Photo © Marty Rosengarten / Ringsidephotos.com - Randall Bailey, #99 on the Top 100 Puncher's List, heads toward a neutral corner after flooring DeMarcus Corley with his famed right hand.

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By Mark Lyons

With the Holidays here and the boxing schedule at a standstill, I thought I would throw together a list of the sports biggest punchers. This is such a subjective undertaking that I’m sure there will be guys I left off that you may think should be in the top 20, nevermind the top 100.

I’m more inclined to include fighters that I’ve watched the majority of their fights and guys from the 50’s & 60’s where there is plenty of film. I haven’t limited the list to just those fighters and have tried to include the biggest hitting old timers. I’m sure historians will find what they think are glaring omissions and they may well be right, but I’m only comfortable writing about what I know and I definitely don't believe a list like this is gospel. What it can be good for is some fun holiday reading for fight fans who want a break from enduring the awful mess that are the Mayweather/Pacquiao negotiations.

I tried to keep personal feelings aside, but when you’re looking at something this close and difficult to prove, it’s hard to ignore your favorites. There's no real set formula for the criteria... just who I feel are the biggest punchers.  Of course, great fighters tend to fight a higher level of opposition, so I've taken that into account as well. There are also some situations where I may favor a fighter who had power behind every conceivable punch to a guy who was a one handed murderer.

As I mentioned, this is a subjective list, and I welcome any feedback, so please feel free to chime in and tell me where you think I’ve taken a wrong turn along the way.

Starting with #100, let's get to the first 5...

100. Ricardo Mayorga

Career Record: 28-7-1 (22)

Most Impressive Stoppages: Vernon Forrest TKO3, Andrew Lewis TKO5

During a visit to the hospital the other day a sick child told me his Christmas wish was to see Ricardo Mayorga on this Pulitzer Prize level piece. That’s not entirely true, I promised a good friend I’d give Mayorga a spot and this is a good faith choice on not taking favorites. Lets just say I haven't always been kind to the Nicaraguan wildman.

That said, he could punch with his right hand and I honestly don’t recall Vernon Forrest ever being wobbled besides his stoppage loss to Mayorga. His wild approach and disdain for training could have contributed to his lack of power as he moved up the scales, but at 147 he could really bang. On many other days I might say the Forrest win was a fluke but in the spirit of Christmas, I'll give the crazed brawler the benefit of the doubt, and the last spot on the list.

99. Randall Bailey

Career Record: 40-7 (35)

Most Impressive Stoppages: Francisco Figueroa KO4, Hector Lopez TKO9, Carlos Gonzalez KO1

I’m just putting the stoppages as a reference point, as many of these fighters most prodigious displays of power were seen in decisions or loses against top level opponents. Bailey doesn’t have the big wins, but that is more of an indictment of his skills and stamina than his power. Watching a single right hand split open the iron jawed Juan Urango’s face and send him sprawling to the deck lets one know what happens when the man lands something clean.

Bailey was probably only able to call himself a world champion due to the ungodly amount of titles in today's game, but he could punch in any era. Nineteen men didn’t last a single round with him.  Tomato cans or not, that's still an impressive number of KO1s.

98. Ray Mercer

Career Record: 36-7-1 (26)

Most Impressive Stoppages: Tommy Morrison TKO5, Francisco Damiani TKO9

Ray was a hard man, who could turn out your lights with his clubbing shots. He almost floored Larry Holmes with a jab (at the start of Larry's boxing 101 class), and even while old and fat, it only took him nine seconds to destroy a former UFC champion.

The fight with Morrison was something you don’t see often nowadays. There you had two young guns risking their undefeated records and forgetting about the all too common "let’s build this fight more" mantra. The fight was exciting and explosive. While it was panned a bit for being a PPV it ended up worth every cent as Morrison ripped into Ray and his incredible chin, before having his lights turned out in stunnngly violent fashion.

97. Jose Luis Ramirez

Career Record: 102-9 (82)

Most Impressive Stoppages: Edwin Rosario TKO4, Cornelius Boza Edwards KO5

Ramirez had a granite chin and one shot power in either hand. His back and forth war with Rosario was a less acclaimed Hagler/Hearns, with Ramirez turning the tide from an early shellacking to claim the Puerto Rican slugger's title.

He floored Alexis Arguello with a wicked left hand, and as I'm sure you're aware, that's no easy task. While I can’t claim to be familiar with many of his victims , eighty-two knock outs is nothing to scoff at. The man could flat out bang.

96. S.T. Gordon

Career Record: 24-7 (21)

Most Impressive Stoppages: Carlos Deleon TKO2, Yaqui Lopez TKO7, Jesse Burnett TKO8

Not a long list of conquests or a long career, but punch for punch, this guy could arguably rate higher. Carlos De Leon had a very sturdy jaw and S.T. absolutely massacred him with right hand bombs.

Lopez & Burnett were past their best, but still a hard night's work for most. He even had a successful one stop trip to the heavyweight ranks, winning a clear decision over the sturdy Trevor Berbick.  Gordon's right hand was as big as they come, and you could tell Berbick was feeling his shots.

Please check back soon for my next instalment of Boxing's Top 100 Punchers...

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