Tyson Fury reveals which boxer hit the hardest

The inception of pound-for-pound boxing rankings was meant to highlight fighters beneath the heavyweight division, such as Sugar Ray Robinson, widely regarded as historically the sport's best. The idea is that if all fighters were equal in size, the most skilled fighter would be the one to walk away with a victory. 

While these pound-for-pound lists have brought more awareness to fighters in lower weight classes, they also undervalue fighters at heavyweight. It's rare for a heavyweight to be ranked as one of the sport's best fighters pound-for-pound. 

Pound-for-pound can certainly lead to debates and content on social media, but it's merely a fantasy of what would happen if a heavyweight faced off against a welterweight. Regardless of their knockout record, heavyweights are the hardest punchers in boxing.

Lineal and WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) has shared the ring with huge punchers throughout his career. He's taken on the likes of Wladimir Klitschko, Derek Chisora, Dillian Whyte, and most recently former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. 

Fury has tasted the canvas seven times in his career, including in a shocking moment in the third round against Ngannou, who was making his professional boxing debut. The fighter Fury's career is most associated with is Deontay Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KOs). The two have taken part in one of boxing's most memorable recent trilogies, with Wilder putting Fury down a total of four times. 

Fury recently spoke to Charlie Parsons on The Stomping Ground YouTube channel, where he discussed some of the biggest punchers he's faced and compared the difference in power between Ngannou and Wilder.

"Deontay, by far," Fury said. "Ngannou is a big puncher, but I wasn't really troubled by any of his punches. It wasn't like he was dynamite, and every time he hit me, I was wobbled. Just one shot to the back of the head, and that was it. Wilder's still the biggest puncher I've ever been in the ring with by a mile." 

Tyson Fury was asked who hits harder between Francis Ngannou and Anthony Joshua

In their first encounter, in December 2018, in the 12th and final round, Wilder dropped Fury with a deadly right hand that seemingly put him out for good. Almost as if it was out of a Rocky movie, Fury miraculously beat the 10-count and began to fight as the aggressor. The match was scored a draw. Despite suffering two knockdowns, most observers believed that Fury had done enough to earn a decision. 

Almost two years later, in February 2020, Fury carried over the momentum of the 12th round and stopped Wilder in seven rounds, turning the tables on Wilder as the puncher in their match. The sequel, however, was marred with controversy as Wilder made claims of glove tampering by Fury, among other accusations. 

Their third and possibly final clash occurred in October 2021 and was undoubtedly their most exciting fight. Featuring five total knockdowns between them, Fury put an exclamation point on their rivalry with an 11th-round knockout. The trilogy match won the Ring Magazine Fight of the Year in 2021. 

In spite of Wilder's technical deficiencies, with a 98-percent knockout ratio, he is considered one of the hardest punchers in the history of the heavyweight division. When it comes to pure punching power, he ranks right next to Earnie Shavers, Sonny Liston, Jack Dempsey, Mike Tyson, Rocky Marciano, George Foreman, and Joe Louis. 

Fury is scheduled to return to the ring against Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship in May.