)
Young Stribling 19 (1928)
Harry Smith 19 (1929)
Pete Mell 19 (1940-1942)
Harry Ebbets 19 (1926-1927)
Elmer Ray 19 (1945-1946)
Tony Mundine 19 (1971-1973)
Alberto Reyes 19 (1950-1952)
Walter Matthysse 19 (active)
Eduardo Lausse 18
Carlos Cañete 18*
Abel Laudonio 18*
Sean O'Grady 18 (1976-1977)
Isidoro Gastañaga 18 (1928-1930)
Cleveland Williams 18 (1952-1953)
Barry McGuigan 18 (1982-1985)
Eder Jofré 17
Roy Jones 17* (1989-1992)
Young Otto 17 (1905)
Jimmy Dimer 17* (1889-1893)
Chick Hirst 17 (1942-1944)
George Godfrey 17 (1926-1928)
Fulgencio Obelmejías 17 (1978-1980)
Vernon Mitchell 16* (1944-1946)
Harley Breshears 16 (1954)
Rocky Marciano 16* (1947-1949)
Blair Richardson 16 (1958-1960)
Miguel Ángel Cuello 16 (1973-1978)
Al Hostak 16 (1936-1938)
Juan Domingo Suárez 16*
Andy Ganigan 16 (1975-1977)
Mario Miranda 16* (1971-1972)
Rocky Rivero 15 (1956-1957)
Ricardo (Pajarito) Moreno (b) 15 (1954-1956)
Florentino Fernández 15 (1957-1959)
Víctor Zalazar 15*
Edwin Rosario 15*
Pat Killen 15 (1886-1887)
Steve Hamas 15 (1931)
Colin Clarke 15 (1953-1954)

RODOLFO GONZÁLEZ (31 KO's): he born in 1945, pro debut before 14? I have a doubt, this name is very common in Spanish, and may be more than one fighter. I had experiences of same name of more than one fighter and mixed records (Rodolfo Díaz, Raúl Villalba, Carlos Peralta, Carlos Estrada, Miguel Ángel Silva and many others)

Thanks for your attention!

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 14 Dec 2005, 17:42

Does anyone know who had the most consecutive 1st round knockouts ever?... I think it may be Young Otto....

Martin Sosa Cameron · Post by **Martin Sosa Cameron** » 14 Dec 2005, 17:52

"On Round" Hogan, in 1905, scored 18 knock outs in the first round, and Young Otto, in 1905, 16; this boys, Hogan and Otto, had a problem of impatience?

At this point, I thinks that this letters of the K.O. may be in a new section, because is a great subject and the title is only of the Light Heavyweights

BoxBuzz · Post by **BoxBuzz** » 14 Dec 2005, 17:59

Let me know when this discussion gets back around to the answer to the question.... which is Archie Moore....... ok and Ezzard Charles.

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 14 Dec 2005, 18:17

Martin Sosa Cameron wrote:"On Round" Hogan, in 1905, scored 18 knock outs in the first round, and Young Otto, in 1905, 16; this boys, Hogan and Otto, had a problem of impatience?

At this point, I thinks that this letters of the K.O. may be in a new section, because is a great subject and the title is only of the Light Heavyweights

Thats pretty amazing really to score so many 1st round koes... 8)

BrocktonBlockbuster49 · Post by **BrocktonBlockbuster49** » 14 Dec 2005, 21:23

archie moore is defintley up there.

- moore not only proved he could knock out HOF and solid light-H, he also proved he could knock out big skilled top contender heavyweights. moore knocked out many big heavbyweights. in fact, mooore nearly killed alejandro lavorante, and that was when archie wasn early 50! many people say the moore right hand that hit marciano would have knocked out a lot of other heavyweights. moore had a very hard sneaky right hand, I believe he Knocked out some big 6'4 235lb guy out cold with his sneaky right hand

Jaclem · Post by **Jaclem** » 15 Dec 2005, 02:40

..oakland billy smith was kayoed by both archie and ezzard...but was one hell of a puncher. caught the great harold johnson reaching with a left jab and cold cocked him with one punch.

funny archie/oakland billy story....they had fought a few times and in tbier last meeting billy ..somewhere in the middle rounds...just climbed out of the ring and went toi his dressing room! he said he had fought moore before and never could win so he didn't see any point in trying any more this time!!

he always referred to ezzard by his nickname "snooks" and said nobody...but nobody ever hit him harder.

most colorful character.....i have some good stories about him and keep trying to work up a thread but haven't been able to find the time...well...maybe next year.