Originally posted by Cogito
It wasn't the strongest JLA incarnation, but it had some heavy hitters that got steamrolled.I realize that Superman once said he pulls his punches, but he doesn't always. If he did, then his true strength would be leagues above BA, as the two have fought equally before. If BA was going all out and Supes wasn't trying, then Superman would be clearly superior. He isn't, so he doesn't.
If you're talking about the pre Infinite Crisis thing, where Dr. Psycho mind controlled Adam into throwing the first punch, Adam was (believe it or not) seriously holding back throughout the fight. He kept trying to talk Superman out of fighting, and didn't throw so much as one punch after the one Dr. Psycho forced, simply trying to keep Superman away from him.
By contrast, Supes was attempting to beat him down.
But even if they were fighting for real, Superman would be fighting for a knockout, while Adam would be fighting for the kill. So on some level, he'd always be pulling his punches, even if only a little bit, because of his code against killing. It's really a mental block (Under Byrne, Superman claimed he'd fallen into the habit of pulling his punches against the original Post Crisis Bizarro), and something Supes can't easily overcome. If he could, he wouldn't "be" Superman.