Top coach Freddie Roach overlooked the formidable Mike Tyson when naming the hardest punching heavyweight ever.
Roach worked with Tyson during the final years of the former undisputed heavyweight champion’s professional career, coaching him for his bouts with Clifford Etienne and Kevin McBride.
Years prior at the peak of his powers, ‘Iron Mike’ proved himself to be one of the most devastating heavyweights of all time, first writing his name into the boxing history books back in 1986 when he defeated Trevor Berbick to become the youngest heavyweight champion ever.
Tyson would go on to share the ring with the likes of Larry Holmes, Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield before his career eventually came to an end after he was defeated by McBride in June of 2005.
Speaking in a resurfaced press interview, Freddie Roach paid homage to the ‘explosiveness’ of Tyson but named Ukrainian icon Wladimir Klitschko as a harder hitter.
“Punch for punch I think Klitschko probably hits a little bit harder but Mike’s much more explosive.”
Klitschko, never trained by Roach, rose to fame during the early to mid 2000s, capturing multiple versions of the world heavyweight championship throughout the duration of his outstanding professional career.
The Ukrainian great reigned as the unified champion for seven years between 2008 and 2015, defeating the likes of Kubrat Pulev, Alexander Povetkin and David Haye before he was eventually dethroned by Britain’s Tyson Fury in what was considered to be a big upset defeat for ‘Dr. Steelhammer.’ He would return to face Anthony Joshua two years later, retiring after a stoppage loss.
After 64 wins from 69 fights, Klitschko boasted an impressive 53 knockouts.