From modern day boxers like Gervonta Davis & Deontay Wilder, to old school legends in Mike Tyson & Rocky Marciano, BLTV tier list ranks the top 50 hardest punchers in boxing history!
😂 exactly Gervonta is extremely overrated. He barely could KO glass jaw old Gamboa who ALMOST went the distance. Gervonta also went the distance with unknown Pitbull who had Gervonta running. Every other fighter Gervonta KOed was due to a Rehydration Clause or pulling smaller boxers up in weight and crushing tomatocans 😂
I agree that it should be the other way around no question about that but that Tank hasn't knocked out *anybody* of note is a bit exaggerated considering he KO'd Garcia, Romeo and Gamboa who were all champions.
@@TheBoxingRealm this is a Pound for Pound list, Davis is way smaller than Hearns, you can't compare their power by their K.O rate, someone his size putting people down with one shot is very impressive
@@Ar1AnX1x Even pound for pound wise Gervonta does not hit harder. Hearns carried power all the way to LHW. YDKSAB. Who has Gervonta KOed? Pulling fighters up 3 weight classes? Big tomatocans with "dehydration" clauses?
Agreed he's at the very least B tier, the fact he didn't face the best opposition due to them ducking isn't his fault and also has nothing to do with his natural power
3:53 I think Foreman’s IQ was a lot better than 83. When he came back the second time, it was his IQ he relied on the most when he realize he couldn’t move as fast as he used to. His IQ is what captured him the world title making him the oldest person in history to win the heavyweight title.
If you search top level boxer's IQs you'd be shocked. Ali had something like 85, yet he appeared and talked like one of the smartest on the planet. Boxing IQ is a completely different thing
Agreed. Foreman is a commonly underrated boxer, even in his earlier career, because he looks slow and cumbersome. But he developed a style to make the most of his physical attributes and made him very awkward to fight against.
@@S.O.A_Zero obviously he was talking about fight IQ wtf 🤣 also any list ranking Mohammed Ali’s actual IQ as below average is obviously completely fucking inaccurate
@@kxnny2 Man, since when do we rank fight IQ with numbers? Because the 83 in the original comment looks a lot like a reference to the IQ i was talking about
in my opinion, the scariest fighter of all time ... his stare is death and his jail records are enough to destroy anyone ... his 15" fist ... better get a hammer ... Liston will hurt you and scare you ...
Hearns in B?..... the man kod duran in two rounds, in one of the best punches thrown since the camera was invented - took his power from 147 to 190 and still flattened people...
@@magacop5180 no matter what was his true weight - if you knock people out in the span of 43 pounds - you deserve to be really high on a list like this. A man like benn went up 8 pounds and lost maybe 30% of his punching, so a guy like hearns - koing people in that insane range feels to me not like a no brainer. You can call it weight bully or not - i dont see why he is placed in B
I agree thinking a puncher like him is on B for anything is crazy. But its a list of only the best of the best. So there aren't 20 better punchers in all boxing history
One very underrated puncher is Jersey Joe Walcott, he knocked out Ezzard Charles with a single left hook when Charles had never even been knocked down before let alone out and that was in 77 fights, and Wallcott did it with best left hook ever thrown. Marciano said that Wallcott was the hardest puncher he ever fought and in all but one of his title matches he had, he knocked down his opponent and he only won one of them and participated in 8, which I think makes him unique in that respect. And he was the oldest ever world champion when he won his belts and that is when he fought Marciano and Charles and Louis, so who knows how powerful, espcially p4p he could have been in his younger days.
I saw a video the other day about a Russian boxer who used to knock out almost everyone he fought. Can't remember his name, cool though. I always figured if you could have tested the power of all these people, the highest would probably be someone not surprising, like George Foreman.
Tank above Hearn’s and such is crazy . Tank hasn’t even fought for a real world title for years let alone moved up weight classes knocking out the best .
… but he has moved up in weight and KO’s the champ for the belt , twice!! And this is strictly about punching power anyway dam yall hate on bro so much yall forget yall don’t know boxing 😂 … in real life you’d fanboy out
Love the list. I personally have an issue with - Thomas "The Hitman" Hearns - def should be higher - he used a lot of boxing but his 1 punch power was crazy. HITMAN
The list is a fucking joke. Chavez 2 tiers higher than Duran? Hearns in B? Joe Louis higher than Liston? I mean hardly anything about this list makes sense
I don’t think Gervonta Davis is p4p a harder puncher than Thomas Hearns, Hearns besides wilder has to have the hardest right hand p4p on this list, his power quite literally was enough for 1 punch K.O from 147 all the way to 175
@@nananyantakyi1549yea maybe Floyd or tank said that but he’s nowhere near that, he hits maybe like a middleweight or welterweight but he’s nowhere near heavy levels
Great list. I'd say generally a bit generous with current fighters. I don't think Tank or Beterbiev should be higher than Hearns, let them fight someone with 40 wins and we'll see what power they really have. For me the S+ tier is really just Shavers, Foreman, Tyson, Jackson, Louis, Langford, Saddler and reluctantly Wilder too. Glad to see Naseem got bumped to S in the end. What he did at that weight class with one punch is just different. Fighters I'd like to see on there include Roy Jones (B? with S+ speed..), Hagler (B? or C?), Liston (S?)
Wilder is a strange one to rank. He was a terrible boxer. Even a terrible fighter, but if he landed one of those rights it was generally going to be a victory. Because of that I would also have him in s+. You can't be that bad of a fighter and win that many fights without unreal stopping power.
@@operator0this man called wilder a terrible fighter , the disrespect and delusion is off the charts lol. If he is so terrible , go accomplish what he has then
@@ravensnation4902 Tyson is so insanely overrated for power. I hit harder than him. His power came in all combos he doesn't have true one punch power like me or the others in S+
???? He literally had a good Ring IQ and it's the reason he defeated Floyd Patterson with it. Heck even George foreman used some of his trapping opponents tactics. He hit so hard that he broke something everything he has hit you @@bossplayermfs5972
As a very casual boxing fan, you've opened my eyes to some new boxers to check out. Pretty cool video, I was wondering if there was a list of some of the hardest punchers, who'd be on that list. Great watch
I’m so glad to see you acknowledging super old school guys like Louis and Langford as S tier punchers. Too many fans nowadays don’t have a clue just how hard these men hit. Langford regularly one shot men over 50 pounds heavier than him. Louis also often broke bones and knocked out teeth with his punches (he actually punched Max Schmeling’s rib bone into his kidney in their second fight).
This was so much fun, and so educational. Thanks for doing it. A lot of my favorite boxers were on this list, and ranked highly, as were tons more I need to learn about. Your channel does so much to spread knowledge about boxing - keep it up.
I've always found the guys who carried their power up through the divisions, the scariest (Fitzsimmons, Hearns, Leonard, Langford etc...) Fantastic video, as always 🙏🇬🇧🥊
I would have Roy Jones on this list at around the A or B tier. I am a huge fan of Naoya but I think S is a little high for him I would put him down to A. I think he is more skilled than hard puncher. A lot of his KOs are of good timing. S tier in my opinion are guys that can drop you with glancing blows and in my opinion Naoya isnt that.
I think an underated puncher is Max Bear, his right hand was so powerful he by accident k illed a man in the ring and he knocked out 85 inch reach (same as Tyson Fury) 263lb all muscle Primo Carnera putting him in hospital for two weeks.
Primo had a suspect chin and probably acromegaly that causes some issue to his durability, dude that has acromegaly typically are chinny like Bigfoot silva
Absolutely phenomenal doco style video. I never miss a BLTV upload. Please do more! Does anyone know if there's a way to get access to other videos? Do they have patraon or something?
Fantastic Tier List my friend. The best on the entire Internet. Golovkin should be placed higher in A or S tier though on just pure raw punching power. He was legit breaking human bones in matches (Broken orbital bone on Brook and 2 Broken ribs on Mackilin) Beat the crap out of Kovalev in sparring during their primes and used to make people piss blood. His nickname was actually dubbed "Superman" up at Big Bear when he first stepped foot on America soil in 2012.
the power of George Foreman makes Ali's victory in Zaire in 1974 even more miraculous. I still can't believe what he did there. I saw it live when I was a child on a small black and white TV
@@thegodfather1924 yea, forman was druged. also, they made ropes more loose than normal. They prepared it for high humidity and heat, because they knew, Foreman didn't have best stamina. He was usually fatiqued after 4-5 rounds.
I see foreman as an incredibly strong dude rather than a bomber, of course he hits like a truck but he's like an absolute tank, he had volume, he could move around and wrestle and manipulate people, he was just really really strong
An off balanced arm punch from Big George would drop people as fast as some of the most technically perfect fully loaded over hands of other heavyweights.
@@Heaveaway23 Muhammad Ali ja disse que Earnie Shavers é mais forte, e Ron Lyle e todos os outros que enfrentaram os dois dizem que Earnie shavers bate mais forte mas também é mais forte fisicamente
One thing that I love about boxing is how the sport is well documented. Not only we have footage from 100 years ago but several pictures, news articles and even movies about every major fighter and fight there has ever been throughout the years.
Foreman and Tyson were scary knockout artists...but the guy whose K.Os scare me the most even when I watch him now, is Julian Jackson. Watch his K.Os but look at the way the opponents drop. The way their bodies dropped is super scary. They were out cold before their bodies hit the floor. Insane!
I'm surprised Hagler isn't there. No, he didn't possess one punch KO power, but his punches were hard and wore people down. His 84% KO percentage is among the best ever. I would rate him a C.
@@SoulAlmighty1660 Usyk's bunches seem to have a lot less effect than Hagler's. Hagler hurt Hearns every time he hit him. Usyk has never devastated anybody like that.
Boxing legends TV thank you for this outstanding video. I'm so glad you started making videos again. It would be great if you could also make a tier list of the top 50 boxers of all time. greetings from Croatia
@Coldass Hhhhhh davis ducked comey? Comey was not undeafted when he fought lopez and comey is not well rounded fighter a c+ fighter tank is the most complete fighter in boxing today speed timing power defense footwork he can do it all Lopez is good but he is not one punch lights out but tank is u cannot dispute that.
@@Righthook.. lmao the most complete fighter today is Artur beterbiev, tanks resume is dookie water you cannot dispute that lol teofimo is p4p top 5 and tank has never fought a p4p elite fighter and yet teo has fought 2 undefeated p4p champs in loma and tayler what has tank done his best win was an old washed gamboa
Great list! I tend to agree with almost any of you picks. I would’ve put both *Morrison* and *Hearns* in A tier. Additionally, I would add *Max Baer* on the list as I see him Knocking out most of todays heavyweights despite being way smaller. Also *Roy Jones JR* could slip in To E-tier considering the other fighters listed there.
Beterbiev is solid S class. 100% KO ratio as a pro. He went up to cruiserweight during the amateurs and was still knocking people out in under 3 rounds. Dropped Usyk with a body blow as well. Edit: Not many people know this but Gvozdyck was being hailed as the LHW king. He has a large variety of punching arsenal, way more than Bivol. He also has a high IQ in KO set ups. He did everything right against Beterbiev but Artur was simply on another level.
@FloresRain I wouldn't say Bivol really has that much of a variety of a punching arsenal in general. He is a very basic boxer but has mastered those basics like very very few ever have. Everything else I might have to agree with. He always finds a way to finish a fight and though boxers do not fight as often as they used to these days that is still very impressive for a modern day boxer.
@gamersinger5118 I agree 👍 What I've noted is that Bivol has more than 4 different back step variations to his defensive foot work which works wonderfully for managing distance and delivering accurate one 1 and 2 combos.
@@FloresRain Basically he possesses a primary basic skillset but he has utility in how to use them in pretty much any situation. Thus why I consider it a mastery over the basics. Good insight on your part. Bivol is the only man who can beat Beterbiev at his best at htis point but will he? I really hope that fight happens sooner rather than later for both their sakes.
@gamersinger5118 good breakdown. I've been wanting Bivol vs Gvozdyck and Beterbiev for years. These are underrated super fights people are sleeping on. I also thought Kovalev and Ward were gonna fight these guys back then. Such a shame.
Single hardest puncher I have ever seen p4p. The theory was that he had extra muscle elasticity. When he threw a punch it was almost like a slingshot. Just generated so much torque on the punches. Not sure when we will ever see anybody like him again.
Morrison's Left Hook was a lot faster, shorter and more powerful than Frazier's. Frazier was the more accomplished boxer. But Morrison's Left Hook should rate a few tiers higher. Both Bert Sugar and Jim Lampley said Morrison had the best Left Hook in 90s Heavyweights. Frazier should be lower than Tua.
Great video! I like this video format and I hope you come back full-time! I miss the days of looking forward to boxing legend TV videos. My list is: Deontay wilder, George foreman, Sonny liston, Julian jackson, Gerald McClellan, Sam Langford, Sugar Ray Robinson, Smokin' Joe Frazier, Joe Gans, Shannon Briggs and Joe Louis!
I understand what you're saying but to play devil's advocate Wilder doesn't have a bevy of high quality opponents either but would you really argue that he isn't one of the hardest punchers of all time?
@charlieprince8671 I would argue that wilder and tank wouldn't have the ko percentage if they fought the same opposition and Anthony Joshua or lomachenko.
@@mrsrt5038 like you said yourself. Low quality opponents. If tank was fighting at baby devisions he would murder everyone there but instead he’s fighting full body weight men. Something Inoue can only dream of
Surprised not to see Max Baer or Jersey Joe, from Britain Sir Hendry Cooper was always renown for his KO power but can understand not being on the list and Randolph Turpin too, But in fairness to you very fairly done
Corrie Sanders was an incredibly hard puncher and was very unlucky to not be allowed to fight the heavyweights in his era because according to Lennox Lewis they avoided the South African at all costs because he hit so hard. I remember the fight against Vladimir Klitschko when he was passed his best he still knocked him out in the second round and Klitschko went on to say it was the hardest he had ever been hit.
Had Sanders had proper management and promotion, he could have made a lot of waves. He had issues with defense and conditioning, which a top shelf trainer could have remidied.Shame he languished in South Africa.
I kinda feel Jersey Joe Walcott should be in there. He was one of only two people to drop Marciano (And Rocky bounced up quick from Archie Moore but Walcott made him look up with surprise, with Marciano himself saying he felt THAT punch out of all the other ones in his career). He also knocked out other Heavyweight greats in his time. He could really hit, even if he wasn't a brawler. He was a counter-puncher, that did indeed have amazing timing, precision and angles but also REALLY heavy hands.
Absolutely but his power didn't compare to Rocky's. Nobody's did. Archie Moore said every one of his punches felt like a truck full of rocks and said he punched harder than any heavyweight who ever lived.
Hey man, I know we have no ironclad way to measure and compare and this is ultimately a subjective endeavour. I might not agree with a lot of your placements, but I certainly enjoyed the ride. Amazing video.
Manny would be S tier on speed and volume but certainly not on power. Yes Manny is amazing and one of the best ever, just not the one-punch man everyone on the first 2 tiers here were!.
Classifying Mike Tyson as an "old school legend" absolutely made me feel old this morning! Now get off my lawn! Seriously, though, I think you've done a terrific job at one of the most complicated and contentious topics for boxing fans: cross-era comparisons. I think it's inevitable for all such lists to have a bias toward the present but on balance, I think you've represented the various eras well.
Lennox Lewis is at least an A ranked puncher. The strenght and punch-power he had was MUCH greater then given credit for. Lewis was near a perfect heavyweight who had the skillset of a well schooled boxer and the mindset of a wild lion. He was a boxer first and a finnisher afterwards. But if he really wanted you gone - he would send you out hard and fast. The 2nd Rahman fight, the Ruddock fight, the Botha fight, the Grant fight, the Golota fight etc are fights where he just plain-out wanted em OUT!
@@magacop5180 WT#! Are you serious? You decide to take a side with Riddick Bowe over Lennox Lewis....when it freakin was Bowe who DUMPED the WBC world title belt in a trash can to get rid of facing Lennox Lewis - so he could fight a drug-struggling Michael Dokes who was shotgun shot from what he was and then a pointless unrated journeyman in Jess Fergusson. Bowe and his manager Newman gave Lewis BS worth of offers that Lewis's manager at the time declined but still accepted afterweards due to Lewis wanted to get at Bowe for all his trash & insults since the 1988 OG - woopsie-doo Bowe & newman then says "to late" we will go with another road. That followed with the WBC belt trashing. And then Lewis still wanted to fight Bowe in 1993 and 1994 but nothing came. In 1996 Lewis was gunning for Tyson as first priority since Tyson had taken his WBC title from McCall who had in his turn repeatedly turned down Lewis a rematch. Well Lewis got it in 1997 and blasted him to quit. Bowe was supposted to fight Lewis in 1996 and then 1997 but since he could not get past ANdrew Golota in 96, he wanted redemption and postponed there fight. Bowe again gets handled by Golota but again escapes with another "W" due to stupid son of a gun Golota can't fight by the rules. And what? Riddick Bowew retires in 1997? In his prime age years? At only 29. Bowe never wanted to face Lewis and never wanted to fight any threts. WHy do you think Holyfield and other HOF HW have critizised Bowe in recent years for walking away from what should have been his biggest rivalry fight of his entire career? Bowe was all talk and no walk. Lennox Lewis fought near EVREY man from there era and defeated them all with only Michael Moorer the other man he did not get (after he lost to McCall that unification went south). So please, Bowe was the only one ducking. Lewis would just like in the Olympics have defeated him. Bowe had to go wars with Holyfield and was even dropped while Lewis out-boxed him twice! Never lost control.
I don't have a problem with your list except for Marciano....He was NOT a one punch KO guy, he's more like a heavy handed guy who breaks his opponents down piece by piece. I would put him somewhere in the middle or toward the end of the A list. I think him and Jeffries go hand in hand. 2 heavy handed guy who break down their opponents and take away their hearts the longer the fights go on.....
Marciano ko'd more than half his opponents in the first 3 rounds. Only 3 of his opponents were never ko'd by him at all, and they only fought him in the developmental period of his career before he learned how to make his left as deadly as his right. Those who lasted a while with him were usually defensive masters. But there were also a lot of fights he overtrained for, which made him slow and stiff in the opening rounds. He also fought with a bad back, a bad right shoulder, bad right elbow and a bad knuckle on his right fist. He was on antibiotics, recovering from the flu, when he fought Lee Savold.
@@surrealistidealist Everything you say is true. The stats are all true....But the eyes test tell me different. There are 2 kinds of power in boxing. The one punch KO power, a la Hearns, J. Jackson, E. Shaves, etc....And then there's the heavy handed guys who break them down piece by piece, like Rocky. This is who Rocky is if you forget about the stats and just look at his fights....And to tell you the truth, if I was a boxer, I would much rather face a one punch KO guy rather than a guy like Rocky. You don't feel nothing from a one punch KO guy, maybe a little bit humiliated after the fight. But with a guy like Rocky?.....You are in HELL for how many rounds you manage to last. Everything hurts!!!!
When you do another list, could you do one on defensive masters. My favorite defensive boxer is 50s and 60s middleweight contender Philly Shell master George Benton.
Good list. There's always going to be points to nit-pick but I think you've done a good job. The biggest nit-pick would be Hearns. The man has nasty power at many different weight classes. I think he deserves to be A.
