Former WBO heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs has compared the punching power of legendary heavyweight pairing Lennox Lewis and George Foreman.
‘The Cannon’ faced both men during his own professional career which culminated in him becoming the WBO world heavyweight champion when he knocked out Siarhei Liakhovich in the 12th round of their bout in November of 2006.
Lewis, who is often considered to be the greatest British fighter of all time, stopped Briggs in the fifth round of their showdown in Atlantic City in March 1998 in what was the third defence of his WBC heavyweight title.
As for Foreman, the late-great former world heavyweight champion came up short against Briggs when he was outpointed by ‘The Cannon’ in the 81st and final outing of his professional career in November 1997.
Speaking to First Round TV, Briggs admitted that ‘nobody’ hit as hard as Foreman, as he compares the punching power of ‘Big George’ to being hit by a car.
“Nobody hit like George Foreman. George hit hard champ. He hit hard. Yeah, I never felt nothing like [that] and I got hit by a car one time. I ain’t gonna lie, I got hit by a car, was on Utica Avenue, yeah I got hit by a car and that’s how I felt when I fought George Foreman. That’s how I felt champ.”
With a knockout percentage of just shy of 90%, Foreman is often credited with being the hardest punching heavyweight of all time. The Texas-native produced a number of legacy-defining stoppage wins during his career, defeating the likes of Ken Norton, Michael Moorer and Joe Frazier.
