Is KO power more about technique or genetics?

Study the local boxing arcade machine and you know enough.

You see some surprisingly slim lads delivering bomb after bomb, while some muscular guys can’t land a decent punch on the thing. Surely technique plays a role, but to be a proper power puncher you must have some suitable genetics.

 

it’s definitely not 100% but yes, I would argue it’s a high percentage

 

If you want to call personality/kinetic intelligence/athleticism genetic, sure. It’s just technique (compounded by strength/speed, naturally), but for some reason some people just can’t figure out how to tighten their fists, not whip their arms like wet towels, how to hit with the knuckles etc.

 

I remember Paulie dropped Lovemore N'Dou with a nice sharp right hand and Lovemore was known for having an iron chin.

 

There are a lot of factors but genetics plays a role. The Tszyu boys although not as devastating a puncher's as Kostya are both hard hitting guys. Anthony Mundine had that quick explosive right hand like his old man as well.
Then you have guys like Lucas Browne who don't have the best technique but still hit like a truck.

 

He also got Diaz with a really good uppercut.
Timestamped: Diaz was moving forward, which only added power to the punch. But look at how Malignaggi starts off from a slightly crouched position, and then turns his hips into the punch as he lets the punch go. He also turns his hips at the same time with the punch, which means he gets leverage on the punch, instead of it just being an arm punch. You could argue that Malignaggi should not have let his right foot come off the ground, but in this case it just meant that he was moving forward and added his body weight into the punch.
Oh, and he lands with his knuckles, perfectly so by landing more with the pinky finger side.

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It was a near perfect counter uppercut from Paulie.

And then he immediately follows it up with pity patty punches that have no weight behind them . Once again he is pulling his punches upon impact, instead of thriving them through the opponent - as he did with the uppercut.

 

Time for an experiment: take the son of a power punching legend and from a young age put him with a feather fisted great as a coach and the other way round and let's see the results :-D

Nature or nurture...

 

That arcade game is probably more influenced by the speed at which your hand travels and ignores most of the deceleration your punch must overcome to deliver a KO after it lands. I recall a guy scoring high, and he wasn't even hitting with his knuckles—it was barely a slap.

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Genetics insofar as bone density (especially knuckles!), reach (arm length), natural biological distribution of weight & muscle (top heavy Vs middle heavy Vs lower heavy) and natural biological inclination of muscle fibres.

Some of these can be altered through training, like: mass distribution and muscle fibres. The catch is that if you don't have these, you're sitting at -1 on these attributes, which means more work. And, obviously your coach (well a good one anyway) is gonna feel & see your power and try to bring out the best of you in catered stance/style.

IMHO, the above assets mean nada if you ain't got technique. You have to remember, proper good fighters have to drill their stance and punches, for years sometimes decades: Loma, GGG, canelo, usyk.

I've sparred big heavy weights and lightweights (as a middleweight) and in-between. The fighters that had concise punch placement, tight punch technique, and brutal (i.e., big, protruding & sharp) knuckles were always the ones I felt more and dreaded - they'd break bones even in 14 Oz gloves and with minimal punches: ribs and noses. They had the technique down is what I'm getting at and there was nothing else about them that was unique other than the stated attributes. This was regardless of size too.