George Foreman is often described as one of the biggest punchers in boxing history.
‘Big’ George won the world heavyweight championship on two occasions during his storied career, suffering defeat just a handful of times in 81 professional outings.
The first defeat of his career came in October 1974 when he faced Muhammad Ali in the iconic ‘Rumble In The Jungle’, one of boxing’s most memorable nights. Ali’s infamous ‘rope-a-dope’ style helped him to mastermind an eighth round knockout of Foreman.
After walking away from the sport in 1977, Foreman would return 10-years later in a sensational comeback. It was November 1994 when he defied the odds to become the oldest world heavyweight champion in history, knocking out Michael Moorer in the tenth round to capture the WBA and IBF heavyweight titles.
Despite possessing thunderous punching power which saw him pick up 68 stoppages in 76 wins, a former heavyweight title challenger once spoke out and revealed there was actually one man who did punch harder than ‘Big’ George.
Speaking to RetroBoxingLive, Ron Lyle named Earnie Shavers as the one man who hit harder than ‘Big’ George, paying homage to his outstanding knockout record.
“Foreman, he was a puncher he was a good puncher, but the best puncher that I ever faced was Earnie Shavers. He had forty-something knockouts in the first round, I mean some guys don’t have that many fights. So Shavers’ record pretty much dictated how the fight was gonna go.”
Shavers challenged for the world heavyweight championship twice during his career, falling short on both occasions. He was outpointed by Muhammad Ali in September 1977, before making his second world title challenge just two years later, suffering an eleventh round knockout defeat to Larry Holmes.
