Media Hardest Punchers Tier List, by BLTV

[mozfonky]

So many good fighters get forgotten in these lists, naturally, they will only include fighters who created some sort of legacy but Edwin Rosario will always be one of the best punchers I've ever seen and no one even remembers him.

 

[Hog-train]

People that rate Tyson as one of the top power punchers in history are completely off.
Mike Tyson had power but it was his speed and angles that created his KOs. 1 punch power is saved for the Jullian Jackson's, Sonny Liston, Naoya, Wilder...
Tommy Morrison had more natural KO power than Tyson. And Tysons one of my ATGs but it was his speed and tenacity that made his style look so violent.

Yea but speed, angles and timing creates power in and of itself. We're not measuring power based on how hard someone can punch a stationary punch machine. We're measuring how hard a boxer can deliver a punch in a fight. A well timed counter punch sometimes packs a lot more power than a haymaker sometimes.

 

[r-harper-1]

Tyson should be tier 2 imo

 

[r-harper-1]

Yea but speed, angles and timing creates power in and of itself. We're not measuring power based on how hard someone can punch a stationary punch machine. We're measuring how hard a boxer can deliver a punch in a fight. A well timed counter punch sometimes packs a lot more power than a haymaker sometimes.

Does more damage because the opponent doesn’t see it ….

 

[tomjones]

Foreman had didn't just have knock out power. His punches literally lifted his opponents off the ground.

 

[GolovKing]

I finally got around to watching this video. I like this guy's work on YouTube but this list sucks. Golovkin should be a or at least b tier. The Klitschko brothers he has them just lumped together like they are the same. Literally anybody who has fought or trained with them both will tell you wladimirs power is in a whole different category. Same with Duran and Chavez, Duran was a much harder puncher yet he just lumps then in together. Hearns is also underrated as well.

For overrated I would say tank Davis he has too high. All of these guys fighting him are saying he really doesn't have all that much power, it's more his timing and skill. Also Marciano and Louis and pretty much every other old school fighter he has on here is overrated too but this guy has a habit of doing that on his channel

 

[LangfordBarrow]

So Gervonta Davis is a harder puncher than Bob Foster, Tommy Hearns and Tito Trinidad.

Now that’s an interesting take.

It seems like most of the "B" row is being underrated...

 

[LangfordBarrow]

So many good fighters get forgotten in these lists, naturally, they will only include fighters who created some sort of legacy but Edwin Rosario will always be one of the best punchers I've ever seen and no one even remembers him.

He turned Camacho into a safety first fighter.

 

[mozfonky]

He turned Camacho into a safety first fighter.

that's what they say. funny thing is, for a few years after that fight people were still considering him an elite fighter. So, was it that? or was it just that he wasn't hungry anymore? I don't know but he started going on long absences from the sport, partying, getting in trouble and then maybe once or twice a year he'd fight someone, sometimes a good fighter, sometimes a nobody to get sharp. IN short, the people that know the sport were still watching and hoping he'd fulfill his vast promise all the way up to the Chavez loss and a few even still believed he could beat a trinidad.

 

[Absolut]

So many good fighters get forgotten in these lists, naturally, they will only include fighters who created some sort of legacy but Edwin Rosario will always be one of the best punchers I've ever seen and no one even remembers him.

Imagine the thin man stayed down and fought him instead of moving up for the magic bottle fight with Pryor.

 

[mozfonky]

Imagine the thin man stayed down and fought him instead of moving up for the magic bottle fight with Pryor.

i never even thought about that fight, but Edwin just wasn't consistent enough to beat Alexis, barring a barrage of those bombs, which would be possible. Edwin ended up just being another champion instead of a great. Like Camacho, he started off with a lot of press behind him, being called "the duran of the 80s" which actually fit Chavez much better although Chavez wasn't quite the athlete Duran was, he was a dominant force in those divisions .

So, was Arguello/Rosario ever in the talking stage? Rosario got kayoed by the most forgotten of the top lightweights of that era, Jose Luis Ramirez who fought probably more of the top lightweights in that era than the rest of them and unfairly gets overlooked because he just had no real charisma or interesting style. Gotta be kinda good to hold Whitaker to a draw, and I know people have been saying whitaker was robbed, I watched that a few years ago and I didn't think he was. Americans of that era were ridiculously biased towards american fighters. Whitaker lost at least a portion of that fight because of his showboating, not all judges look at that favorably.

 

[iwannabeadored]

People that rate Tyson as one of the top power punchers in history are completely off.
Mike Tyson had power but it was his speed and angles that created his KOs. 1 punch power is saved for the Jullian Jackson's, Sonny Liston, Naoya, Wilder...
Tommy Morrison had more natural KO power than Tyson. And Tysons one of my ATGs but it was his speed and tenacity that made his style look so violent.

Plus mike was extremely technical. To be a hwy and be short like that he had to be

 

[Absolut]

i never even thought about that fight, but Edwin just wasn't consistent enough to beat Alexis, barring a barrage of those bombs, which would be possible. Edwin ended up just being another champion instead of a great. Like Camacho, he started off with a lot of press behind him, being called "the duran of the 80s" which actually fit Chavez much better although Chavez wasn't quite the athlete Duran was, he was a dominant force in those divisions .

So, was Arguello/Rosario ever in the talking stage? Rosario got kayoed by the most forgotten of the top lightweights of that era, Jose Luis Ramirez who fought probably more of the top lightweights in that era than the rest of them and unfairly gets overlooked because he just had no real charisma or interesting style. Gotta be kinda good to hold Whitaker to a draw, and I know people have been saying whitaker was robbed, I watched that a few years ago and I didn't think he was. Americans of that era were ridiculously biased towards american fighters. Whitaker lost at least a portion of that fight because of his showboating, not all judges look at that favorably.

If I recall correctly there was chatter about that fight but Alexis moved up to fight Pryor. I think Alexis’ precision and jab make it a relatively easy fight.

More interesting is you miss one of the most controversial fights in a long time with Alexis / Pryor.

You could have an aging Alexis vs Camacho.

 

[mozfonky]

If I recall correctly there was chatter about that fight but Alexis moved up to fight Pryor. I think Alexis’ precision and jab make it a relatively easy fight.

More interesting is you miss one of the most controversial fights in a long time with Alexis / Pryor.

You could have an aging Alexis vs Camacho.

that would be interesting, a million interesting fights in the lightweights never happened, just too many good fighters. If Alexis had a weakness it was fighting cuties who could move and had speed and Camacho was never better than he was at that time. He also had a helluva chin on him, how many fighters have fought for as long as he did and never been stopped? Not only a great chin, great survival skills and great mental toughness. Of course on the whole, Camacho never even came close to Alexis' greatness but neither did a couple of the guys who beat him.

 

[froggyluv]

Yea but speed, angles and timing creates power in and of itself. We're not measuring power based on how hard someone can punch a stationary punch machine. We're measuring how hard a boxer can deliver a punch in a fight. A well timed counter punch sometimes packs a lot more power than a haymaker sometimes.

I agree I think people get too hung up on "Who's the hardest puncher?!" type ideas based just off raw 1 punch measured on a machine type power. If that was the case, then Joe Rogans got one of the worlds most formidable kicks but in reality his effective kicking power in real combat is probably nowhere near as punishing as his numbers.

 

[Fluffernutter]

Billy Conn said Fred Apostoli hit him hardest. Therefore, any list without his name attached is a bit suspect.

 

[Fluffernutter]

Also, Oliver McCall said the hardest punch he ever received was from Bert Cooper....during a sparing session.

 

[mozfonky]

I agree I think people get too hung up on "Who's the hardest puncher?!" type ideas based just off raw 1 punch measured on a machine type power. If that was the case, then Joe Rogans got one of the worlds most formidable kicks but in reality his effective kicking power in real combat is probably nowhere near as punishing as his numbers.

that's right, anyone with any experience will just move from the "sweet spot" and nullify the kick. a reason why side kicks are nearly useless in real fighting, that and the fact that they take a ton of energy to through as opposed to all the thai kicks which dont look as good but also don't take any energy or even as much skill.

There have always been guys in gyms all across the land who could hit harder than 99 percent of all fighters but they can't make it work, I've seen a lot of really hard punching prospects who just can't do enough of anything else to get anywhere. Speed is pretty similar, there are always guys who could match anyone on speed and they show their little flash but they can't really do anything with it but look like an ali or a camacho (or whoever) wannabe.

One more interesting thing in that regard, Ali was never, ever considered a power puncher, many would even try to say he couldn't punch at all and yet he was the only man to kayo bonavena, Foreman and I think one of the few to put down wepner and liston. I know I'm forgetting some others but it's an interesting fact that such a lightly considered puncher was able to finish off some really tough guys. In fact, he looked to me to be a whisper away from maybe getting chuvalo into serious trouble in one of the middle rounds of their second fight. A kayo can be a lot more than power, could be the other guys fatigue, discouragement, lack of desire, frustration.

 

[mozfonky]

Also, Oliver McCall said the hardest punch he ever received was from Bert Cooper....during a sparing session.

Bert was the first guy to put down Holyfield, good fighter. He had people predicting that the impending tyson fight would end in disaster for Holyfield. Holyfield is another guy who got kayoes usually off his hard work and accumulation, as a heavyweight he really couldn't punch at the elite level. He had to whale on guys to get them out of their, which worked.

 

[613]

Yea but speed, angles and timing creates power in and of itself. We're not measuring power based on how hard someone can punch a stationary punch machine. We're measuring how hard a boxer can deliver a punch in a fight. A well timed counter punch sometimes packs a lot more power than a haymaker sometimes.

Even with that Tyson was never really a put your lights out puncher. Most of his stoppages were from punches in bunches where his opponent would go down but not out. Someone like Julian Jackson would put you out cold with one punch