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8.
Quantifying and cataloging boxing’s biggest punchers—just like the mythical pound-for-pound list—is an incredibly subjective endeavor since the sport doesn’t use a carnival attraction to measure power.
But you know a big puncher when you see him and nothing grabs the attention of fight fans like a boxer who possesses the power to turn someone’s lights out in the blink of an eye.
“People tend to fall in love with power,” says Showtime boxing analyst and former two-division champion Paulie Malinaggi.
Power isn’t something a boxer can cultivate. Sure, better technique and hard work in the gym can refine and incrementally increase the force behind a punch. But power is essentially inherent. Either you were born with hammers for hands or you’re walking around with a pair of pillowcases.
“Power is primarily a God given thing but I do think you can improve power 10-12 percent with conditioning and technique,” says Jay Deas, the co-trainer for Deontay Wilder. “If you’re in great shape and you’re throwing your punches and getting the right space and distance your punches are that much harder.”
7.
“You gotta be in with a scary guy and knock him out to be on this list. If you knocked out guys that pump my gas at the station I can’t put you in this conversation.” — Paulie Malinaggi
6.
Many of boxing’s best possess premier power, like Wilder, the WBC heavyweight champion, whose right hand just might be the hardest in boxing history. But who else packs a serious punch besides the Bronze Bomber? It’s another boxing debate where there’s no right answer and the criteria varies with every evaluator.
“You gotta be in with a scary guy and knock him out to be on this list,” says Malinaggi. “If you knocked out guys that pump my gas at the station I can’t put you in this conversation.”
Ahead of Wilder’s massive rematch with Tyson Fury this weekend in Las Vegas, we asked for the input of two guys who know way more about boxing—Malinaggi and FOX boxing analyst and former welterweight champ Shawn Porter—to help us rank the sport's top thumpers.
5.Gervonta Davis
The WBA lightweight champ, whose success in the ring has at times been overshadowed by troubles outside of it, is a Floyd Maywweather protégé fighting under Floyd's promotional wing. But the biggest difference between the 25-year-old from Baltimore, who has bona-fide superstar potential, and his boss is that Davis possesses the kind of power that buckle his opponents.
“Gervonta, to me, is a very explosive fighter,” says Porter. “I think he uses his power differently. His combination of speed and power makes him very explosive.”
A southpaw who packs power at 135 pounds, “Tank” Davis (23-0, 22 KOs) owns an ultra impressive knockout percentage and many might expect him to be ranked lower on our list. But Malinaggi believes Davis’ power deserves context considering who it's been unleashed against.
“I think Gervonta is a solid fighter, but he hasn’t fought enough high level opposition to realize what kind of puncher he is,” says Malinaggi. “I don’t think he’s a weak puncher, by any means of the imagination, but I do think the combination of Gervonta’s skillset and his power—his above average power—ends up getting a lot of knockouts as well. But he hasn’t knocked out anybody scary.”
4.(tie) Canelo Alvarez & Gennadiy Golovkin
This is either a cop out or apropos to pair boxing’s most bitter rivals on this list. We’ll lean toward the later since these two deserve to give fans a third and final fight. Maybe, just maybe it comes in September, as has been wildly speculated. But if it doesn’t, the middleweight champions are easily two of boxing’s best power punchers.
While Golovkin (40-1-1, 35 KOs) appears to be showing signs of decline at age 37, you can’t deny that his right hand is still one of the most devastating in the game.
“He did hurt Canelo” in their two fights, says Malinaggi. “And Canelo’s in this conversation.”
Alvarez (49-1-2, 36 KOs) might not have an eye-opening knockout percentage, but there’s little doubt that Alvarez possesses the kind of power that inflicts serious damage on his opponents since they always look roughed after a fight. Just ask Golovkin.
“Canelo is a guy who I describe as a thumper,” says Porter. “He’s a kind of guy that has the kind of power that he’s heavy-handed. He can just thump you. When he hits you, it affects you.”
3.Nayoa Inoue
The smallest fighter on the list, Inoue is also one of our pound-for-pound best and he packs a wallop at 118 pounds. The Monster from Japan (19-0, 16 KOs) is a lighting-quick puncher who snaps an opponent's head with his jab and buckles them with a body blow.
“His explosiveness and the fact he’s able to do it against good fighters,” says Malinaggi. “He’s got some really scary power. I just don’t know if he’s going to keep it as he moves up in weight class.”
How long Inoue remains at bantamweight remains to be seen, but if you haven’t seen him fight yet he makes his United States debut in April in Las Vegas. And after you see him in the ring, you’re not going to want to miss his next one.
2.Artur Beterbiev
The WBC and IBF light heavyweight champion, who appears to be the best fighter in one of boxing’s deeper divisions, has frightening power.
“He just touches you, you just go to sleep, it’s crazy,” says Malinaggi.
With a perfect record and knockout percentage (15-0, 15 KOs), the Russian pummels his opponents, including his most recent victim. Beterbiev’s TKO in the 10th round over the well-respected Oleksandr Gvozdyk this past November was eye-opening for those who hadn’t been paying attention.
“His record speaks for itself: 100 percent knockout ratio and he’s fought some pretty good competition,” says Malinaggi.
1.Deontay Wilder
With a 95 percent knockout rate and an absolute hammer of a right hand, Wilder is not afraid to tell you where he stands amongst the hardest hitters ever.
“I’m the biggest puncher probably in boxing history,” says the heavyweight champ.
Who's going to argue with him? With his massive frame and athleticism, Wilder generates an incredible amount of force when he swings, annihilating those crazy enough to get in the ring with him. While Wilder deserves more credit for his boxing acumen than he generally receives, because he got a later start than most in the sport he hasn’t always been the most fundamentally sound fighter. And therefore you'll occasionally see some wild swings that look cartoonish thanks to his incredibly long limbs. But when he catches you clean—and you don’t see it coming—it’s almost always goodnight. Tyson Fury, in their controversial split decision draw in 2018, is the only opponent to survive one of Wilder’s knockdowns in his 43 professional bouts.
“Deontay Wilder has the kind of power that’s electric,” says Porter. “It jolts through your entire body and guys are not able to stand up to it.”
Mike Tyson and George Foreman, for instance, are considered two of the top punchers in the heavyweight division’s rich history, but Wilder’s power is on a different level. The scariest part? His co-trainer says, at age 34, Wilder's only getting better as a boxer and increasing his power.
“He generates so much speed but he can also hit you in the body or shoulder or something and he has that George Foreman quality to it,” says Deas. “There is that ‘wow, that hurt’ factor. His power is not one category or the other.”