Best Heavyweight Left Hooks

[GoldenHulk]

My top 5 are Tua, Cooney, Morrison, Frazier, and Liston.
Who are yours?

[Maxmomer]

Dempsey, Frazier, Cooney.

[DavidPayne]

Frazier takes some beating because he based an entire career on it, short, long, looping, leaping. Frazier was his left hook.

Tua, in the early days, had a numbing left hand, his right hand developed but it was the wrecking ball left that led the way. Shame he got fat and disinterested.

Dempsey's was a killer to, usually followed by an elbow of course in those less sanitised years.

Tyson, damn. I'm wincing thinking about his fizzing left hand to the body. A cripling blow.

[dmt]

Dempsey
Frazier
Louis
Liston
Tua

[Holmes' Jab]

Frazier, Liston and Tyson.

[ChrisPontius]

Joe Louis
Mike Tyson
Tommy Morrison
Wladimir Klitschko
David Tua

[McGrain]

I guess Frazier would be my #1 followed by Dempsey and Tyson in any order.

[Senya13]

When did Liston develop a special left hook to deserve a mention with the best?

[Luigi1985]

When did Liston develop a special left hook to deserve a mention with the best?



:yep



My picks are Tua, Morrison, Frazier and Louis.

[McGrain]

When did Liston develop a special left hook to deserve a mention with the best?

He had a great left hook. It probably wasn't as accomplished as Dempsey/Frazier/Tyson but when he hit people properly with it they genuinely looked like they might have been shot. He's up there with the second clutch.


EDIT: Patterson had a great left hook.

[Senya13]

There are a lot of heavyweights who had at least as good or a better left hook than Liston AND used it more often than he did. He was throwing them at midddle range, but even here his right hand was more effective than the left, and from outside he wasn't known to throw left hooks at all. Weird choice.

[Senya13]

Jeffries had a very good left hook.

[JohnThomas1]

Joe Louis
Mike Tyson
Tommy Morrison
Wladimir Klitschko
David Tua

I'm surprised you have a Tua ahead of a Frazier, who had a much more efficient left hook, near as hard and proven against better overall opposition IMO.

[Holmes' Jab]

He had a great left hook. It probably wasn't as accomplished as Dempsey/Frazier/Tyson but when he hit people properly with it they genuinely looked like they might have been shot. He's up there with the second clutch.


EDIT: Patterson had a great left hook.


Indeed, Liston's was definitely on the very top level. Good to see Patterson get a mention as well. His KO of Johansson in the rematch is a great example of a perfectly excecuted left-hook. :yep

[ChrisPontius]

I'm surprised you have a Tua ahead of a Frazier, who had a much more efficient left hook, near as hard and proven against better overall opposition IMO.

They are different type of hooks.

If i had to take one Tua hook on the chin or one Frazier hook, i'd rather take Frazier hook.

But Frazier's hook was applied more consistently, more often and combined with more pressure. But if we're talking about the left hook alone, i think Tua's is harder. He knocked John Ruiz out cold for several minutes in 15 seconds including the count. Say about Ruiz what you want, but he's never been stopped before or after this fight, despite facing pretty tough opposition. He flattened Moorer in 30 or so seconds with it, also out cold. It's been a while since i saw the first Rahman fight, but from memory he hurt Rahman with a left hook and Rahman could not recover despite having an entire minute between rounds.

Frazier dropped guys with his left hook, but didn't really knock them out. I don't want to take anything away from this great weapon of his, but Ellis made it out of the round, corner stopping it, Quarry was stopped on his feet twice. He did knock Foster out badly though, with one of the most beautiful double left hooks you'll ever see. Interestingly, he landed exactly the same double left hook on Ali in the 2nd or 3rd round. The difference between a heavyweight and a light heavyweight.

[JohnThomas1]

They are different type of hooks.

If i had to take one Tua hook on the chin or one Frazier hook, i'd rather take Frazier hook.

But Frazier's hook was applied more consistently, more often and combined with more pressure. But if we're talking about the left hook alone, i think Tua's is harder. He knocked John Ruiz out cold for several minutes in 15 seconds including the count. Say about Ruiz what you want, but he's never been stopped before or after this fight, despite facing pretty tough opposition. He flattened Moorer in 30 or so seconds with it, also out cold. It's been a while since i saw the first Rahman fight, but from memory he hurt Rahman with a left hook and Rahman could not recover despite having an entire minute between rounds.

Frazier dropped guys with his left hook, but didn't really knock them out. I don't want to take anything away from this great weapon of his, but Ellis made it out of the round, corner stopping it, Quarry was stopped on his feet twice. He did knock Foster out badly though, with one of the most beautiful double left hooks you'll ever see. Interestingly, he landed exactly the same double left hook on Ali in the 2nd or 3rd round. The difference between a heavyweight and a light heavyweight.

I don't doubt Tua had a harder left hook than Frazier, but the thread asks for the best left hook which i assume (hope i'm right lol) would mean the best overall and not just the hardest. Would you rate the Tua hook as better under this criteria?

[mcvey]

My top 5 are Tua, Cooney, Morrison, Frazier, and Liston.
Who are yours?
DEMPSEY.

[ChrisPontius]

I don't doubt Tua had a harder left hook than Frazier, but the thread asks for the best left hook which i assume (hope i'm right lol) would mean the best overall and not just the hardest. Would you rate the Tua hook as better under this criteria?

Hard to tell... i mean you can't seperate a man's left hook from his body!
If Frazier applied Tua's hook as often as he did his own, he would've been even harder to beat than he is now. If Tua applied Frazier's hook as often as he did his own, then he would've been weaker.
Then again, Tua's hook being harder maybe took a little more out of stamina and bulk... so it's hard to see them as seperate entities without looking at the fighters. Frazier's hook was hard to see coming but he had to apply it over and over (bar a few lesser fighters like Zyglewic) to wear his opponent down, whereas Tua could lay you out with a single one.

[jowcol]

You know this has been brought up before but with all the hoopla over the numbing right that Shavers had, that left hook he laid on Lyle looked as good and as hard as they come. Lyle was finished with that one shot; only the bell saved him.

Note: interesting that Ali could become such an all time great lacking in a few areas:
>no body punching.
>a LEFT HOOK that was nothing to write home about.
>he wasn't a great defensive fighter as far as the prototype definition
of great defense goes; that is to say, he stayed away, leaned away, but never really developed that inside defense ala Pep, Benitez, etc...

[ChrisPontius]

You know this has been brought up before but with all the hoopla over the numbing right that Shavers had, that left hook he laid on Lyle looked as good and as hard as they come. Lyle was finished with that one shot; only the bell saved him.

Note: interesting that Ali could become such an all time great lacking in a few areas:
>no body punching.
>a LEFT HOOK that was nothing to write home about.
>he wasn't a great defensive fighter as far as the prototype definition
of great defense goes; that is to say, he stayed away, leaned away, but never really developed that inside defense ala Pep, Benitez, etc...

And Frazier didn't have all that much offense besides his left hook. And Foreman had horrible defense+balance. Yet they are all all-time-greats. Sometimes it's not about what you have, but how you impose it on your opponent.

[JohnThomas1]

And Frazier didn't have all that much offense besides his left hook. And Foreman had horrible defense+balance. Yet they are all all-time-greats. Sometimes it's not about what you have, but how you impose it on your opponent.

And this is exactly why i consider Frazier hook much better than Tua's, it was pretty much all he had yet he made ATG status easily based on this main weapon. He imposed it far better than Tua. He may have went out on his shield, but based on hindsight i think Frazier's left hook would have been far more dangerous to say Lewis, while he lasted. Joe's left hook was pure intensity and i think it's power might be a tad underrated nowadays.

[ron u.k.]

although he wasn't a great,henry cooper had a viscous left hook.

[DavidPayne]

Very true Ron. Very true. Considering his weight, it was a terrific shot.

[ironchamp]

Joe Louis
Mike Tyson
Tommy Morrison
Wladimir Klitschko
David Tua

Add Frazier and there goes my list. And replace Wlad with Holyfield and you have my list.

[pryorgatti]

Tyson
Frazier

[Duodenum]

DEMPSEY.Seconded. The left hook he applied in scoring his first knockdown of Willard caved in Jess's cheekbone, and he was hopping his 245 pound victim completely into the air with his hook to Willard's body in round three. He literally wrote the book on how to execute this punch, and Bruce Lee converted Jack's instructions into western boxing's major contribution to the Oriental martial arts.

In round one of his first match with Frazier, Jerry Quarry landed 54 left hooks, 20 of them to Smoke's body. At his best, Jerry' hook was a machine gun.

Mike Dokes did not telegraph his hook against Gardner. He could use it like a jab. Dynamite had broad shoulders, but short arms for somebody with an 80 inch overall reach, and these factors combined to give him what was arguably the fastest hook in division history.

Like Dokes, Norton was also capable of using his hook like a jab, and did just that to the head and body of Scott LeDoux over the first three-quarters of their scrap. (LeDoux thumbed Kenny late, then dropped him and managed to obtain a dubious hometown draw.)

Pinklon Thomas was a one-armed bandit with his left, dismantling Quick Tillis with his jab and hook exclusively (while Angelo Dundee screamed out instructions from ringside to his charge Tillis in frustration).

Nat Fleischer rated the hook of Fitzsimmons at the top of his list, but he never saw Fitz at his best. (I consider his solar plexus punch to have been a lead left uppercut cross, delivered as it was from Bob's shifted position.)

Sam Langford took out Harry Wills twice with a single left hook.

Tony Galento's left hook is not something to be ignored. Neither is the double left hook which Marciano unceremoniously disposed of Matthews with.

Mike Weaver's hook destroyed both Carl Williams and Big John Tate.

[dmt]

Fantastic post Dod, as usual

[NoCoolFool?]

He (Tua) flattened Moorer in 30 or so seconds with it, also out cold.

Not to nitpick...but I remember that Tua knocked Moorer out with his right....(or do I remember it wrong?)

[Blacc Jesus]

Frazier
Tyson
Morrison

[brooklyn1550]

Frazier
Dempsey
Tua
Morrison
Tyson

[Duodenum]

You know this has been brought up before but with all the hoopla over the numbing right that Shavers had, that left hook he laid on Lyle looked as good and as hard as they come. Lyle was finished with that one shot; only the bell saved him.Earnie's hook was also the punch which initially stunned Norton, and his jab closed Henry Clark's right eye in their first meeting (the best decision win of Earnie's career). Shavers was definitely not a one handed puncher, but a vicious hitter from both sides.Note: interesting that Ali could become such an all time great lacking in a few areas:
>no body punching.This was usually true, but he did employ a body attack against Bugner in their rematch ("Solid thumps" - Don Dunphy), and he's reported to have also gone downstairs quite a bit against Alvin Lewis. If the body was open to him, and a taller opponent was not in position to counter him to the head, Muhammad wouldn't hesitate to go downstairs. (The taller Bugner leaned back against the ropes repeatedly, and Ali took advantage.)>a LEFT HOOK that was nothing to write home about.Unless you count the blast which knocked Bonavena loose from his moorings, the hooks he drove Frazier to the ropes with in round two of their 12 rounder, and the hooks he repeatedly spun Smoke's head with as Joe bore into the corners after him in Manila.he wasn't a great defensive fighter as far as the prototype definition of great defense goes; that is to say, he stayed away, leaned away, but never really developed that inside defense ala Pep, Benitez, etc...No, he never really did, and he paid for it late in his career.

He was capable of boxing short against the rare taller adversaries he faced (like Bugner), but instances where he demonstrated the ability to slip underneath were few and far between.

[mcvey]

Seconded. The left hook he applied in scoring his first knockdown of Willard caved in Jess's cheekbone, and he was hopping his 245 pound victim completely into the air with his hook to Willard's body in round three. He literally wrote the book on how to execute this punch, and Bruce Lee converted Jack's instructions into western boxing's major contribution to the Oriental martial arts.

In round one of his first match with Frazier, Jerry Quarry landed 54 left hooks, 20 of them to Smoke's body. At his best, Jerry' hook was a machine gun.

Mike Dokes did not telegraph his hook against Gardner. He could use it like a jab. Dynamite had broad shoulders, but short arms for somebody with an 80 inch overall reach, and these factors combined to give him what was arguably the fastest hook in division history.

Like Dokes, Norton was also capable of using his hook like a jab, and did just that to the head and body of Scott LeDoux over the first three-quarters of their scrap. (LeDoux thumbed Kenny late, then dropped him and managed to obtain a dubious hometown draw.)

Pinklon Thomas was a one-armed bandit with his left, dismantling Quick Tillis with his jab and hook exclusively (while Angelo Dundee screamed out instructions from ringside to his charge Tillis in frustration).

Nat Fleischer rated the hook of Fitzsimmons at the top of his list, but he never saw Fitz at his best. (I consider his solar plexus punch to have been a lead left uppercut cross, delivered as it was from Bob's shifted position.)

Sam Langford took out Harry Wills twice with a single left hook.

Tony Galento's left hook is not something to be ignored. Neither is the double left hook which Marciano unceremoniously disposed of Matthews with.

Mike Weaver's hook destroyed both Carl Williams and Big John Tate.
I have recently read that Fitzs solar plexus ko punch of Corbett was in fact landed on the floating rib area, the film is inconclusive, a heavy punch landing on either area would produce similar results.

[GoldenHulk]

I'm kinda suprised that no one mentioned Gerry Cooney's hook.
Cooney's left broke Ron Lyle's ribs, sent Ken Norton into semi consciousness, hurt Larry Holmes several times when used to the body, (and below the belt lol), and had Foreman out on his feet in the first round. I was watching the Cooney - Foreman fight, and Cooney's hook actually moved Big George when Cooney landed it.

[heerko koois]

Tyson by a landslide..........

[Duodenum]

I'm kinda suprised that no one mentioned Gerry Cooney's hook.
Cooney's left broke Ron Lyle's ribs, sent Ken Norton into semi consciousness, hurt Larry Holmes several times when used to the body, (and below the belt lol), and had Foreman out on his feet in the first round. I was watching the Cooney - Foreman fight, and Cooney's hook actually moved Big George when Cooney landed it.My reservations about Gerry's hook have to do with it's lack of speed. He did deliver it in a surprisingly short arc, and it landed with devastating impact, but he could have trouble getting it on somebody with a faster one. The axiom not to hook with a hooker doesn't favor Cooney against the division's hooking elite. Dokes, Frazier, Dempsey, Louis and Quarry would all be landing two and three hooks to every one of Gerry's, and they would be inside him and underneath him in most cases. Also, Cooney didn't have the physical strength one might expect of a slugger his size.

The hook Gerry moved Foreman with was the same hook Mike Spinks had earlier rendered completely ineffective. The argument that Cooney was coked up cannot be extended to include a decline in punching power. In the final analysis, Gerry comes up short for the same reason Danny Lopez came up short against Sanchez; not due to a lack of heavy guns, but a lack of handspeed.

[Pat_Lowe]

My reservations about Gerry's hook have to do with it's lack of speed. He did deliver it in a surprisingly short arc, and it landed with devastating impact, but he could have trouble getting it on somebody with a faster one. The axiom not to hook with a hooker doesn't favor Cooney against the division's hooking elite. Dokes, Frazier, Dempsey, Louis and Quarry would all be landing two and three hooks to every one of Gerry's, and they would be inside him and underneath him in most cases. Also, Cooney didn't have the physical strength one might expect of a slugger his size.

The hook Gerry moved Foreman with was the same hook Mike Spinks had earlier rendered completely ineffective. The argument that Cooney was coked up cannot be extended to include a decline in punching power. In the final analysis, Gerry comes up short for the same reason Danny Lopez came up short against Sanchez; not due to a lack of heavy guns, but a lack of handspeed.

Do you really think Lopez lost to Sanchez due to lack of handspeed? I just dont see any scenario of Lopez beating Sanchez. His chin and defence was to good. Even with faster hands I still see it as a case of Sanchez just having his number

[Bill1234]

Frazier, Cooney, Tyson, Tua, and Dempsey in no order after Frazier.

[Jbuz]

Frazier
Tyson
Dempsey
Louis
Tua

[GoldenHulk]

About Cooney, when I look at his fight with Spinks, the glaring weakness that sticks out is his complete lack of head movement, with his height and reach advantage if he was able to move his head just a little, he would have got hit a lot less. That and also in the 5th round, when Spinks was mugging him, Cooney seemed to forget how to clinch, never tying up Spinks once.

[prime]

interesting that Ali could become such an all time great lacking in a few areas:
>a LEFT HOOK that was nothing to write home about.


Ali used the hook most effectively as part of his blizzard combinations and thus banged up Cleveland Williams pretty good.

[scartissue]

Jeff Merritt threw a scorcher of a left hook and should never be discounted. Time to expand to a top ten list.

Scartissue

[ChrisPontius]

Ali used the hook most effectively as part of his blizzard combinations and thus banged up Cleveland Williams pretty good.

Ali showed a good left hook in some fights, i believe it was the left hook with which he knocked Bonavena down three times (the only time Oscar was stopped) and he landed very good left hooks and uppercuts on Frazier. But in general, it was the straighter punches which seemed to work best for Ali.

[Duodenum]

Do you really think Lopez lost to Sanchez due to lack of handspeed? I just dont see any scenario of Lopez beating Sanchez. His chin and defence was to good. Even with faster hands I still see it as a case of Sanchez just having his numberThat could very well be, but Danny did take a certain amount of punishment because of less speed than many of his challengers.

Sal matched Little Red in stature, where as Danny was considerably taller than much of his opposition. No, it wasn't simply lack of handspeed which cost Lopez against Sanchez, but that was pinpointed as a primary reason after their first bout. But after Sal pounded Little Red in the rematch, then instantly immortalized himself against Gomez, only Pedroza (after knocking out Pat Ford) and Arguello were thought to have any chance against Sanchez after his dispatching of Azumah Nelson. Otherwise, Sal was recognized as being in a situation where he would dominate his division for as long as he cared to. He might well have remained unbeaten for another 15 years with his training habits.

Just as you can't envison a scenario where Lopez would have prevailed over Sanchez, neither do I think Gomez could have ever taken Sal in a rematch, after that first beating. Sanchez was simply too great. (People forget that he took Nelson out in what was one of Sal's WORST performances as champion.)

[Zakman]

1. Frazier
2. Dempsey
3. Cooney
4. Tua
5. Morrison

[janitor]

A couple of less obvious choices.

Sam Langford
Sam McVea

Both belong in the company of the fighters mentioned.

[DocDevil]

In know particular order,Louis,Dempsey,Frazier,Tyson,Cleveland Williams,and despite the Liston bashers,he had a very good one.

[ChrisPontius]

1. Frazier
2. Dempsey
3. Cooney
4. Tua
5. Morrison

Interesting list.



Did you realise that your #4 and #5 left hookers of all time landed flush on Lennox Lewis, who would've been knocked out cold, because if Rahman and McCall could do it, certainly they could!!:nod

.. or wait?

[dmt]

Interesting list.



Did you realise that your #4 and #5 left hookers of all time landed flush on Lennox Lewis, who would've been knocked out cold, because if Rahman and McCall could do it, certainly they could!!:nod

.. or wait?I think he mans to say Lewis was more vulnearble to a right hand rather then a left hook

[ChrisPontius]

That's interesting, so his chin is so intelligent that when a huge punch lands on it, it thinks: was it a right hand? Nope, left hook. Alright, nothing happens then. Oh wait, it was a right hand after all..... ok.... prepare to get knocked out...

[ChrisPontius]

Sorry, but my point was that these guys LANDED on Lewis, flush, so whether he was vulnerable for a certain punch is completely irrelevant.

[ron u.k.]

i'm not so sure tua landed on lewis all night

[Pat_Lowe]

That could very well be, but Danny did take a certain amount of punishment because of less speed than many of his challengers.

Sal matched Little Red in stature, where as Danny was considerably taller than much of his opposition. No, it wasn't simply lack of handspeed which cost Lopez against Sanchez, but that was pinpointed as a primary reason after their first bout. But after Sal pounded Little Red in the rematch, then instantly immortalized himself against Gomez, only Pedroza (after knocking out Pat Ford) and Arguello were thought to have any chance against Sanchez after his dispatching of Azumah Nelson. Otherwise, Sal was recognized as being in a situation where he would dominate his division for as long as he cared to. He might well have remained unbeaten for another 15 years with his training habits.

Just as you can't envison a scenario where Lopez would have prevailed over Sanchez, neither do I think Gomez could have ever taken Sal in a rematch, after that first beating. Sanchez was simply too great. (People forget that he took Nelson out in what was one of Sal's WORST performances as champion.)

I'm a big fan of Sanchez, he didn't have any glaring weaknesses. He was uncomfortable on the front foot but he could and did fight that way although he prefered his opponents coming to him. Sanchez was always perfectly trained and ready, but I saw in a documentary/tribute thing to him that he wished to become a doctor, that was his dream. So he didn't look like having a long career left. But yes you're right in his worst performance he beat Nelson, in hindsight its easy to see that it was a bad performance because of the quality of his opposition.

[Vantage_West]

floyd patterson
jack dempsey
joe frazier
tony galento
mike tyson
david tua
tommy morison
'razor' ruddock

[Duodenum]

I'm a big fan of Sanchez, he didn't have any glaring weaknesses. He was uncomfortable on the front foot but he could and did fight that way although he prefered his opponents coming to him. Sanchez was always perfectly trained and ready, but I saw in a documentary/tribute thing to him that he wished to become a doctor, that was his dream. So he didn't look like having a long career left. But yes you're right in his worst performance he beat Nelson, in hindsight its easy to see that it was a bad performance because of the quality of his opposition.During Sal's nontitle performance against Nicky Perez, the commentators discussed his desire to become a physician, and the fact that Sanchez came from a good family, and chose to become a boxer because he enjoyed it, not as a matter of economic survival, or because he was pushed into boxing by an ambitious parent, like the Quarry boys or Ayala clan.

Although it certainly was not Sal's intention to box for much longer, a fact also discussed during the Perez bout, the "path of least resistance" dynamic might have caused him to prolong his career for a more extended duration than he was planning on. (It was also a way for him to indulge in his only vice, the love of exotic high speed sports cars which ultimately killed him.)

However, as an athlete whose body was so finely tuned aerobically that he always knew what pace to box at to bring his heartrate to a specified target, he could well have been absorbed enough in the workings of the human body to successfully parlay his training and conditioning experience into an equally outstanding career as a medical doctor.

What a tragedy, that such a classy and elegant individual would get killed by his one and only obvious personal indulgence, when so many other prominent athletes pursue criminal activites and conduct which negativly impact upon the lives of so many others, as well as themselves. More than Holmes/Ali, Mancini/Kim, or any other of the myriad unfortunate events involving boxing and boxers in my memory, the death of Sal Sanchez remains the saddest event, the one which continues to affect me most deeply. (And many others I know who follwed boxing during that time period.)

[Grebfan9]

When Joe Louis decked Max Baer (for the first knockdown I think),
Louis tripled up on his left hook!!! You don't see too many
heavyweight do that!!!



Grebfan9
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[Bummy Davis]

Walcott vs Charles....Marciano double hook vs Matthews and Moore..Joe Frazier vs Ali1, Foster,Ramos,Ellis,...Rudduck vs Dokes....Morison vs Rudduck, Sam Peter vs Williams...Tyson vs Berbick...Dempsey vs Willard

[hobgoblin]

Tyson, damn. I'm wincing thinking about his fizzing left hand to the body. A cripling blow.

Besides round 8, round 3 was Tyson's best round agains Douglas because he used a left hook to the body and it slowed down Douglas. Too bad Tyson didn't have the intelligence to follow up with this body punching but instead opted to head hunt.

Liston had one of the deadliest left hooks I've seen. A very memorable moment in the Liston-Clay I fight is when Liston lands a long left hook "dug under the heart" and a durable Muhammad Ali is visibly shaken from that body blow. See that again and tell me his left hook doesn't deserve mention.

Liston, Frazier, and definitely, Gerry Cooney.