Who hit harder ?

[frankenfrank]

Punching power comparisons

[frankenfrank]

And the first :
Ali or Holmes , who hit harder ?
Holmes stopped Shavers in 1 of 2 fights , Ali didn't in 1 fight
Holmes and Ali achieved quite the same outcomes against Ken Norton : important explanation to why both were actually remote from hard hitters P4P.
Holmes stopped James Smith twice whom Tyson did not stop.
Ali stopped many good fighters that were better in P4P terms than Holmes' stoppage wins , but also smaller , so H2H , both had about the same difficulty of opposition .
If anything , Holmes' past prime opposition was even good in P4P terms , and immense in H2H terms , better than Ali's in h2h terms , but he did not stop them.

[NChristo]

I would say Holmes.

The reason neither of them could KO Norton is not because of they wasn't hard punchers but it was his style, Ali and Holmes both counted on their jab to make openings and to setup their big hits, Nortons style made it incredibly difficult to do that, his stance made it so their jabs were virtually disabled, he would always keep his right hand semi open floating around head height so he could catch the jab comming in and counter with his own left quickly, where as he couldn't do that against Foreman or Shavers because they came out swinging.
Norton was a nightmare for outside boxers.

[boxing boy]

Larry Holmes hit harder than Muhammad Ali.

Ali had a good right hand.I would give him a slight edge.That's a straight right hand.

Holmes had a harder left jab,and harder punches with every punch except the straight right hand.

[frankenfrank]

I would say Holmes.

The reason neither of them could KO Norton is not because of they wasn't hard punchers but it was his style, Ali and Holmes both counted on their jab to make openings and to setup their big hits, Nortons style made it incredibly difficult to do that, his stance made it so their jabs were virtually disabled, he would always keep his right hand semi open floating around head height so he could catch the jab comming in and counter with his own left quickly, where as he couldn't do that against Foreman or Shavers because they came out swinging.
Norton was a nightmare for outside boxers.

Thank you , I saw just a little of Norton , and as a principle , sometimes an explanation makes you aware of things you didn't notice despite watching videos.
But anyway , why would you say Holmes ?

[frankenfrank]

Larry Holmes hit harder than Muhammad Ali.

Ali had a good right hand.I would give him a slight edge.That's a straight right hand.

Holmes had a harder left jab,and harder punches with every punch except the straight right hand.

reads like a very delicate observation , what do you base it upon ?
And besides , except of these punches both men did not use many other pucnhes , did they ?
I should also ask : who was the more versatile out of these two ?
And my current guess is Ali , but I may be wrong.

[NChristo]

Thank you , I saw just a little of Norton , and as a principle , sometimes an explanation makes you aware of things you didn't notice despite watching videos.
But anyway , why would you say Holmes ?

I'd say Holmes because he had a much stiffer jab and seemed to fight more flat footed then Ali.
That's all, wouldn't say the power difference was that much between them though.

[Sugarj]

Holmes hit harder than Ali, but Ali had the edge in hand speed.

I asked Earnie Shavers once who was faster of the two........and he said 'Ali'. But Holmes was able to stop Earnie, Ali didn't really come close barring the final round of their fight.

Another common opponent Lean Spinks was blown away by Holmes but was barely staggered by Ali. Larry's punches certainly looked to land with a heavier impact than Ali's too.

[boxing boy]

reads like a very delicate observation , what do you base it upon ?
And besides , except of these punches both men did not use many other pucnhes , did they ?
I should also ask : who was the more versatile out of these two ?
And my current guess is Ali , but I may be wrong.

Holmes had the better left jab,left hook,upper cut with both hands,and a straight right hand just about as good as Ali's.

Holmes planted his feet better when punching than Ali did,generating more power.At times Holmes threw his punches wider and punched as hard as he could,where Muhammad Ali did not.

Muhammad Ali punched "moving backwards" alot more than Larry Holmes,thus generating less power.

Who was more versatile? I would say Muhammad Ali. Prime Muhammad Ali could throw punches in combination alot better than Holmes.But there not harder punches.Ali would throw his left jab,straight right hand,right hand lead,counter right hand over a left jab,a good right uppercut,and left hooks.Ali would KO or TKO his opponents by an accumulation of punches over the rounds.But Holmes punched harder considering just one punch at a time.

[The_Demon]

Holmes hit harder