I was having a conversation with my brother about this yesterday, what do find more exciting to watch in a boxing match, guys with knockout power in both hands or guys with amazing technical skill.

Personaly I am torn between the two, it is always fun to see a guys like Tyson in his heyday knocking people out, but you rarely got to see his boxing skills as his opponents would be down before he could utilise them.

Then you have the likes of Ali who was not known for being a heavy hitter, but the man could cut a ring in half out jab, duck, dodge, weave and put combinations together with speed and accuracy.

There are fighters in all divisions that have these traits but what do find more exciting to see.

This is a real hard decision for me as well. Like you mentioned it's fun to see Tyson knock out someone in 30 seconds, but it's always great seeing Boxers like Ali, being so smooth on his feet for twelve rounds or more.

Personally I am torn between the two, but I have to say it's more fun to watch Tyson hit someone twice and he goes to the ground right away. It shows how much power he really as. I am not saying that the likes of Ali, Frazier and other great heavyweight fighters didnt have the power, just not like Tyson.

But with that being said I love watching both, well it depends who's boxing.

One of the things that i like about Ray Robinson is the fact that he was a mix of both, he had all the skill, speed, accuracy could throw punches from anywhere and had fantstic footwork, but he also had explosive power in both hands.
One of the fights I have of him on tape he knocks a guy out with a shot while moving backwards.

There are not to many fighters that have both power and pure natural ability, Tyson did but he never got to show it as he went through people so fast.

I have a real problem choosing which I prefer, knockouts are cool, specialy one punch KO's but I also like to see someone show there skills in other ways.

There was a guy called Willie Pep years ago who was amazing at defensive fighting, counter punching and fighting on the backfoot.
It is rumoured that he once won a round, two out three judges gave him the round, without throwing a punch, his defence was that good that the other guy never managed to land a clean shot, he dodged, ducked, danced and twisted the guy all over the ring for three minutes without getting hit.

Another reason why I like boxing bouts going the distance is to see if people can really handle the full twelve or so rounds. Not so much in the welterweight division, but I do enjoy it in the Heavyweight and Middleweight divisions. To see if they have the stamina, or can they keep getting hit in the mid-section or in the face for that long with out being knocked out.

With that being said though, I hate it when the judges decides who wins, that's why I like seeing someone knocked out, because you know that he actually won the match, and it wasn't decided by judges who aren't always right.

I agree on the judging I have seen guys ripped off by judges.
I do like a bout that makes it into the later stages of the fight, as you pointed out some guys do not have the stamina to go the full distance and you can see them blowing hard after two rounds.

That is something you dont always get to see with guys who have KO after KO, would they be able to still produce a KO after 8 or 9 hard rounds or would they blow themselves out in the first couple going for a stopping blow.

That's the only negative argument that I have towards Tyson. We all knew that he was skilled, he gave some of the hardest body shots, we all knew that he could knock anyone with one blow to the chin. But we barely saw him go the distance, and when he did he was breathing heavily. Not saying that he wasn't in great shape and didn't have the stamina, it's just that he wasn't use to it.

There's a huge difference between going eight or nine rounds in practice then going the same distance in a real bout. That's the only knock I have on him, we can't really know if he could go the distance, five to ten bouts in a row. I know he didn't have to, and we can't really blame him for knocking people out so soon, but it's something to think of when comparing boxers, well it is in my opinion.

Thoughts Wolfheart?

Something that I did not know about Tyson until I saw his film was that he suffered and still does suffer from breathing problems which is one of the reasons he would go all in right from the opening bell, he knew he would be struggling in later rounds.

In some of his later fights you could see him bloing hard after four rounds.
I know from personal experiance that doing x amount of rounds in the ring sparring is completly different to 3 rounds in a bout.

One of the things that I have always knocked Ali for was the fact that he was a head hunter, he very very rarely went to body and when he did it was without conviction but he could close both your eyes with well timed and placed jabs in a couple of rounds.
It is only my opionon but I think that he should have worked on his body shots as it would have made even more dangerous in his prime.

i think tyson knocking people out is skill the way he dodges weaves and twists, joe louis good power in both hands amazing accuracy and perfect combos, jack dempsy moving around the ring slipping weaving exploding with both fists.

much more exciting then ali though at the extreme like ali and willie pep it can come close entertainment wise but never in the same cloth

I think you have to edge towards skill being more important than punch power.. Ali & Mayweather being the best examples.. Neither are devastating punchers but both can KO fighters when they're tired through missing with their own punches.. I suppose Louis was about as near to both as anyone.. He had immense power & skill, but his feet were a bit slow as he more shuffled than danced.. The advantage being, that his feet were always firmly planted to real off bombs.. He'd often say, "They can run, but they can't hide."