BoxNations Top 10 Current Biggest Punchers

On Saturday night knockout artist Adonis ‘Superman’ Stevenson is back in action, live and exclusive on BoxNation, when he defends his WBC light-heavyweight title against the tricky Andrzej Fonfara at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

Regarded among modern day boxing’s biggest hitters, the 175 pound champion sits in the privileged position of being the type of all-action, exciting fighter that is guaranteed to put bums on seats.

Fight fans have long adored, and yearned, for the concussive, one-punch pugilist, one who is able to end a fight in the blink of an eye.

Throughout the ages boxing has been littered with such formidable characters from the lowest weight classes all the way up to the heaviest. Names such as Ernie Shavers, Mike Tyson, Julian Jackson, George Foreman, Bob Foster, Tommy Hearns, Sandy Saddler, Archie Moore, Rocky Marciano and many more have acquired enviable reputations as some of the sport’s most feared hitters.




Ahead of Stevenson’s clash this weekend, BoxNation analyses ten of the biggest-punchers around today.

1. Adonis Stevenson (23-1, 20 KOs)

No better place to start than the man who fights this Saturday night. His reputation as boxing’s biggest puncher has risen considerably after enjoying a memorable 2013, which saw him blast his way past Chad Dawson in the first round to capture the WBC light-heavyweight crown.

The brutal stoppage of Dawson was followed by wins against Tavoris Cloud and Tony Bellew, which has seen the southpaw stop his last 10 opponents, whilst amassing a record of 20 knockouts in his 23 wins.

He recently declared himself ‘the Mike Tyson of the light-heavyweights’, with the punching power he possesses you’ll find few who will argue.

2. Deontay Wilder (31-0, 31 KOs)

Known as ‘The Bronze Bomber’, his record of having knocked out all who stand before him speaks for itself. Heavyweight Wilder is making huge impressions on a division that is hoping to restore itself as boxing’s glamour weight class.

Some critics have questioned the level of competition that the 6ft 7inch Alabama bruiser has been in with, but you can only face what is put in front of you, and next up for the heavyweight ace is likely to be a stab at Bermane Stiverne’s WBC heavyweight title.

Wilder’s only made it as far as the fourth round on one occasion and will be hoping he can prove he’s the real deal by putting the heavyweight division’s very best to sleep.

3. Gennady Golovkin (29-0, 26 KOs)

The Kazakhstani kingpin is earning a reputation as boxing’s most feared combatant. Having captured the WBA middleweight title in 2010 against Nilson Julio Tapia by third round knockout, ‘Triple G (GGG)’ has seen his stock rise considerably to the point where it’s getting hard to find him any worthy opponents.

This in a division which boasts other notable names such as Sergio Martinez, Peter Quillin, Felix Sturm and Britain’s Martin Murray.

With nearly a 90% knockout record it’s clear to see why Golovkin would be last on anyone’s list as a potential foe.

4. Sergey Kovalev (24-0-1, 22 KOs)

The current WBO light-heavyweight champion currently ranks alongside Adonis Stevenson and the veteran Bernard Hopkins as the top dogs at 175 pounds.

The 6ft chiselled Russian rarely breaks into a smile, instead preferring to break jaws with an incredible 22 knockouts in his 24 victories.

A potential matchup between the two KO kings, Kovalev and Stevenson, has yet to materialise but his impressive victory over Nathan Cleverly to claim his first world title away from home shows nothing fazes this steely Russian assassin.

5. Keith Thurman (23-0, 21 KOs)

Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman earned his moniker due to his one-punch knockout power. The Floridian is quickly emerging as a real star of a stacked welterweight division which contains boxing’s biggest names including Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.

His recent outing’s have seen him hammer his way past respected names like Jesus Soto Karass and Julio Diaz, to take his record to 23 wins with 21 knockouts.

He stands on the verge of a shot at the world title at some point this year, with some predicting, with his slick boxing skills and devastating power, he will be the man to go on to take away Mayweather’s famous ‘O’.

6. Lucas Matthysse (35-3, 31 KOs)

Up until his recent closely fought battle with unified light-welterweight world champion Danny Garcia, ‘The Machine’ was regarded as the man on the threshold of reigning supreme over the 140 pound division.

His incredible run of victories prior to the Garcia fight had seen him run through a host of top names including Lamont Peterson, Mike Dallas Jr and Olusegun Ajose.

A rematch may be on the cards with Garcia if the champion decides to stay at light-welterweight, but nevertheless, with 33 knockouts in his 35 wins there will be a few restless nights for anyone going in against the ferocious Argentine.

7. Randall Bailey (44-8, 37 KOs)

As a three-time world champion in two weight divisions, his nickname ‘The Knockout King’ says it all. His most recent world title victory came against the respected welterweight champion Mike Jones in June 2012.

Behind on all three judges’ scorecards the American hitter needed a knockout to win. He duly obliged with a straight right down the middle in the tenth round which floored Jones, before ending the fight with a vicious uppercut at the close of round 11 that left the champion all over the place and unable to recover.

Tellingly, Jones hasn’t fought since the loss, and they say a fighter’s last thing to go is his power and at 39 Bailey will give anyone a run for their money.

8. Marcos Maidana (35-4, 31 KOs)

Hot off a valiant display against Floyd Mayweather, the Argentine Maidana showed that he was able to make up for his lack of technical skills by out hustling and using his power to trouble the pound-for-pound king.

Mayweather was well aware of ‘El Chino’s’ 31 knockouts in his 35 wins but after once being described by former champion Kevin Kelly as having hit ‘like a building fell on top of me’, his punching power alone has probably earned the undying respect of boxing’s number one star.

9. Jhonny Gonzalez (55-8, 47 KOs)

No matter the circumstances, if you can punch you always have a chance. Unfancied against one of boxing’s upcoming stars in Abner Mares, the Mexican featherweight never read the script when he decked the WBC champion twice in the first round.

With 46 knockouts in 54 victories before they met, Mares knew he was going in with a live wire but was unable to deal with Gonzalez’s fists of fury. A rematch was scheduled before Mares pulled out due to a rib injury, leaving Gonzalez set to face Clive Atwell next.

10. Wladimir Klitschko (62-3, 52 KOs)

With his sibling Vitali hanging up the gloves, and pursuing a career in politics, the younger Klitschko brother will be the one to fly the flag and continue the Klitschko domination of the heavyweight division.

At times the brothers have not got their due respect, but as the WBA, IBF, WBO and Ring Magazine heavyweight world champion and with a record of 52 knockouts in his 62 wins, Wladimir is undoubtedly one of the heaviest hitters around.

A fight with the unbeaten Kubrat Pulev is set to be next up for him, before a potential unification clash with WBC champion Bermane Stiverne.

Read more at http://www.eastsideboxing.com/2014/boxings-biggest-hitters-boxnation-shares-our-top-10/#D4OomDWHbOsVW6mb.99q

It's a good, fair list, but no way does Stevenson belong above GGG, Matthysse, Wilder, Wlad, or Kovalev.

Don't see anything particularly wrong with it. I do believe much of Stevenson's impact comes from his timing and accuracy, but he's clearly a hitter the likes of which we haven't seen since prime Malignaggi.

I think I'd find a place for Donaire.

Must have missed something? He's knocking out people a division above his natural weight.

Wlad isn't a KO artist though - his punches are acumulative, and by the time his opponents are "knocked out" it's usually because they're knackered, having been leant on for a few rounds. It's very unusual to see a straight Wlad KO. I would have Donaire in over him as he has genuine concussive power.

Gotta have Donaire in there, his left hook is the biggest punch in boxing P4P.

I'd like to throw nicholas walters into the mix. Big puncher. Not sure how many top class boxers he can catch and beat though.

3fingers wrote:I'd like to throw nicholas walters into the mix. Big puncher. Not sure how many top class boxers he can catch and beat though.

I was impressed with him against Vic but Vic is never a featherweight.

I would like to see him against the likes of Donaire, Mares or even the South African fella Donaire fought in his last fight.

I would have Kovalev as number 1. Although Stevenson does have the edge in speed, its like Kovalev has horse shoes in his gloves. He looks like the type of puncher that even if he missed the target and hits there arms and shoulders, they still feel the force of the punch.

I've always given props to Cleverly's chin, especially clowning in the Murat fight when was caught with his signature left hook blushed it off like it was nothing. When Kovalev took him out in 4 rounds, I was like f**k me this guy can punch.

Mr Bounce wrote:Wlad isn't a KO artist though - his punches are acumulative, and by the time his opponents are "knocked out" it's usually because they're knackered, having been leant on for a few rounds. It's very unusual to see a straight Wlad KO. I would have Donaire in over him as he has genuine concussive power.

You seem to be thinking of Vitali, Wlad has over 20 proper KO's. Accumulation points to hitting with a lot of flush punches, he hardly throws any right hands or left hooks with bad intentions until later in the fight but pretty much the first time he hit's opponent they buckle or go down. Chambers,Peter 2,Chagaev,Thompson 2 (that right hand in round 5 is an awesome punch)Povetkin ( i mean come on that was a hook/jab put a guy down who had never been down in his career, that's power) Brock, Austin, he's had some awesome one punch KO's. Half the guys in this list just live off one or two big punches their opponents didn't see. You can say what you want about as a fighter but pretty much every opponent who's been interviewed that i've read says he is one if not the hardest puncher they have faced.

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:I would have Kovalev as number 1. Although Stevenson does have the edge in speed, its like Kovalev has horse shoes in his gloves. He looks like the type of puncher that even if he missed the target and hits there arms and shoulders, they still feel the force of the punch.

I've always given props to Cleverly's chin, especially clowning in the Murat fight when was caught with his signature left hook blushed it off like it was nothing. When Kovalev took him out in 4 rounds, I was like f**k me this guy can punch.

Yea Kovalev has that dense power that could put guys away without really hitting them flush, i still have a feeling he's a better puncher than Stevenson. I mean come on, it doesn't take a lot to hurt Bellew or Dawson.

if wlad fights anyone slightly above average, he doesnt get them out there, nearly all of his "toughest" fights have been points wins

Doesn't mean he doesn't punch extremely hard, just lands even less and throws even less power punches than normal. If he wasn't knocking the guys down or hurting them in the 12 rounds i could understand but other than Haye he put them down or at least had them wobbling.

most heavyweights will do if you have free reign to punch everybody in the face freely, most of his opponents lack the skill set of being able to move let alone be anywhere near as good as him so thats whats he's able to do by being so much bigger and better than the majority. but when was the last time you saw him really knocking people out? most of the time its simply a wearing down process from his opponents taking too many shots

when he's fought anyone half decent he doesn't finish them, haye, povetkin, ibragimov (at the time), peter (the better version not the butterbean version) are all some of wlads best wins. all of which were on points

The KO on Chambers where he decided to put some meat on it for the first time with a left hook was brutal.

Anyone else think Kov would batter Stevenson?

Well he's battered a few people, but so has stevenson. We know stevenson can be got at, and we don't know much about how well crusher takes a shot... Although we do know he's been dropped by body shots from GGG in sparring. Stevenson works the body pretty well and has faster hands, so it's about whether kovalev can close the gap... And is happy taking the shots he'll need to take in order to do so.

No result would shock me if they fought, though you wouldn't expect it to go the distance. Personally, I don't see it as the walk in the park for kovalev as some do. I think stevenson has faced and beaten the slightly better fighters of the two.

Talk on the boards is that Kovalev never saw the canvas as an amateur.

Well he's admitted being dropped by GGG wearing pillows. Given nobody throws body shots in the amateurs, maybe he does have great whiskers but is a potential weakness down stairs.

According to sparring stories GGG iced Ollie McCall, George Chuvalo and Jake Lamotta with one shot!

... UAll three of them at the same time with just the one punch I believe.

I take sparring stories with a punch of salt generally Johnny, except when the guy who's been dropped admits it. Likewise I don't read too much into someone's whiskers from how well they negotiated a career fighting 3 rounds with head guards.. How many times was amir khan stopped in 100+ fights as an amateur?

Yeah my theory on Kov beating Stevenson is a just a hunch to be fair. Just based on what I've seen lately Kov seems to have the power to really trouble guys without landing clean. Don't remember seeing Clev caught bang on the chin but he was certainly on wobbly legs. Could well be wrong.

Agree with taking sparring stories with a pinch of salt. I'm sure you might take a knee in sparring from a shot that you never would on fight night.