BoxRec

Who is the hardest punching middleweight fighter in history?

Fitz. More recently you could make a good case for Hart.

Fitzsimmons, bar none.

Fitzsimmons or Ketchel.

How could I forget the great Bob Fitzsimmons or the great Stanley Ketchel ....Hey great call.

The poll should be between Ketchel and Fitzsimmons.

I would probably go Ketchel simply based on the fact that he floored Jack Johnson, who outweighed him by 35 pounds. Fitz would be a close second.

(Big sigh) this exact topic was and poll was posted a couple of years ago, I'm going to say the same thing as I said then and see if I get the same response, I could be in some bizzare groundhog day type of thing.

'Terrible' Terry Norris deserves a mention.

Fitzsimmons or Ketchel

It would be interesting to see what would have happened if a prime Jackson hit some full cruiserweights. That's the only way we'll ever know whether he's in the running with Fitz and Ketchel. For me, Jackson is the most concussive puncher I've seen at any weight.

hardest i saw live was bennie briscoe
he was an animal

dberry wrote:(Big sigh) this exact topic was and poll was posted a couple of years ago, I'm going to say the same thing as I said then and see if I get the same response, I could be in some bizzare groundhog day type of thing.

'Terrible' Terry Norris deserves a mention.

Norris was at his best at JMW, he lost a good deal of power as a MW, just enough to push him out of the top 15. no way he deserves mention, at JMW Yes.

MEISINGER wrote:hardest i saw live was bennie briscoe
he was an animal

Briscoe hit hard with both hands, and had very good power, but he just misses my top 15 and no way he deserves top 10 all time, that is not taking anything away from him, it just means 15 guys hit harder.

My top 3 and you could place them either in a 3 way tie, or in any order, Ketchel, Fitzsimmons, Mugabi, Mugabi was so big and strong to back up his power, he would be tough for most MW's to compete with, except maybe the top 5 or so all time.

Golovkin has to be one of the top punchers in MW history despite the opposition he faces. Not done enough to surpass Fitz or Ketchell though

Wasn't Gene Fullmer once considered a pretty serious contender for this honor?

Sam Langford at 160lbs is in the discussion.

Fitzsimmons, Ketchel or Hagler could have been choices. Especially the first two, but Marvelous had some pop as well.

Tough question. I haven't decided yet.

RIDICULOUS PATHETIC LIST!!!!

Mike McCallum knocked Julian Jackson out in 2 rounds by ripping his body out in a furious onslaught... Tommy Hearns lost by KO in his 2 most famous fights at Middleweight... And Bennie Briscoe was blasted out with ONE SHOT by heavier handed Rodrigo Valdez -- who also is the only man to knock Carlos Monzon on his ass.

Everybody knows Gennady Golovkin is the hardest punching Middleweight ever... And that McCallum, Valdez, and Barkley ripped out a lot of people on that list.

BoxBuzz wrote:Wasn't Gene Fullmer once considered a pretty serious contender for this honor?

Ahh.... NOOO!!!!!! ... He's on the list of most inept punching bags to ever rule the Middleweight Division.. along with Rocky Graziano and Jake LaMotta.

It's a short list

Julian Jackson by a mile

Kalan wrote:

BoxBuzz wrote:Wasn't Gene Fullmer once considered a pretty serious contender for this honor?

Ahh.... NOOO!!!!!! ... He's on the list of most inept punching bags to ever rule the Middleweight Division.. along with Rocky Graziano and Jake LaMotta.

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Seriously? Most inept? No power?

BuzzBox are you allergic to research???? Fullmer had a 38% KO ratio... Graziano was as much of a punching bag as Fullmer, but he had a respectable 63% KO ratio... Graz managed to knock Robinson on his ass once -- but he couldn't deflect the incoming... LaMotta had a 28% KO ratio... GGG, 91% KO ratio

I saw Fullmer fight live few times and he was a very crude brawler... He couldn't beat Dick Tiger in 3 tries... Li'l Emile Griffith beat Tiger twice with ease.

dberry wrote:(Big sigh) this exact topic was and poll was posted a couple of years ago, I'm going to say the same thing as I said then and see if I get the same response, I could be in some bizzare groundhog day type of thing.

'Terrible' Terry Norris deserves a mention.

Norris was a small 154 pounder and may have been able to make welter. I'm not sure about the prospects of him KOing fully fledged middles that had a decent chin

If you add "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler on this list, then I would rank him one of the hardest punching middleweights of all-time.

Kalan wrote:BuzzBox are you allergic to research???? Fullmer had a 38% KO ratio... Graziano was as much of a punching bag as Fullmer, but he had a respectable 63% KO ratio... Graz managed to knock Robinson on his ass once -- but he couldn't deflect the incoming... LaMotta had a 28% KO ratio... GGG, 91% KO ratio

I saw Fullmer fight live few times and he was a very crude brawler... He couldn't beat Dick Tiger in 3 tries... Li'l Emile Griffith beat Tiger twice with ease.

wouldnt take much notice of the percentages and ratios as a fighters ko record can be misleading, theres a big difference between breaking someone down and "stopping" them and actually rendering someone unconsious, GGG for example "stops" people, where as jackson used to KO his opponents