My knockout top 10 of BIG HITTERS
THE website LFSports drew up a definitive list of the biggest punchers in heavyweight history.
They had Deontay Wilder at the top and included Herbie Hide. This is my list. Wilder makes it but only in 10th. Hide does not.
No.10 DEONTAY WILDER
A slashing, fearsome puncher. Tall and rangy with one of the great showreels in the division. You also have to look at the guys he knocked out. That’s why he is at 10, not one. No.9 LENNOX LEWIS
A tactician but with tremendous turnover power. Brilliant from distance. Maximised his reach by hitting guys at full extension, a classic Emanuel Steward trait. When he landed with that right hand it was goodnight Vienna.
No.8 SONNY LISTON
The first modern-day heavy. There was nothing subtle about him. His jab was like a telegraph pole. He would arrest you with it and knock you into next week with the right. His legs weren’t good. But you stood with him at your peril. No.7 ROCKY MARCIANO Not afraid to get hit four times to land one punch. Mostly that was all he needed. If not, his combinations got the job done. The look in his eyes was all terror. He just kept coming all the way to 49 and 0.
No.6 JOE LOUIS
His forte was KO power from short to middle distance. You thought you were safe, then he would knock your house down. He was ruthless and slick, and bestrode the eras from Dempsey to Liston.
No.5 JACK DEMPSEY
A street-fighting man. He was only a small cruiserweight by today’s standards but he could knock anyone out. Ask Jess Willard. Power-to-weight ratio was incredible. Would take on all-comers, the superstar of the age.
No.4
Brilliant tactician and a concussive hitter. He had a real mean streak fuelled by the racism
JACK JOHNSON
and prejudice he faced. Stylistically he was 30 to 40 years ahead of his time, technically better than Dempsey, Louis and Marciano.
No.3 EARNIE SHAVERS
Just raw power and velocity. Speed is what knocks you out. He had great timing and precision with a savage left hook. Remarkable he was not a world champion. If Larry Holmes were not in the opposite corner he would have been.
No.2 MIKE TYSON
The greatest combination heavy I have ever seen. If you missed him you were gone. He wouldn’t hit with one punch, he sprayed you with four or five at speed, tearing people apart. We hadn’t seen that before.
No.1 GEORGE FOREMAN
A brute. The way he lifted Joe Frazier a foot off the floor was shocking, a game-changer. He then mowed down Kenny Norton, who had just broken Muhammad Ali’s jaw. People feared for Ali’s life in Kinshasa, including me, but that is another story.