Deontay Wilder has faced the likes of Tyson Fury and Zhilei Zhang, but neither hit him the hardest.
Wilder himself is often regarded as one of the biggest punchers of the division. The American will be 40 in October, and next weekend goes into his 49th fight against the little-known Tyrell Herndon as he has one last attempt to get back to the very top following a string of defeats.
Most recently, he lost to Zhang by fifth round knockout in June 2024, and before that took a points defeat to Joseph Parker.
Famously, he has fought Fury three times, drawing once, and being stopped in the second two fights, though not without having Fury down a number of times first.
Going into that trilogy in 2018, he had a record of 40 fights, 40 wins, 39 of them by knockout, including a rematch with the Bermane Stiverne whom he had previously beaten on points, meaning he had stopped every man he had faced with his fearsome right hand.
Speaking to Inside Boxing Live, he was asked about which of all those men hit him the hardest and despite having also faced the likes of Luis Ortiz and Dominic Breazeale, he went with his opponent from September 2015.
“Erm, the Frenchman, Johann Duhaupas, that motherf****r was strong.”
Duhaupas was Wilder’s second defence of the WBC title he won from Stiverne. He got a KO victory in the 11th round and held onto the belt for five more years until the loss in his second fight with Fury.
Should he come through his fight next weekend, he could well be in line to face Anthony Joshua.