Written by Dan Morley
The left hook is my favorite shot in boxing. When a fighter learns how to deliver a lead hook they realize how strong your perceived weak hand can be.
Requiring a solid delivery, speed of punch, and a well-timed, well-timed combination – yet a loose swing to maximize damage – a left hook can quickly change the face of a fight, a career, and, in some cases, the course of boxing history.
Knockout of the Year Contender Angelo Leo’s incredible hook that dethroned top ranked champion Luis Alberto Lopez last weekend reminded me of boxing’s healthy, consistent, and devastating fighters.
Angelo Leo (R) lands a left hand on dethroned champion Luis Alberto Lopez (L).
Here are my top eight hooks in boxing history:
8. Bob Foster
Bob Foster has left an incredible impact on the light-heavyweight division, which he represents for a long time, remaining one of the great champions of the division. Extremely tall and thin compared to the competition, Foster delivered the left hook with sniper-like precision, creating extreme violence upon impact.
Unlike many taller fighters, Foster can remain a threat in the pocket while being one of the most dangerous ball attackers in the mid-range. There was no hiding about it; You were in a dangerous place with a ‘Deputy Sheriff’.
Fittingly, it was a punch that spectacularly secured the light-heavyweight world title, challenging the legendary Dick Tiger in the process. Aside from an incredible 14 successful title defenses, light-heavyweight contenders were intimidated by Foster (below), especially his left hook, which seriously hurt Mike Quarry.
7. David Tua
One of the most exciting heavyweights of his era and as durable and destructive as any before or since. David Tua was a human football. A stocky but powerful and explosive artist, Tua would cover the distance and land sledge shots that would take your head off if you were unlucky enough to land!
Among the most violent of his left hooks, Tua delivered them with fearsome power and fearsome speed, cleaning up notable world champions and contenders in ridiculously quick time. This bout will get off to a flying start, knocking out future world heavyweight champion John Ruiz within 30 seconds of the first round.
David Tua (Al Bello / Allsport)
6. Felix Trinidad
Felix Trinidad is among the top Puerto Rican fighters, amassing a nearly record 15 successful welterweight title defenses. Tito defeated a number of boxing legends, including De La Hoya, Whitaker, Camacho, and Vargas, while capturing titles from welterweight to middleweight during a remarkable 40-fight winning streak.
The Puerto Rican was one of the most successful fighters in the sport and loved the left hook to do damage, dropping world class fighters in clinical fashion.
Trinidad was not your average puncher. Similar to Bob Foster, he was smaller and smaller than most – delivering the hook at a wide angle; however, the results were devastating.
Action Images/Reuters/Steve Marcus
5. Sugar Ray Robinson
A fighter who is universally recognized as the greatest fighter of all time, he is incredibly highly ranked in many ranks. Sugar Ray’s incredible left hook is no different. Robinson had the most brutal left hook in history, power in both hands and a seamless ability to deliver his punches in singles and combinations, racking up over 100 career KOs.
Robinson’s left-handed KO surpasses Gene Fullmer, one of the most famous sluggers in history, considered by many to be the greatest one-punch KO of all time. Throwing a well-thrown hook while returning with pinpoint accuracy and blinding speed.
While Robinson made good use of the left hook as a fluid tool between combinations, they were often an exclamation mark that ended them abruptly.
4. Joe Louis
Joe Louis is a literal boxing book. Every punch was delivered with great skill, and not a single move was wasted, while both punches were blessed with unprecedented KO power. Louis is widely regarded as boxing’s most effective KO Artist, torturing Hall of Famers, champions, and challengers during his epic, record-breaking reign as world heavyweight champion.
Louis should make any of these lists without surprise, but his left hook against Billy Conn, a consistent example of excellent balance, precision, and power, stands out as one of my favorite KOs.
3. Tommy Morrison
Tommy Morrison’s left hook was an unstoppable force of nature, brutally demolishing anything that cracked. The punch against Ruddock is almost ridiculously high on impact, spinning Ruddock almost 180 degrees on impact.
Morrison wasted nothing with the left hook, delivering the battering ram with razor-sharp speed and textbook timing. Physically, Morrison was big, athletic and explosive, allowing hooks to be supported by a lot of heavy muscle.
His left hook became legendary after reportedly scoring hundreds of knockouts in the professional and novice ranks.
2. Pipino Cuevas
Cuevas was a bad man, considered the most dangerous man in boxing in the late 70s, a time when Duran was killing people from lightweight to welterweight.
This Mexican player won the welterweight title at the age of 18. He successfully defended the belt 12 times, scored 11 KOs, and held the unique record of breaking more facial bones than any other champion in history. .
Cuevas was a tank who swung like George Foreman at welterweight, sending opponents flying or into temporary incapacitation.
Action Pictures
1. Joe Frazier
Joe Frazier was as relentless as any other fighter in history and, in my eyes, had the greatest hook ever seen, by some distance.
It was an epic hurling of brutal power, ferocious intent and unrelenting intensity over 15 rounds. The gun killed many heavyweights of the era and most notably found a home in Muhammad Ali’s chin countless times, taking his most famous punch in the process.
Frazier’s left hook was powerful in nature, to the head or body and in my opinion is the greatest hook in boxing history.
New York, NY: Joe Frazier, left, punches Muhammad Ali in the 15th round of their heavyweight boxing match at Madison Square Garden in New York on March 8, 1971. (Photo by Dick Morseman/ Newsday RM via Getty Images)
Honorees: Henry Cooper, Roy Jones, Mike Tyson, Floyd Patterson, Nonito Donaire, Gerry Cooney, Evander Holyfield, Oscar De La Hoya.
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