top 20 greatest all around heavyweight punchers of all time

[BKM-]

1-Joe Louis/Mike Tyson: Hard for me to decide, while Louis was the better puncher, i feel Tyson hit harder with a lot of speed.

2-Sonny Liston/Lennox Lewis: Lewis had awesome power and good speed with his punches for his size. Liston basicely the same but i think he was more accurate.

3-Jack Dempsey/Earnie Shavers: Dempsey was very wild with his punches sometimes but he had great power and hit very precise at times. Can't rule out Shavers. He had power like Foreman but had speed and was pretty accurate.

I might totally change this. It takes a lot time to put a top 10.

[BKM-]

don't flame me, but according to the criteria suzie q asked for...

1. Sonny Liston
2. Mike Tyson
3. Joe Louis
4. Joe Frazier
5. Jack Dempsey
6. Muhammad Ali
7. Jack Johnson
8. George Foreman
9. Rocky Marciano
10.Max Baer
11.Lennox Lewis
12.Ernie Shavers
13.Gerry Cooney
14.Ron Lyle
15.James Jeffries
16.Larry Holmes
17.Rid**** Bowe
18.Ken Norton
19.Floyd Patterson
20.Ezzard Charles

don't jump on me, but i took into account speed, accuracy, effect, volume, etc.

Too many Ali opponents(Like Foreman, Norton) that don't deserve a spot. And Ali did not have enough power to be in that list.

[Kid Achilles]

1. Joe Louis
2. Jack Dempsey
3. Rocky Marciano
4. Mike Tyson (would be higher based on pure hitting talent, but his two fisted assault diminished in the later rounds of a fight and in the face of adversity)
5. Joe Frazier
6. George Foreman (ranked relatively low for his power because of stamina problems)
7. Sonny Liston (more of a boxer in his prime, who would break guys down from the outside with his jab but his power was excellent)
8. Jim Jeffries
9. Max Baer
10. Lennox Lewis (very underrated as a puncher, when he was on for a fight he would be a serious power punching threat to nearly any heavyweight in history with some surprising skills for such a huge man; his chin keeps him beneath Maxie)

Next come the limited Tua's, Shavers's, Cleveland Williams's, Cooney's etc. as well as smaller but HUGE punching guys like Curtis Sheppard and Bob Satterfield.

I could probably take the time and make a real top twenty list as the thread requests, but for now I'm content with this.

This list is based not only one power, but on effective and consistent delivery of that power. Stamina, workrate, and chin play their parts in my ranking as a guy like Shavers who may have hit ridiculously hard but only for a limited window of opportunity (early rounds) and with limited skill in his delivery of that power.

[butterfly1964]

Too many Ali opponents(Like Foreman, Norton) that don't deserve a spot. And Ali did not have enough power to be in that list.

but his punches were effective enough to have a 62% ko rate.

[SuzieQ49]

yaman if shavers was as good a puncher as u think, he would have done a lot better in his career. he was simply THE HARDEST HITTER, but he wasnt as great all around puncher as some of the greats

[BKM-]

Yeah, but the fact that he's a great puncher and his power almost matches Foreman's is amazing. But you do have a point though.

[Yogi]

yaman if shavers was as good a puncher as u think, he would have done a lot better in his career. he was simply THE HARDEST HITTER, but he wasnt as great all around puncher as some of the greats

I disagree, Brockton, and pretty strongly at that.

First off, if Shavers wasn't a great two-handed puncher then he wouldn't have nearly had the sucess he did have in the ring, because he obviously didn't have much else beyond his punching ability...

He had a weakish chin, weakish stamina, poor defense, poor footwork (like most stalking punchers), not much outside boxing skills, etc...A fighter with a lack of quality in those departments generally are considered nothing more than a trial horse(or something similiar), and don't get rated nearly as high as Shavers was during the 70's & get two opportunities to fight for the world title, unless they possess superb or elite punching ability like Shavers had.

You, yourself put heavy emphasis on "TWO FISTED POWER" in determining your selections, so why not Shavers, who had proven two fisted power in abundance?

[K-DOGG]

NOTE- this is greatest all around punchers of all time. THIS DOES NOT MEAN HARDEST HITTER WITH 1 PUNCH.

so heres the criteria you judge: 1 punch power in both hands, combinations, accuracy, volume of punches, how effective are your punches on the opponent, handspeed, finishing ability, timing, snap on your punches, body punching, late power, punching technique, agression ability to punch at all angles, mixture of punches.

HOWEVER POWER, TWO FISTED KO POWER MEAN A LOT MORE THAN ANY OF THE CATEGORIES HERE. SO USE THESE 2 CATEGORIES ON A HIGHER STANDARD THAN THE OTHER LEVELS.


here are my top 10



1. joe louis
2. mike tyson
3. jack dempsey
4. sonny liston
5. rocky marciano
6. George Foreman
7. joe frazier
8. lennox lewis
9. max baer
10. James Jeffries




remember: THIS THREAD IS NOT ASKING "WHO IS THE HARDEST HITTER WITH 1 PUNCH"

Very close to where I'd put them; but given the more important criteria of Power, I do have some slight changes.


1. Joe Louis........fits all the criteria perfectly

2. Sonny Liston.....damn near fits all the criteria perfectly

3. George Foreman...not as precise; but POWER and Killer Instinct make up for it.

4. Mike Tyson...would have been ahead of George; but George's power edges him out.

5. James J. Jeffries....underated skill...and strong as they came.

6. Max Baer.....short on technique, huge on power and killer instinct.

7. Rocky Marciano...unusual techniqu designed specifically for him and power and killer instinct to boot.

8. Earnie Shavers...POWER....nuff said.

9. Joe Frazier....down this low due to lack of use of right hand.

10. Lennox Lewis....short on killer instinct, big on power

[Dye]

I dont see anything about Tommy Morrison on here,Tommy hit hrader with one punch than tyson