Tony Bellew thinks one man stands apart from all other boxers in history when it comes to punching power.
They say that power is the thing that leaves a boxer last, even when speed, punching resistance and athleticism have gone. It is the thing that some boxers rely on their entire career, with famous recent examples involving Deontay Wilder.
The American is a notoriously limited boxer who was often getting beaten on points in many of his contests, only to pull out an equaliser and finish things in a split second.
Current fast-rising heavyweight Fabio Wardley has also done the same in his last two fights – found a punch when he needed it to rescue a win from a likely points defeat.
Also in the banner division, much of the hype around 20-year-old prospect Moses Itauama is because he has genuine power and has knocked out 11 of the 13 men he has faced, including nine of them inside the first two rounds – even Dillian Whyte, the former world title challenger, came quickly unstuck last time out in August.
In reply to a clip on X showing the late George Foreman stopping Ken Norton, former world champion Bellew made his claim about ‘Big George’.
“Biggest puncher boxing has ever seen! The people he cleaned out speaks volumes!!”
Bellew’s view is widely shared, with Foreman also still holding the record for being the oldest ever world heavyweight champion when he regained the title aged 46 years and 169 days old after stopping Michael Moorer.
Ahead of that he beat the likes of Dwight Muhammad Qawi, Joe Frazier, Ron Lyle, Gerry Cooney and many more before retiring in 1997 with a record of 76 wins and 68 knockouts.
