In boxing, it's often WHERE you get hit that is as important as how hard you get hit. For evidence of this, watch Bernard Hopkins knock out of Oscar De La Hoya. It looks almost like a nothing punch, but it landed right on the button (his liver), and trust me, that hurts so bad, you think you're dying. Accuracy is as important as power in boxing. So 'hurtful punches' aren't the same as 'heavy punches'. A 'heavy punch' don't do jack if it misses.

In boxing, there are a few acknowledged styles. The terms you are using are simply descriptions that are related to power punches rather than the overall style.

Here are the usual styles observed in boxing:

The boxer. Pure boxing is based on the jab. Think Ali who racked up points with his jabs and combinations.

The swarmer. Swarming is a style where you overwhelm with volumes of punches and close infighting. Think Joe Frazier who charged forward constantly.

The fighter or boxer-puncher. Power hitting is effective when brute force can be applied when the opportunity presents. Think George Foreman who destroyed opponents with strength.

Some boxers combine element of these styles. Liston, mentioned already, whose left jab was both a boxing style and fighter style, as he had tremendous power in that jab.

Styles makes fights, so a swarmer gets owned by a boxer-puncher (Frazier demolished by Foreman), a boxer struggles with a swarmer (Frazier gave Ali problems) and a fighter has nightmares with a pure boxer (Foreman gets KOd by Ali, amazingly).

All these styles involve punching, but we usually use the term hitting for heavier punches. Any style might demonstrate power shots, even the pure boxer (Ali, round one against Foreman).

So, to define the power punches:

Explosive hitter describes a combination of power and speed (Lennox Lewis's right hand).

Heavy hitter describes power (Foreman).

Hurtful describes a power punch that is effective and that could mean single power shots that debilitate (Tyson) or volumes of power shots that debilitate (Marciano).

One boxer had power punches that were explosive, heavy and hurtful. That was Joe Lewis. He was the best hitter of all time.

Many fighters were considered hurtful hitters..........Yes, the Mexican warrior that grew up throwing the left hook to the liver. Then a guy like Sonny Liston that knocked out sparring partners with his telephone pole like left jab. After fighting 10th rank Wayne Bethea way back when a dentist had to remove 16 teeth from Bethea's mouth. Liston's hurtful punch split, sheared and broke 16 teeth within two rounds. Liston's jab did 73 stitches and a broken cheekbone to Chuck Wepner in their 1970 bout. To me that's hurtful.

Yeah I'm thinking A guy with heavy hands that aims for lethal spots.

I heard on a site that there's three different "hitting styles". One is explosive hitter, and an explosive hitter relies on speed and leverage to hit hard and is good at knocking people out. The other one, which is my favorite, is the heavy hitter, who relies on sheer, brute strength to hit hard, and his punches are punishing and smashing. The third style is a hurtful hitter, and what exactly is that? Is it a combination between explosive and heavy or what?