who was the most ferocious?

[Pravus]

Great call 3rdMan...

I'd go with Liston, Briscoe, Tyson & Duran.

Benny Briscoe! Of course, a mean man in the ring, anyone who fought Briscoe was in for a tough night and if you beat him you had to be really, really good. In any other era he would have been regarded as a truly great Middleweight champion but he ran into Monzon, Valdez and Hagler!

I agree Briscoe was a bad man.. Stopped only once in his career fought the best fighters around.

I agree, and this saved me from having to really think it over myself :P. Note that all four of these men could well have been psychopaths, and one of them, Tyson, is clearly one.

Jack Johnson came to mind immediately for me, as the man took absolute delight in hurting those foolish enough to get in the ring with him, but most of that I believe was a result of the era he lived in - justifiably so. Liston was carved of the same stone and certainly belongs on this list - he absolutely enjoyed beating a man down. Duran was one of the meanest men to ever strap on the gloves and was born with the guns to compliment that mean streak. Briscoe didn't get the name "Bad" Bennie Briscoe for nothin and was one of the most feared men of his era. I believe he's on Ring's top 100 punchers of all time.

Great picks!