The first person who asks for an explanation about what this thread is about should be banned from the boxing section of the site for a month.:: If you're feeling expressive rank 'em. If not, vote or die. 1. Cooney 2. Morrison 3. Tua 4. Frazier 5. Tyson 6. Ruddock
In this in terms of effectiveness, or pure power? If we're talking about which hook was overall the best, and most effective... than Tyson and Frazier are miles above the rest of them. But in terms of pure power, I'd say: 1. Tyson 2. Ruddock 3. Cooney 4. Morrison 5. Frazier 6. Tua
I don't see how Joe's and Mike's were much more effective other than the fact they belonged to all round much more effective fighters. I'll leave whether to rank based on power or 'effectiveness' down to the individual. We'll just call it 'best' for now. You're ranking purely on power yet you have Tua's in 6th place! Surprised by that. *edit - i should really have included Joe Louis as well. Damn.
Tyson's was the best. At least as powerful as any of the others, more accurate, and much, much faster. Tyson had a faster left hook than any heavyweight in history. Right hook too. :: at Cooney having a better left hook than Tyson. Tua's was powerful, but it wasn't as quick as Tyson's, and he wasn't as good at landing it. Smokin' Joe had a nice left hook, but it had less speed AND power than Tyson's, but Joe was very good at landing it.
I think Cooney's left hook was a more consistent weapon for him. He also had better technique and leverage on it and in terms of raw power it was probably just as hard as Mike's as well! A case could be made for any of them though....you could pretty much make a case for putting any of the 6 in any order.
Cooney was more reliant on it because that's all he had. Tyson happened to have every punch in the book, and power in both hands, so he didn't need to rely on his left hook as much. Tyson had unique punching technique and angles. Because Cooney's looked more textbook, doesn't necessarily mean it had better technique, because quite simply - Tyson's was a lot faster and more accurate, making it a more effective left hook.
How exactly is 'best' defined in this list, just pure power? If that's the case i don't think how often you were able to land it really matters. Tyson' might be the quickest and most accurate, but most powerful? Hard to say. Although Tua is a fat plodding slob, he could be getting shut out and ice a guy with just one taste of his left. If we are talking about who made the best use out of the left hook, i would probably say Frazier. He was fairly one dimensional come foward fighter but always seemed to make his hook a factor even when opponents knew to watch out for it.
Define it how you like, but I'd say 'best' in this circumstance should mean it's effectiveness as a weapon factoring out all a fighters other attributes as much as is possible. So no, I wouldn't say power should be the only factor, although it's probably gonna be the biggest.
I believe Joe Frazier is the only fighter on this list to have a convincing win over a fairly prime Muhammad Ali.
In terms of pure power Cooney's hook is comparable to Mike's, but Tyson's hook was lightyears faster, and more accurate than Cooney's, and Mike could throw his hook effectively at any range. Tyson is by far the most talented fighter of any of the listed above, therefore he could do more things with his hook than the others mentioned. What also separates Tyson from the others listed above is that Mike is the only TWO-FISTED puncher on the list. And that was the beauty of Tyson. His left hook, and right hand were equally devestating.
Ex point about Foster. Ruddock's big left was actually a hook/uppercut hybrid, not a pure hook. He had a good hook as well, but he dipped in and shot up with the big left, not a true uppercut either, but a cross between the two.
Good point, very true. Much like what Oscar often threw early in his career. Shovel hook to the head, if you will....
I voted for Frazier, but Tua would be second. His left was the very definition of the term "eraser" in boxing.
