does anyone have any accounts of how hard the top echelon of boxers punch relative to the average man? Have any pros every actually had their power scientifically measured?
Extremely hard. Manny Pacquaio, for all of his lack of size, is going to hit harder than even a 250 lb untrained person. Arm punches do not compare to someone who knows how to hit. I'd rather be punched by that italian guy, the so called worlds strongest man? Someone here probably knows who I'm talking about. Anyway, the guy is a rock solid 300+ lbs, and freakishly strong even for his size. I'd rather take a flush on the chin punch from him than take a bare fisted punch from someone like Michael Moorer who is not even known as a big puncher at heavyweight. Proper mechanics + good strength = much harder than ANYONE who is punching with just strength.
I trained primarily MT for a few years roughly 2 days a week. I'm old
(37) and I sucked but eventually got "competent" enough where I could
work with young guys sparring who were at their first couple of fights
level (amateur). Much beyond that and no mas for me.
I currently workout with a friend of mine who was an olympic caliber
decathlete...full college scholarship blah...blah. He's 225 to my 185
with less bodyfat (he's stayed in top shape) and after several months of
once a week pad work I still hit harder than him....and on hook
punches WAY harder...never mind quicker.
Think about it this way...who would shoot from the 3 point line better?
A college bball player or a powerlifter? People tend to equate fighting
with raw strength ...but its really just a specific athletic movement.
Great post Sniggle.
Stockybrawler, are you referring to World's Strongest Man champ Mariusz Pudzianowski?
If so, I'm not sure you'd want to take one on the chin from him--he actually boxed for several years and is a black belt in Kyokushin karate.
Yes I was, and I had no idea that he had a boxing background. Did he fight pro or amateur?
"Aside from being a world-class strength athlete, Mariusz maintains and constantly improves his agility, conditioning, and general physical preparedness through other athletic endeavors. He is an exponent of Kyokushin karate (fourth kyu), which he has been practicing since the age of 11. He was also a competitive boxer for seven years, three of which were spent in the Kosedowski League."
http://pudzian.pl/english/mariusz.php#
4th kyu means he is not even a black belt yet
You're right 1groovyunit, I stand corrected. Also Mariusz is Polish not Italian.
Ok, I'm a really scrawny fucker, like 135 lbs, and my roommate wanted me to teach him some boxing. My roommate was 190lbs at 5'7", and I have seen him bench 350lbs or so 6 times, so needless to say, hes much bigger and stronger than I am. I only had about a year of Muay Thai, I taught him some punching basics. Even after I got him to quit punching like he was bench pressing, there was no contest between us.
He was a HS wrestler, so there is no question he would hurt me bad in a real fight, as I would have been able to stand on my feet for about 3 seconds, but in terms of punching power, he couldn't touch me. If we had fought straight-up boxing, I would have beaten his ass like a red-headed stepchild. I was really shocked at how weak his punches were. Given that he is much much stronger than the average man, and that the average boxer would fucking school me, I would say that the average boxer is so far beyond the average dude on the street it isn't even funny.
I really wish we had numbers for this. It would be cool if every boxing gym had a punch-o-meter so we could compete for who punches the hardest.
I always end up saying this, but power is not only about how much raw force you can generate, but it is also translated into timing and accuracy. A boxer who can place a well-timed, accurate punch on someone's chin will KO people, even if his single punch power isn't off the charts.
However, others here have also made the point that mechanically, boxers tend to apply force in a much more efficient way than untrained fighters.
fos
I was just going to chime in on timing. The fact that the average boxer will have far far superior timing will overcome the untrained guy's strength. Even if the untrained guy is one of those freaks who just naturally "get it" when it comes to body mechanics.
BTW, I hate those naturals. I work for years to get my left cross working and in comes pudfucker and "wham" the bag folds and jumps just like it's supposed to.
yeah, but he can punch so I have no sympathy for him.
this thread is making me feel cocky. i really want to clock someone right now and ask if it hurt.
I interviewed Jeff Lacy a year ago and he told me he hit a bag at the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs that actually measured lbs per square inch.
I've been somewhat fascinated by this and would love to get ratings of all top boxers, but nobody has done it yet.
Punching power has very little to do with physical strength. It has to do with several disparate elements coming together at ONE exact moment...feet, hips, rotation, torque, elbow, shoulder.......consider it like six darts thrown at a dartboard. If you hit them ALL on the bullseye, you get a power multiplier of 1 x the maximum possible delivery of force. However, if the foot or shoulder or rotation is a little off, you lose that and get a lesser multiplier.
that's why you see knockouts like Michael Nunn-Sumbu Kalambay, or Sweet Pea-Juan Nazario, Ali-Bonavena...sometimes a perfect punch makes a lighter-hitting guy able to stop someone who is durable and tough.
Also another factor is WHERE a punch lands. The perfect spot on the temple or jaw can make a guy react much more as opposed to an inch or two off.
jaseprobst,
See the thread on the UG titled "Who all hits harder than Tyson?" for an article about the OTC's accelerometer equiped bag. Lacy was the hardest-hitting Olympian, with a 1067 score. The bag doesn't measure lb per square inch.
Anyway, there is a commercially available pad, called the POWRPAD (sold at powrpad.com for approx $400) that measures punching power.
But you are correct, timing and accuracy are the most important factors (you can't KO your opponent if your punch misses) and technique has much more to do with punching power than physical strength.
Cool.
Lacy mentioned he did get rated on lbs per square inch, i think it was 1137, read it here:
http://www.maxboxing.com/Probst/probst071403.asp
But it would be cool to get everyone measured.