Of those, I think either Herrera or Gans should go but I'm not overly informed on Herrera. Personally, I think Hiranaka may be up there. Williams, Rosario and Arguello are locks IMO. I don't know if I'd have Duran as a lock for top five, but he wouldn't be far behind. DLH & Chico aren't bad shouts all.
I don't know too much about Herrera either but have read a little and he has something like 60 knockouts out of his 68 wins. But clearly, it's a shot in the dark. I think some of the hardest, most committed punchers often lack the glossy record and long title reigns that some of the more well rounded fighters achieve.
I can't claim to know much about this area but I'd think Arguello might need to be on any list. 5 punchers is a small list. I would accept Double L's stance: there's guys out there who crack like mothers and might not have even gotten close to the title. Jesus Pimentel at 118 for instance.
I think lightweight is quite clearly the worst of original weight classes for punchers. My top five is: #05. Manny Pacquiao #04. Oscar De La Hoya #03. Alexis Arguello #02. Ike Williams #01. Edwin Rosario
Just to compare this to the other divisions: Heavyweight • Wladimir Klitschko • George Foreman • Sonny Liston • Deontay Wilder • Earnie Shavers Light-Heavyweight • Saad Muhammad • Bob Foster • Michael Spinks • Archie Moore • Sam Langford (?) Middleweight • Eduardo Lausse • Roy Jones Jr. • Bob Fitzsimmons • Gerald McClellan • Stanley Ketchel Welterweight • Sugar Ray Robinson • Tommy Hearns • Pipino Cuevas • Al Bummy Davis • Jose Luis Lopez Featherweight • Alexis Arguello • Naseem Hamed • Manny Pacquiao • Sandy Saddler • Danny Lopez Bantamweight • Ruben Olivares • Alfonso Zamora • Carlos Zarate • Jesus Pimental • Eder Jofre Flyweight • Jimmy Wilde • Antonio Avelar • Manny Pacquiao • Hiroyuki Ebihara • Peter Kane
There are quite a few noteworthy names that haven't been mentioned yet, though. Lew Jenkins Canzoneri Petrolle McLarnin King Tut Ray Miller Charley White Lew Tendler Pedro Montanez Len Matthews Carlos Hernandez Dave Charnley Ganigan Nazarov Pendleton
I wouldn't consider all of these great punchers perse, but I more specifically meant a top five. I think light has more depth than light-heavyweight, but 175 has better high end punchers. Fuckin good list though mate. Hernandez, White and McLarnin are excellent mentions.
I'm actually going to go against the grain here and argue that Williams and Arguello aren't necessarily locks for the top 5. Although Williams was a terrific hitter, no question, I think his KOs largely stem from his ability to land his blows in rapid-fire combinations. And although Arguello could still crack up at 135, I think he lost a bit of the one-shot power he had down at 126-130 and had to work a bit harder to get the KO. In other words, if we're judging fighters strictly on one-shot power, I think it's very feasible that there are at least 5 LWs in history that hit harder with a single punch. I think I'd also argue that Canzoneri is more deserving of a place in the top 5 - he scored ONE-Punch KOs of two famously IRON-chinned HOFers (Berg and Chocolate).
Yeah, I agree with Doub. Both Lewis and Tyson were bigger punchers than Wald, and both deserve top 5 at heavyweight.
I don't know if Oscar could "Punch" at 135. He had very few "High End" fights there and he was basically just bigger, faster, fresher too. His rep at 135 is based on him stopping Bredahl and Ruelas, for me that was speed and size based. He beat Genaro Hernandez but that was nasal damage, it's not like he laid the guy out. He was huge at the weight and fast, and a danger to anyone he met, but I don't know if he was a "puncher" per se.
Midgets. Midgets who had gotten battered at lower weights too. If you can't knock out guys who barely got past Troy fucking Dorsey at a lower weight, then............
I think he was definitely a bomber, but I don't think he's a lock for top five. He definitely doesn't have the bodies to match it, but then again, neither does Arguello. I think Hernandez probably has a better shout.
135 was Oscar's peak power weight. I would say that 140 was his peak weight, overall. The perfect mesh of his power still being formidable, and his skill becoming more refined than it was at 135.
Sure. But he wasn't this killer either. Ruelas brothers were always vulnerable. Oscar was able to tee off and dazzle these guys and get them going. Did he hit HIS hardest at 135? Yes. Was he top 5 All Time puncher at the weight? I can't see it, not based on blowing out midgets and retreads from a division below.
Does Oscar even have a legit 10 count stoppage on his resume? And no I don't count that lay-down job Paez did. The way he started moving after 10 and opened his mouth to have the shield removed
Paez had been a legit contender up at 135, and had never before been bombed out in that manner at any weight (his only previous stoppage loss was a corner retirement vs. Ruelas).
I think Daryl Tyson and David Kamau (sp?) were 10 counts. To be fair to Oscar, having a plethora of 10 count stoppages on world level is rare, even among punchers. Guys like Hearns, Jackson, Tyson, Foster have them, but these are the elite of elite all time punchers. The exception rather than the rule.
