Hardest hitting Welterweight in history

[The Wanderer]

Who would you say was the hardest hitting Welter? There are certainly some prime candidates up there, and the last thirty years or so has provided some prime examples with Cuevas, Hearns, Trinidad, etc.

So who would you say is the best?

[Iceveins]

Since Tito spent a lot of time at that weight I would say him...but as for any one fighter that fought at Welterweight, it is clearly Tommy Hearns.

[Xplosive]

Hearns

[apollack]

Hearns had more of that sharp one punch snap at a faster velocity, but Trinidad had freakishly heavy hands, with more physical strength behind his blows. Different kinds of power.

[Sweet Pea]

Since Tito spent a lot of time at that weight I would say him...but as for any one fighter that fought at Welterweight, it is clearly Tommy Hearns.
I don't get your post. Hearns fought 32 fights at Welterweight, just as many as Tito did, and was a champion there. It's not as if he just some fighter who made a pit-stop there.

[Mantequilla]

Hearns had more of that sharp one punch snap at a faster velocity, but Trinidad had freakishly heavy hands, with more physical strength behind his blows. Different kinds of power.

True, though Hearns was just the flat out better one-punch hitter as well imo.he has far more true one-punch stoppages than Tito.

[Doppleganger]

It's between Hearns and Cuevas for me.

[AlFrancis]

It's between Hearns and Cuevas for me.

Cuevas, bone crunching power. On the British front or should I say Welsh, Colin Jones was a huge puncher.
I've said it before, thats a great avatar.

[mcvey]

Cuevas, bone crunching power. On the British front or should I say Welsh, Colin Jones was a huge puncher.
I've said it before, thats a great avatar.
I was ringside for the Jones Laing fights,after looking pretty pedestrian for most of both fights Jones landed the bomb and it was "good night nurse",he is a great pick for the Brit welter puncher imo,good call!

[mcvey]

Who would you say was the hardest hitting Welter? There are certainly some prime candidates up there, and the last thirty years or so has provided some prime examples with Cuevas, Hearns, Trinidad, etc.

So who would you say is the best?
I would give a slight shade to Hearns ,followed by Cuevas,Tito had very heavy hands ,and it would have been great to see old Joe Walcott in action he must have possessed some serious crack!

[Iceveins]

I don't get your post. Hearns fought 32 fights at Welterweight, just as many as Tito did, and was a champion there. It's not as if he just some fighter who made a pit-stop there.
Well thats news to me...didn't know they had the same amount of fights at welter but that just goes to show how often they were fighting back then. Trinidad was a welterweight for like 8 or 9 years while Hearns left welter after the he met Leonard in 81. Thats only 4 years as a welter, his time there was short lived.

And the only other significant welterweight fight of his I can even recall other than Leonard is the one against Cuevas.

[stevebhoy87]

Robinson, hearns, tito and cuevas are my top4 ,not sure of the order though

[Bill1234]

Hearns's right hand was lethal and probably the hardest punch at welterweight.

[JohnThomas1]

Robinson, hearns, tito and cuevas are my top4 ,not sure of the order though


Hearns > Cuevas > Tito > SRR

[mcvey]

Robinson, hearns, tito and cuevas are my top4 ,not sure of the order though
Have to include SRR,terrific puncher.

[Sonny Carson]

Hearns > Cuevas > Tito > SRR
Robinson had better one punch power than Tito but not Hearns and Cuevas.

[Russell]

No offense to anyone, but it's irritating when the same three answers are given for a reacquiring question month after month after month.

Jorge Luis Maysonet is probably top 20 power wise at WW, at least. 100% KO record, and dropped the iron chinned Aaron Davis hard, which puts him above Mark Breland who's a murderous puncher who deserves mentioning himself.

I remember Maysonet knocked out undefeated Hugh Kearney 10 seconds into their fight with the first punch he landed. Ref didn't even bother counting, guy went down like he was dead

[Russell]

Found it.

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="[Only registered and activated users can see links]"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="[Only registered and activated users can see links]" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

[rodney]

Bummy Davis is right up there.

[Scotty321]

Cuevas, bone crunching power. On the British front or should I say Welsh, Colin Jones was a huge puncher.
I've said it before, thats a great avatar.

Jones went the distance twice with McCrorry. The Cobra didn't!

[Only registered and activated users can see links][/yt]

[BUDW]

Hearns

[MagnificentMatt]

To me, hardest hitting, is not best puncher, its just crunching raw power, one hit power, for instance, Smokin Joe would def. not be the hardest hitting heavyweight ever, but prolly one of the better punchers.

For this category though, an argument could be made for both sides for the man that is obvious for the "hardest hitting" answer.. Hearns.

To Russell, I will admit you have more knowledge of the sport than me(im a youngin, haha), but the question is hardest hitting, dude aint asking for a list so shouldnt there only be like 5 answers max anyways.. I mean, the guy you mentioned, yourself claimed "top 20"

[Russell]

To me, hardest hitting, is not best puncher, its just crunching raw power, one hit power, for instance, Smokin Joe would def. not be the hardest hitting heavyweight ever, but prolly one of the better punchers.

For this category though, an argument could be made for both sides for the man that is obvious for the "hardest hitting" answer.. Hearns.

To Russell, I will admit you have more knowledge of the sport than me(im a youngin, haha), but the question is hardest hitting, dude aint asking for a list so shouldnt there only be like 5 answers max anyways.. I mean, the guy you mentioned, yourself claimed "top 20"

I'm young too, Matt. I'm going on 21 I've been a fan of the sport for a few years.

If you think the EXACT same five answers are better then there actually being broader discussion, such as mentions of fighters beyond the obvious... Don't know what to tell you. I come here to learn and discuss things.

I'm not faulting anyone, the regurgitation is just... meh.

It just reminds me of General but going much slower.

[MagnificentMatt]

I'm young too, Matt. I'm going on 21 I've been a fan of the sport for a few years.

If you think the EXACT same five answers are better then there actually being broader discussion, such as mentions of fighters beyond the obvious... Don't know what to tell you. I come here to learn and discuss things.

I'm not faulting anyone, the regurgitation is just... meh.

It just reminds me of General but going much slower.

I agree with you, but I dont think the original poster is looking for that, haha.

[Russell]

I don't know how anyone could ever want to hear the same half dozen things over and over again, regardless. :dead:bart

[Vanboxingfan]

I don't know how anyone could ever want to hear the same half dozen things over and over again, regardless. :dead:bart


Well it seems to me if someone wants an answer to this question you need the opinion of various posters to come up with an answer, and yes that means the guy who wins is going to get the most responses and posts. It's the nature of the beast. In any event, I vote Hearns, who admittedly has been mentioned.

Maybe a poll is a better method if repeating a fighters name is repetitive.

[asero]

the hitman is the best there was, the best there is and the best that there ever will be...

[CottoDaBodykill]

i've heard barbados joe wallcot had a whopper of a punch wasn't he a welterweight?

[Senya13]

I don't get your post. Hearns fought 32 fights at Welterweight
Technically, 23 is more like it.

[Minotauro]

From what I've seen Hearns and Cuevas but Walcott might have been the hardest hitter at this weight.

[headhunter]

Hearns

[AlFrancis]

Jones went the distance twice with McCrorry. The Cobra didn't!

[Only registered and activated users can see links][/yt]


You can't make comparisons like that, you'd end up going round in circles.

[Shake]

I would pick Cuevas for hardest-hitting. Hearns had more one-punch K.O's, but I feel that was because he often landed cleaner due to his handspeed and superior technique.

[KCD]

Hearns was the more devastating single puncher. He was very sharp and accurate aswell.

[JohnThomas1]

Robinson had better one punch power than Tito but not Hearns and Cuevas.


Maybe, hard to decipher.

[JohnThomas1]

Joe Louis said SRR was the hardest 147 hitter he ever saw till Hearns come along.

[TIGEREDGE]

based on record ithas to be robinson but its hard to gauge who was the hardest and most powerful

[META5]

Joe Louis said SRR was the hardest 147 hitter he ever saw till Hearns come along.

Hearns hit harder than SRR (just about IMO) and had better handspeed, but he didn't have SRR's experience, stamina, durability, ring generalship and a whole number of intangiables, IMO.

One thing that people rarely consider about SRR is that after the death of Doyle, it's likely that SRR actually held back a bit of his natural power in the ring, not to the extent that Charles did with Baroudi, but somewhat.

[Rebel-INS]

I'm young too, Matt. I'm going on 21 I've been a fan of the sport for a few years.

If you think the EXACT same five answers are better then there actually being broader discussion, such as mentions of fighters beyond the obvious... Don't know what to tell you. I come here to learn and discuss things.

I'm not faulting anyone, the regurgitation is just... meh.

It just reminds me of General but going much slower.

I understand what your saying, but if everyone agrees that the same three or four fighters are the hardest hitters, why would they name anyone else?

[JohnThomas1]

Hearns hit harder than SRR (just about IMO) and had better handspeed, but he didn't have SRR's experience, stamina, durability, ring generalship and a whole number of intangiables, IMO.

One thing that people rarely consider about SRR is that after the death of Doyle, it's likely that SRR actually held back a bit of his natural power in the ring, not to the extent that Charles did with Baroudi, but somewhat.

Agreed all round. We both say Hearns hit harder and i agree SRR backed off a little post Doyle.

[AlFrancis]

All this just goes to show what a fighter Hearns was when you consider that he was almost unboxeable. Wonder if I've just invented a new word.

[JohnThomas1]

All this just goes to show what a fighter Hearns was when you consider that he was almost unboxeable. Wonder if I've just invented a new word.

Maybe, but i'd take the "e" out :smoke

[CottoDaBodykill]

if jake lamotta let hearns hit him as much as he let robinson hit him he woulda been worst off then ali!

[warrior85]

when i did this thread last year in gf,it was unanimous for hearns.

my picks:
1.hearns
2.cuevas
3.trinidad

[Mantequilla]

Strictly looking at the second-tier fighters that lacked the talent and efficiency to be compared outright to the likes of Hearns and Tito, i think Jones and Jose Luis Lopez were the best pure hitters, at least from the past 30 to 40 years.

[stevebhoy87]

if jake lamotta let hearns hit him as much as he let robinson hit him he woulda been worst off then ali!

La motta had the best chin in history, i don't see hearns punches having any more effect on him than robinson's, nor do i see hearns KO fullmer with one punch, if robinson power was less than hearns it wasn't by much

[AlFrancis]

Maybe, but i'd take the "e" out :smoke

I did think about that but I was worried that it might be confused with something you couldn't put in a box.

[Waynegrade]

Hearns,Tito, SRR,Cuevas

[ray fredrickson]

honeybear akins!!! I saw him vs. vince martinez he was tnt1!!!!!!!!!!:patsch

[Raging B(_)LL]

honeybear akins!!! I saw him vs. vince martinez he was tnt1!!!!!!!!!!:patsch

Virgil Akins was indeed a dynamite puncher, very heavy handed guy. Too bad he was such a lazy fighter in the ring, he could have went further than he did had he had a bit more fire within him. The fact that he was mobbed up though didn`t help, he had to take orders a lot of the time and lost some fights he should have won easily.

To get a good idea of what a capable fighter Akins was, folks ought to get a hold of the extended highlights of the first DeMarco bout when he won the title. Tony was a tough, tough guy and extremely dangerous yet was floored five times before finally subdued in brutal fashion in the 14th.

Another guy who could really wack was Joe Miceli, he could knock you dead with that left hook of his if he planted a solid one square on your jaw. Had he been less of a playboy out of the ring he may have done more with his career as well, but he just loved the ladies too much and and his disdain for training was well known.

Tony DeMarco and Florentino Fernandez were two other guys who could really whack at welter, although I wouldn`t say they were the hardest hitters the division has ever seen they certainly weren`t the kind of guys you would want to hit you more often than absolutely necessary.

[The Wanderer]

Hey guys, thanks for all the feedback.

I asked because I was thinking about this the other day and was ready to give the title to Hearns, but I kept thinking that I must be missing somebody. And while the near complete agreement surprised me a little, I don't mind. Thanks again for the input.

[la-califa]

Cuevas, bone crunching power. On the British front or should I say Welsh, Colin Jones was a huge puncher.
I've said it before, thats a great avatar. Jones hit harder than Lloyd Honeyghan?

[Flea Man]

Colin Jones was a monstrous hitter at the weight, but I'd go for Hearns, Trinidad, Cuevas, in that order.

[Flea Man]

Jones hit harder than Lloyd Honeyghan?

Colin Jones hit much harder than Lloyd Honeyghan, just didn't have the technique to implement it against Milton McCory (who he still hit a lot in two very competitive contests) and Donald Curry, the only man to 'stop' Jones, albeit on cuts.

Put his left hook on Lloyd Honeyghan and Curry doesn't get retired between rounds, he gets flopped like he did against McCallum!

[Sweet Pea]

Robinson is right up there. He only gets disregarded because the others on the list were primarily power punchers and thus most of the focus of their ability was in their power, whereas he was one of the most skilled and versatile of all fighters.

[Mantequilla]

True.:good

[Big N Bad]

i say joe walcott was the hardest hitting welterweight ever.
the guy was only 5'2. Sam langford claimed that this man hit him the hardest and we all know sam fought heavies.

next is the hitman.

i wont count sam as he was a natural MW and punched harder than the big punching heavies.

[El Puma]

Strictly looking at the second-tier fighters that lacked the talent and efficiency to be compared outright to the likes of Hearns and Tito, i think Jones and Jose Luis Lopez were the best pure hitters, at least from the past 30 to 40 years.:happyI was just about to mention Lopez!:thumbsup

Cant find any youtube footage to post however...:twisted:

[turpinr]

Robinson is right up there. He only gets disregarded because the others on the list were primarily power punchers and thus most of the focus of their ability was in their power, whereas he was one of the most skilled and versatile of all fighters.

sugar ray was well known to have carried some of his opponents and in one of his fights with Lamotta he gave him 20lbs.rated at welter he's all round no1

[cpnasty]

Hearns

[janitor]

i say joe walcott was the hardest hitting welterweight ever.
the guy was only 5'2. Sam langford claimed that this man hit him the hardest and we all know sam fought heavies.


Jack Johnson also said that Walcott was one of the hardest punchers he ever shared a ring with.

[Drew101]

Thomas Hearns
First Tier:

Pipino Cuevas
Felix Trinidad
Jose Luis Lopez
Joe Walcott
Sugar Ray Robinson

Second Tier:

Jose Napoles (like Robinson, his skill-set obscures the fact that he could really crack at this weight)
Lou Broullaird
Henry Armstrong (scored a whole bunch of kayos at the weight, even when he was just about done.)
Virgil Aikens
Tony DeMarco
Colin Jones
Donald Curry
Simon Brown
Sugar Ray Leonard

[Flea Man]

Yeah, in accordance with previous comments, Ray Robinson is being severely underrated here! He's probably just as hard a puncher as Hearns, Cuevas etc but due to the fact he's not known as a 'pure puncher' (although he could do it all, swinging away being one of them!) he's almost being forgotten here!

[teeto]

It wasnt at welterweight, but what Robinson did to Fulmer should provoke a lot of consideration and thought here. I just looked at this thread and was astonished that The Barbados Demon wasnt mentioned until the fourth page. Anyhow, i will likely pick Hearns, on the substantial evidence i have to.

By the way, on a different note, greatest finisher the division ever saw was Trinidad imo, i havent seen enough finishing ability on film of Robinson at welterweight for obvious reasons, but from the overall footage of him, he is criminally underrated in that department, not mentioned anywhere near enough, considering he was one of the finest.