Jackson absolutely crushed dudes. His knock out highlight reel is among the best. But man, watching Shavers back in the day, there was just something about his numbing shots that made guys look like they had just been hit by lightning. He just had power that made his opponent look instantly and momentarily retarded.
True...but G-Man was a scary hitter, no doubt about it. He was all power and nothing else. I'd rate Hamed with these guys though...
Ive changed my mind on this. Its shavers to me by a mile. He was such a terrible terrible fighter, but even against world class guys, they gave him respect and allowed him to look successful. At least Jackson had some boxing ability, Shavers is known only because he could KO a horse.
Hearns had boxing ability, Benn had none. Both had huge power. Benn isn't automatically more powerful than Hearns because power is all he had.
I dont doubt he could hit, but I would never put him with Shavers or Jackson, they proved it against far superior opposition
I too, think Hamed was a colossal hitter... easily up there with Danny Lopez and Saddler as the most devastating featherweight punchers
right, except nigel benn didn't suck. Earnie Shavers, SUCKED. But Larry Holmes gave him cred. That tells me all I need to know about his power.
Jackson for me, but it is close; Shavers had freakish power. As for some of the others mentioned, McClellan hit hard, sure, but he couldn't KO Nigel Benn, who by most account had no chin to speak of and whom he hit with the kitchen sink. Hamed hit fricken hard too, especially for such a small guy. MTF
I'm not confortable holding the lack of a KO over Benn against him... he almost had him out in the first, and there's really no way of knowing when he started to almost die.
Besides... Barkley was dropped by old man former lightweight Duran, stopped in one round by Benn and beaten down and stopped by Toney. hearns couldn't stop him in two fights. Doesn't mean Hearns had mediocre power. These inexplicable things sometimes happen in boxing.
Hamed is not even close to being an elite puncher. He scored some nice KO's over old fighters, but up against the only prime, elite fighter he faced, his punches did nothing, and he DID land some flush left hands on Barrera. Shit, he didn't even look particularly powerful against guys like Soto, Medina and Ingle. He was a good puncher for sure, but anyone who thinks he's on Jackson's level is insane. Pacquiao hit much harder at featherweight. Marquez hit at least as hard as Hamed.
'Almost out' isn't the same as 'out'. Benn was lucid and finding his feet after McClellan basically had a free hit on a defenseless Benn on the ropes after about a minute of the fight. Jackson or Shavers would have laid him out cold in the same circumstance IMO. Don't get me wrong, G-Man could fucking hit. But his failure to KO Benn has to raise a question mark. MTF
Hearns at MW is not considered an ATG puncher by anyone I've ever met, though. McClellan is being considered here in that regard. MTF
T'was a weird fight to be true... I had predicted a first round KO for McClellan. I was 100% sure Benn wouldn't see the 2nd round. I would have bet my house. McClellan's punch + Benn's chin = first round KO. Somehow Benn survived. All I can say is this: Somehow somewhere benn was supposed to win that fight. It was fate. It's the only way I can explain it. It goes against all previous boxing logic. People say that benn was hypnotized for that fight. Perhaps there's some truth to it and that's the key....because there's no way on paper should benn have survived the first round let alone won that fight.
Benn himself confirms the hypnosis thing in his autobiography. I've read it myself. I agree almost entirely with everything you say, too. But it all strikes me as a too-convenient way of explaining why G-Man, one of the hardest hitters of modern times, couldn't lay Benn out when he hit him with the kitchen sink in that first round. MTF