Mike Tyson was the hardest puncher ever?

[TheChosenOne]

Hey I am new but a boxing fan of many years

For the past few years I have concentrated on the heavy weights , over time

By carefully watching videos and TV of great heavy weight fights over the the last century and even into this century of 2009 I am convinced at his best Mike Tyson was both the hardest puncher in heavy weight boxing history. And potentially the greatest of all time, until sadly his money grabbing wife mother in-law and Don King came in and messed up his boxing life

He punched much like the great Joe Louis, short hard and accurate, but with much more power

What people don't remember is he was bigger and stronger than the likes of Sonny Liston, as big as George Foreman in fact, but 100% dynamic muscle

He was the most magnificent physical specimen ever to embrace the boxing arena and it still greatly saddens me that he was never allowed to fulfil his true awesome boxing potential


George Foreman , a really nice guy, also was a very hard puncher maybe the next hardest after Tyson at his very best

Tyson might have had problems with the very tall Foreman and his powerful clubbing punches. Foreman liked fighting shorter opponents and this might have been a factor if both had met at the very best

Alan of South Africa

mike tyson is one of the hardest hitters in hw history

i have him no2 behind no1 big george forman

a man who could break a punchingbag in 30 mins hit fucking hard

[Spicoli]

Alan post prison Buster Douglas beat Tyson and during his prime didnt beat anyone that was great and that was still in there prime. Tyson lost all his big fights and during his prime beat mostly bums so i dont see how he can be consider so great there no solid proof of it for me dude because him competion was weak in prime when he fought the top guys of his era he lost.

That is incorrect?

The debatable Buster Douglas fight in Japan , was due to Don King coming into the scene, Mike getting into the fight overweight and under trained, and the beginning of Mike when he began his slide into obscurity and boxing history

After Buster Douglas, the great Mike Tyson was no more. Buster did not defeat Mike, Mike did it all on his own

Alan,

Not to mention the supremely stellar work by the corner .I mean,who could blame Mike for not knowing the difference between a water bottle and an end-swell.

they could of used an entire ice cube tray....Mike was getting KTFO that night.

[El Kabong]

Let's not take anything away from Buster, he looked really good vs Tyson and it wasn't only because Tyson didn't train hard enough or because Tyson had the 3 stooges in his corner....how the hell does Aaron Snowell still get work?

[Taeth]

No Mike Tyson wasn't the hardest puncher ever, he might not even make it into the top 10 heavyweights P4P.

Bigger than Foreman?!?!?! George was 6'4 220 in his prime and even bigger when he won the title his second go round.

Tyson's strength was his speed and combination punching...he could hit hard but not like Foreman, nowhere close

I would argue this all day, Mike Tyson was 5'10 220-230 pounds and hit much faster, IMO he hit pounds per square inch probably harder than anyone(him or L. Lewis), but not necessarily in the ring because he had to reach up to land on a taller guys he couldn't get the same leverage on head shots

IMO Foreman's power wasn't that close, he's probably comparably strong, but nowhere near as fast.

[El Kabong]

Taeth, refresh my memory are we talking about the FASTER puncher or the more POWERFUL puncher

I don't discount Tyson's handspeed, infact it's because of his handspeed that he hit so hard. Look at a guy like Foreman, his opponents knew the punches were coming but he would punch through their guard and knock them out. Tyson would bob and weave and get in close to counter.....Foreman would just push you into range and let loose some bombs.

Comparing the power of Tyson and Foreman is like comparing the power of Shane Mosley and the power of Miguel Cotto....one is a little faster and sharper and the other is more deliberate but heavier

[Taeth]

The difference is Cotto got better leverage and more of his body power into punches. Foreman had a ton of power but besides Moorer I can't think of him one punching almost anyone of significance. He had a lot of power and he would pummel guys, Tyson could do that, or he could spark you out.

But if you have one guy who is 6 inches shorter and the same wieght or more with no body fat, that means that weight comes in the form of more muscle. Tyson had more muscle mass than Foreman, he had more speed than Foreman, he had better technique than Foreman, and he knocked guys out in one punch more often than Foreman.

So I say he would hit something that measures PSI harder is because
A. He's stronger
B. He's a lot faster
C. He has better technique behind his punches.

Nobody has ever gotten better leverage than Mike Tyson (who would have gotten even better leverage if it wasn't for him being so short) That why guys like Holyfield would force Tyson to throw bombs on the outside, and tie him up on the inside because from the outside Tyson was so short he needed to leap in and on the inside he was terrible if you tied him up, he needed it to be clean to get off punches, he didn't know how to work to get punches off like Hatton, Duran, or Holyfield.

[El Kabong]

His KO of Gerry Cooney wasn't a 1 punch KO of someone with significance? And bombing out Joe Frazier was bigger than ANYTHING Tyson ever did.

Foreman hurt Holyfield worse than Tyson ever did....and Foreman was like 44 when he fought Evander.

[Taeth]

Foreman was landing a lot more against Holyfield when he was in the right position, how often did you see Tyson get a lined up shot against Holyfield that he landed? Tyson because of his height had a hard time landing the right shot. He hit Cooney a ton of times in the second round with solid punches, but once again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2XlGWhY_5I
How many punches did it take in the first round?

Tall guys don't get the same body mechanics into their punches, they just don't have the coordination.

I am not saying Foreman didn't land harder on certain opponents than Mike Tyson, but if they were both hitting something, Tyson would have the more force on his punches, Foreman just didn't have the technique, the speed, or low center of gravity to produce comparable power.

You could argue David Tua or Shavers IMO, but not Foreman. Lennox Lewis was the only big guy I've ever seen in the pros that had that snap and crack to his punches that guys like Tua, Tyson, and Shavers had. IMO Felix Savon also had it, but never got to show it as a pro.

[El Kabong]

Hey you win.....George just couldn't punch at all....I'm shocked we're even arguing over it sure he had 68 KO wins but God he fought a bunch of guys who ANYONE could KO....how Joe Frazier lasted a full round with anyone I am not sure, the guy just couldn't take a punch


Mike Tyson could KO anyone with one punch and that's why he never lost

[Alan McDougall]

No Mike Tyson wasn't the hardest puncher ever, he might not even make it into the top 10 heavyweights P4P.

Bigger than Foreman?!?!?! George was 6'4 220 in his prime and even bigger when he won the title his second go round.

Tyson's strength was his speed and combination punching...he could hit hard but not like Foreman, nowhere close

he's in my top 10, just he's not #1

1.Foreman 1. Foreman
2.Shavers 2. Shavers
3.Louis 3. Tyson
4.Frazier 4. Louis
5.Liston 5. Liston
6.Norton 6. Frazier
7.Marciano 7. Marciano
8.Patterson 8. Tua
9.Tyson 9. Ruddock
10.Tua 10. Norton

really not in any specific order though, just besides #1 Foreman and 9,10 are about right 2-8 can be moved around

Interesting list. I put my own list beside it. No way I have Patterson in the top 10, and I think Tyson is way too low at # 9. Also, there were heavier p4p punchers in other divisions, such as Wilfredo Gomez and Julian Jackson.

I agree with the red ranking but would change it thus

1) Tyson
2) Foreman

or

1) Foreman
2) Tyson

Mohammed Ali was a much harder puncher than the likes of Patterson, after all he knocked those ugly monsters as he called them, both the awesome Liston and Foreman, why is he not in the list?

The others are debatable and that is our task in this thread

[The Shadow]

Just curious, how often do you think a new poster creates a thread about Mike Tyson being either the best HW of all time or the hardest puncher of all time?

I've been here just under 6 months, & I'm sure this is at least the 4th I've seen in that time.

And depending on how long you stay here, you're sure to see a lot more. Its the typical, new member thread.
Although I generally agree with Foreman heading the crew, I'm sure with current technologies and video imaging that someone could arrive at an OBJECTIVE, RATIONAL proof of who was the hardest puncher.
However, if you took that a step further and included other weight divisions and calculated relative weight/size differentials, you would probably be in for a surprise.

[Dizaster]

And hardest puncher is so hard to measure... Punch hardness would be to set up a machine like on Rocky, and have all the heavyweights hit it in their prime, and the highest reading would be the hardest punch....

I think in terms of boxing though, you could look at it in a much better way..

Who was the most devastating puncher? Who was the most capable of knocking someone out? Who translated their power into effective punching most often?

A guy could stand on a machine and swing and put up big numbers, but we can't tell what numbers each would have by watching fights.... You can however see who best used their power...

And Tyson was definitely up there in that respect. He made his punches count, and used what power he had to do the most damage... Some fighters have great power, but they'll be predictable with constant left hooks, and they aren't hugely effective. Even though they may have more power than other fighters...
Like Roy Jones probably didn't have the hardest punch on a measurement machine, but you add up the unpredictability of where the punch would come from, the lack of defense his opponent could use on it, and the times he would catch them with his hard rights - It resulted in a much more devastating punch that a fighter who swang away with all their power and didn't use it to as good effect..

That's my thoughts on the whole subject anyway when who has the "hardest" punch comes up...

[Master]

People are under rating Bruno's power. He fought a lot of bums but he could hit just as hard as Shavers.

[Alan McDougall]

People are under rating Bruno's power. He fought a lot of bums but he could hit just as hard as Shavers.

Bruno was a bum himself, he fought Tyson after Tyson had reduced himself to a bum also. And even this grey shadow of Mike Tyson was able to stop him.

Ernie Shavers could knock down walls, but he was a poor boxer but a much harder hitter than Bruno. I think Frank Bruno must be given credit as a good heavy weight

Let me lay around with the ranking of the hardest punching heavy weight, not the greatest heavy weight remember, that is another debate
1. Tyson
2 Foreman
3. Shavers
4. Louis
5 Liston
6 Lewis
7. Frazier
8. Ali
9. Norton
10.Tua

Mohammed Ali beat Foreman, Shavers, Liston, Norton with 2, 3,5 and 6 heck!! he beat five of the six on the list and you dont include him in the list of hardest punchers?

Look at that list and move it around if youlike, maybe we can reach some sort of an agreement

Alan

I removed Marciano and Patterson , they were simply to small to be compared to these guys
.

[Syntax Error]

Hey I am new but a boxing fan of many years

For the past few years I have concentrated on the heavy weights , over time

By carefully watching videos and TV of great heavy weight fights over the the last century and even into this century of 2009 I am convinced at his best Mike Tyson was both the hardest puncher in heavy weight boxing history. And potentially the greatest of all time, until sadly his money grabbing wife mother in-law and Don King came in and messed up his boxing life

He punched much like the great Joe Louis, short hard and accurate, but with much more power

What people don't remember is he was bigger and stronger than the likes of Sonny Liston, as big as George Foreman in fact, but 100% dynamic muscle

He was the most magnificent physical specimen ever to embrace the boxing arena and it still greatly saddens me that he was never allowed to fulfil his true awesome boxing potential


George Foreman , a really nice guy, also was a very hard puncher maybe the next hardest after Tyson at his very best

Tyson might have had problems with the very tall Foreman and his powerful clubbing punches. Foreman liked fighting shorter opponents and this might have been a factor if both had met at the very best

Alan of South Africa

I think Messrs Muhammad Ali & Larry Holmes can answer this question:-

Ali fought Earnie Shavers (plus a host of other big punchers) & said Earnie was the hardest puncher he had ever faced.

Holmes fought both Shavers & Tyson & after the Tyson fight, someone asked Larry about the relative punch power of the 2 fighters: Larry replied, "Being hit by Tyson was like being hit by a Corvette, but being hit by Shavers was like being hit by a truck!"

That should answer the question, although I do believe that Mike Tyson is the HW champ of the past that would most likely KO an iron chinned opponent due to his speed & combos, although he wasn't as heavy handed as Shavers or even Foreman.