I didn't wanna derail JOM's thread with this question, so I opened a separate one. Top puncher from the UK? Ok, from a historic standpoint, the answer here is Jimmy Wilde. The Ring does rank him as the third greatest puncher ever. So the criteria here is out of guys that there's full, extensive footage on. I would say it comes down to either: Lewis Hamed Benn So probably either Lewis or Hamed, as I consider both of them kind of cut above Benn as punchers.
If we are talking strictly world class then yeh I struggle to think of a name I'd put above those three. I do want to give a shout out to Wayne Alexander though, he was nowhere near world level but fuck me could that boy hit.
For late-90s, early-2000s UK domestic fights he was must-watch TV. Bad chin, no great skill but a lot of heart and obviously that fight-ending power. It helped that there was a really good domestic scene around that time too. Anyway, trying to think of another world class Brit who can compete with that top-3. Its tough.
I think some people might say Bruno and I get it, he was strong and could obviously bang a bit but he never really did it at world level bar maybe 3 seconds of success against Tyson (which gets WAY overrated by British media). The thing which impressed me about Bruno was his jab more than his power.
Ohh, yes bruno definitely deserves a mention. He might have hit as hard as benn imo. Problem is that he didn't fought like a puncher
It's Bob Fitzsimmons. Then after him, it's Jimmy Wilde. No-one else comes close. Literally two of the five (my top three) pound-for-pound punchers ever.
Sorry, I didn't read the criteria. Whoops Yeah, Naz is probably your man. Collin Jones was a huge puncher. We also have Carl Thompson. Despite a somewhat pedestrian level of opposition, was a collosal puncher.
It was his delivery system really, he was just too slow to catch people off-guard at the top level. I agree too that he didn't fight like a puncher.
Bruno was a really hard puncher IMO. He gave Lennox plenty to think about as well as that burst against Mike. And who the fuck hurt Oliver McCall? AgREED on his jab being his best weapon, though. MTF
The McCall fight is a good point. He did briefly catch Lewis but I think the main issue for Lewis again was his jab, I've always said Lewis's bugbear was when somebody could match or better his jab.
I loved Nigel Benn. He's probably the reason why I fell in love with boxing as a kid. He hit like a mother-fucker. It was the only world-class attribute he had. Eubanks, who had an absolutely granite chin, said that being hit by Benn made him feel physically sick. But I think the answer here is Naz. He had absolutely freakish, other-worldly power for bloke that size. MTF
Yeah, haye was.such an obvious pick that we all forgot about him. Might have hit as hard as any of them
All fair points. I agree with your earlier analysis. I think Bruno had exceptional power. He laid some guys out, and I mean clean out, with single shots. But he was a jabber, first and foremost. He rarely committed to loading up the big shot at elite level. MTF
It's easy to hate on Haye, because he was an absolute dickhead, but he hurt pretty much everyone he hit (except Thompson, who was basically a ball of granite). MTF
Eubanks was also an excellent puncher with the right hand. He did with one punch to Watson what Benn couldn't do with a hundred. MTF
I think that was part of what made him such a hard puncher. He had a weird, inactive style which made his punches more effective. MTF
