Deontay Wilder’s right hand propels him into status among all-time greatest punchers

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Earnie Shavers had long since established himself as one of boxing’s most ferocious punchers when he faced the legendary Muhammad Ali for the heavyweight title on Sept. 29, 1977, at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Ali won the fight by unanimous decision, but when the bell ended, he knew he’d been in a fight.

“Earnie hit me so hard, he shook my kinfolk back in Africa,” the champion jokingly said after the bout.

One-punch knockout power is the great equalizer in boxing, much like the three-run home run in baseball that the late Baltimore Orioles’ Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver used to favor so much.

The threat of a knockout is what sells tickets and gets fans to huddle around their televisions to watch, and it’s why in the old days, ring announcers used to say a fight was for 15 rounds or less. The “or less” portion was the nod to the fact that men like Joe Louis, George Foreman and Mike Tyson could end any bout within the bat of an eye.

Louis, Foreman and Tyson are all former heavyweight champions who are regarded among the most powerful fighters who ever lived.

Foreman — whose knockout of Michael Moorer in 1994 to win the heavyweight title at age 45 led to play-by-play man Jim Lampley exclaiming, “It happened!” — has great reverence for Louis’ power.

“I was a hard puncher,” Foreman said, “but not compared to Joe Louis.”

A new name has crept into that equation, and there are those with expert knowledge of boxing history who believe that he deserves to slot alongside, and perhaps above, those men as the greatest puncher in boxing history.

WBC champion Deontay Wilder, who on Feb. 22 will face lineal champion Tyson Fury at the MGM Grand Garden in a rematch of an epic 2018 fight, has been scoring so many dramatic KO victories that he’s beginning to join that elite class as the best ever.

Fury, who spent 36 minutes in the ring with Wilder in a split draw in Los Angeles on Dec. 1, 2018, and went down twice, is more than ready to anoint Wilder as the best.

“Wilder’s the biggest puncher there’s probably ever been,” Fury told Yahoo Sports before the start of a recent training session.

Former undisputed heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, who like Wilder and Shavers was born in Alabama, agrees with Fury. He said Foreman hit him harder than anyone he’d ever faced, but said what Wilder has done has been eye-opening.

Wilder has 43 fights as a pro, with 41 knockouts. He’s 42-0-1, and the other bouts in which he didn’t get a knockdown were his title-winning effort with Bermane Stiverne in 2015 and his draw with Fury in 2018.

Holyfield, who said “I have no idea how Fury got up after he got hit so hard,” by Wilder in 2018, said Wilder’s record alone proves he deserves to be at or near the top of such a mythical list.

“Every time he hits guys, they don’t move,” Holyfield said. “Don’t make it too complicated: That tells you what you need to know.”

Fury promoter Bob Arum has promoted boxing for more than 50 years, and saw many of the great punchers fight in person. He promoted Foreman in the second half of Foreman’s career, and also saw Sonny Liston fight live.

He saw Foreman do some remarkable things in the ring, and promoted the Ali-Shavers bout. He, too, is of the camp that with at least one punch, no one has hit harder than Wilder.

“Guys like George and Shavers, they were big, thunderous, strong guys who would concuss guys but didn’t knock them flat cold with one big shot,” Arum said. “Wilder is different. He’s this big, rangy guy who throws these punches from unorthodox angles that shouldn’t have any chance of landing, but do. He’s done that his entire career. Go back and look at his fights and see how many guys he hits on the chin — Bam! — and they’re out. I think he has the most power, the most one-punch power, of anyone.”

Former undisputed heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, who like Wilder and Shavers was born in Alabama, agrees with Fury. He said Foreman hit him harder than anyone he’d ever faced, but said what Wilder has done has been eye-opening.

Wilder has 43 fights as a pro, with 41 knockouts. He’s 42-0-1, and the other bouts in which he didn’t get a knockdown were his title-winning effort with Bermane Stiverne in 2015 and his draw with Fury in 2018.

Holyfield, who said “I have no idea how Fury got up after he got hit so hard,” by Wilder in 2018, said Wilder’s record alone proves he deserves to be at or near the top of such a mythical list.

“Every time he hits guys, they don’t move,” Holyfield said. “Don’t make it too complicated: That tells you what you need to know.”

Fury promoter Bob Arum has promoted boxing for more than 50 years, and saw many of the great punchers fight in person. He promoted Foreman in the second half of Foreman’s career, and also saw Sonny Liston fight live.

He saw Foreman do some remarkable things in the ring, and promoted the Ali-Shavers bout. He, too, is of the camp that with at least one punch, no one has hit harder than Wilder.

“Guys like George and Shavers, they were big, thunderous, strong guys who would concuss guys but didn’t knock them flat cold with one big shot,” Arum said. “Wilder is different. He’s this big, rangy guy who throws these punches from unorthodox angles that shouldn’t have any chance of landing, but do. He’s done that his entire career. Go back and look at his fights and see how many guys he hits on the chin — Bam! — and they’re out. I think he has the most power, the most one-punch power, of anyone.”

LOS ANGELES, USA - DECEMBER 01: Deontay Wilder (L) lands a left hook and knocks down Tyson Fury (R) in the 12th round of WBC Heavyweight Championship at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on December 01, 2018. (Photo by Philip Pacheco/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Deontay Wilder lands a left hook and knocks down Tyson Fury in the 12th round of WBC heavyweight championship on Dec. 1, 2018 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. (Philip Pacheco/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)