Ranking the 10 Hardest Hitters in Boxing over the Last Decade
The Klitschko brothers, Wladimir and Vitali, are two of the hardest punchers of all time, let alone the past 10 years. Their punching power is hardly the entire story when it comes to explaining their long run at the top of the heavyweight division.
But it's certainly a large part of the equation.
In boxing, it's definitely possible to be a great fighter without great punching power. Defensive genius Willie Pep, for instance, had a ratio of just 27 percent, but he appears high on any credible all-time, pound-for-pound ranking.
But big power sure helps make things even in a hurry or else make sure they never get even in the first place.
Just as in baseball, where the best offensive strategy is ultimately a three-run homer, in boxing, nothing is more efficient than simply knocking your opponent out.
10. Randall Bailey
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With a nickname like "The Knock-Out King," it makes sense to have Randall Bailey on this list. Bailey first became a world champion in 2000, when he captured the WBO 140-pound belt from Rocky Martinez in his 21st professional fight.
Naturally, Bailey won that fight by knockout. At the time, it gave him 21 straight stoppages to start his career.
Bailey lost the belt in his first defense and, in truth, has generally struggled against world-title quality opponents. Yet, his power has always made him dangerous.
This was never more clear than in June 2012, when he became a world champion for the second time by stopping IBF welterweight champion Mike Jones. After losing the first nine rounds, Bailey dropped Jones hard in Round 10 and finished him off in Round 11.
Now 41, Bailey remains active. So far in 2015, he's knocked out two more opponents, giving him 39 for his career and a KO ratio of 71 percent.
9. Roman Gonzalez
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Obviously I'm grading on a curve a little bit, to include a flyweight on a list like this. But undefeated, three-division world champion Roman Gonzalez deserves a mention. He's a miniature wrecking ball.
For his career, Gonzalez is 43-0, with 37 KOs, for a ratio of 86 percent. As he's moved up in weight, he's kept his power. All nine of his fights at 112 pounds and above have been stoppages.
Gonzalez's hard-hitting style has finally started to earn him the kind of attention tiny fighters rarely get. He'll be the co-main event on Gennady Golovkin's pay-per-view debut later this month.
Gonzalez's opponent for that fight will be two-division world champion Brian Viloria, one of the best fighters he's faced. But Viloria also fights in a style that should make him very vulnerable to be yet another name on Gonzalez's list.
8. Alexander Povetkin
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Alexander Povetkin has fought his entire career in the shadow of the Klitschko brothers. Even the version of a world title he held from 2011 to 2013, the WBA "regular" belt, doesn't really count, since Wladimir Klitschko held the real, or "super," WBA title.
But Povetkin has been and remains the best heavyweight not named Klitschko of this era. And while he is much more of a boxer than a puncher, his power cannot be overlooked.
For his career, Povetkin has knocked out 21 of 30 opponents for a 70 percent rate. And since losing to Wladimir Klitschko in 2013, his power has seemed to increase.
In 2015, he's had perhaps the best year of any heavyweight on the planet, knocking out both Carlos Takam and Mike Perez, both ranked in the top 10 at the time he defeated them.
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7. Shannon Briggs
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Shannon Briggs has turned stalking Wladimir Klitschko into an ongoing, Youtube dramedy. At 43, Briggs is desperate to get one last shot at the title and one last big payday.
It's hard not to view the prospect of Briggs beating Klitschko as a joke. But there's never been anything funny about Briggs' punching power. In his career, he's stopped 52 opponents, for a KO ratio of 78 percent.
Since returning to action in 2014, Briggs has been very active, beating eight opponents and seven inside of the distance. Of course, if he really wants to be viewed as a legitimate contender, he'll need to beat somebody ranked somewhere close to the top 25.
6. David Haye
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David Haye ranks with the hardest punchers in the history of the cruiserweight division. By the time he moved to heavyweight, he'd collected three belts in the 200-pound division and put together a record of 21-1 with 20 KOs.
As a heavyweight, Haye kept his power. Seven-foot giant Nikolai Valuev went the distance with Haye, and Wladimir Klitschko beat him in a one-sided fight, but he also knocked out durable heavyweights such as John Ruiz and Dereck Chisora.
Haye has been inactive since 2012, but he's still just 35. I'm betting that fans haven't seen the last of the Hayemaker.
5. Gennady Golovkin
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Gennady Golovkin has the appearance and demeanor of an affable physical education teacher. But in the ring, he lands thudding, fight-changing punches with dangerous intentions.
As he prepares for his pay-per-view debut against David Lemieux later this month, Golovkin is riding a 20-fight KO streak. In his career, he has knocked out 30 of 33 opponents. His only three fights to go the distance were eight-rounders, all prior to 2008.
While Golovkin has yet to beat anybody who would rank as a future Hall of Famer, the opponents he has been knocking out are hardly tomato cans. He's consistently steamrolled opponents who don't generally find themselves knocked flat.
4. Sergey Kovalev
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If Sergey Kovalev had come along back in the Cold War, he might have seemed like a real-life Ivan Drago: a coolly efficient destroyer. But in today's world, he is quickly becoming one of the most popular stars in the United States.
Kovalev is quick to smile and has appeared on Jim Lampley's The Fight Game, talking about changing diapers for his newborn son. He's a likable fighter.
But make no mistake, he is also a scary one. In the ring, Kovalev delivers brutal punishment with calculated professional detachment. He launches fight ending punches with both hands.
Against Cedric Agnew, Kovalev won with a jab to the body.
It's rare in the era of modern heavyweights for a light heavyweight champion to rise all the way to heavyweight and contend for the championship there. Even in earlier eras, nobody managed to do it between Gene Tunney and Michael Spinks, and nobody has done it since then.
At just six feet, it's unlikely Kovalev would be able to make a run at it. Spinks, though slender, had the height and reach of a heavyweight. Tunney fought very long for his era.
Still, with the kind of pop Kovalev packs, it's hard to resist at least speculating how he might do against some of the smaller heavyweight contenders.
3. Deontay Wilder
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It is definitely fair to criticize the quality of Deontay Wilder's resume. It is padded by journeymen and trial horses, and even since winning the WBC heavyweight belt from Bermane Stiverne last January, he has defended against fringe contenders Eric Molina and Johann Duhaupas.
Stiverne remains the only top-10 fighter Wilder has faced. In fact, he's the only top-20 opponent Wilder has faced.
But Wilder's power can't be denied. The 6'7" Bronze Bomber has a frame that generates tremendous, concussive force when he turns over on his right hand.
It's possible to speculate that Wilder's record is a bit of a mirage. But those knockouts are for real. So far, he's got 34 in 35 professional fights, for a KO rate of 97 percent.
2. Wladimir Klitschko
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Wladimir Klitschko's left jab is among the best in the history of the heavyweight division. It's a punishing, battering-ram punch.
Klitschko has also developed the ability to slightly alter the punch mid-delivery, turning it into a sythe-like, long-range hook.
But it's Klitschko's straight right that earned him the nickname "Dr. Steelhammer." The long-reigning heavyweight champion has knocked out 53 opponents in 67 fights, for a KO ratio of 79 percent.
While he is likely nearing the end of his run, expect him to add another victim or two to his roll call before he hangs up the gloves.
1. Vitali Klitschko
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While younger brother Wladimir is known as Dr. Steelhammer, the older and larger Klitschko sibling, Vitali, has long been known by his fans as Dr. Ironfist. I'd never want to catch a shot from either brother, but if I had to guess, I'd say Vitali is the harder hitter.
Klitschko's 87 percent KO rate is among the highest in the history of the heavyweight division, trailing only Rocky Marciano among belt holders. He started his career with 26 straight KOs.
Only four of Klitschko's 45 wins made it the distance. Even the fighters who finished on their feet against Klitschko suffered for it. The punishment he delivered over 12 rounds to Shannon Briggs in 2010 was legitimately scary to watch.
Even in Klitschko's TKO loss on cuts to Lennox Lewis in 2003, Klitschko landed heavy, punishing shots and was up on the cards at the time of the stoppage.
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