Having fought across two era’s, George Foreman has faced a multitude of heavyweights who each possess a different style or skillset.
But, when discussing the most powerful punchers that he had ever faced, there were three names who stuck in the mind of the two-time champion.
Foreman won the heavyweight title back in 1973, knocking out Joe Frazier in just the second round of their contest.
At this time, ‘Big’ George was believed to the most devastating finisher heavyweight boxing had seen, with thirty-four knockouts in an undefeated thirty-seven fight record, with all but seven of those stoppages coming in the third-round or sooner.
After losing his titles and suffering a surprise defeat to Jimmy Young three years later, Foreman retired, but came back a decade later and eventually regained the crown, aged 45-years-old, over twenty years since his first reign.
In a clip shared by Fighting Centre, Foreman detailed the most fearsome punchers he ever faced, although none of the trio ever went on to win the world title.
“You’ll fight say, I’ve had about sixty or more boxing matches, and you’ll only meet three genuine punchers, throughout your career.
Gerry Cooney, Ronny Lyle and a kid that I worked with by the name of Cleveland Williams. They hit so hard that it vibrates your body.”
“No doubt, he’s [Cooney] in the top three. He hit harder than Joe Frazier with his left hook.”
Cooney knocked out Lyle and Ken Norton to earn a shot at the title in 1982, but picked up the first blemish on his record as he was stopped by Larry Holmes, in the thirteenth round of their bout.
Cleveland Williams, a sparring partner of Foreman’s, struggled when he stepped up in competition, twice losing to Sonny Liston in 1959 and 1960 and losing to Muhammad Ali in 1966.