Is the uppercut the hardest punch in boxing?

No the jab is.

 

You can’t see the uppercut coming and it is seldomly used. Everybody has some type of jab and you can see it coming.

 

It's true that most people with minimal boxing training don't know how to throw or defend an uppercut but you still have to be in the wheelhouse to land it. The jab is a much safer punch and can do a considerable amount of damage by itself.

 

I agree.

 

Nah doe, the one he's running his own head into is the one that works best bruh.

Kinematic chains + Newton's third law = Leverage is key.

I'd go with cross but I think that is more in ubiquity of use than actual physics. Any punch can be the hardest punch because the hardest punch is the one no one saw coming and it is so not because of awareness but rather the physics involved in a rug pull, bait, feint and counter.

Run your face into a wall,it hurts.

 

Most people involved in street fights aren't capable of throwing a good uppercut.

Big right hands finish most street fight fights, often windmilled.

 

I agree but most street fights end up being fought at close quarters. I have found that a good uppercut was the most effective punch from close quarters. As you said, most people don’t know how or even try to throw an uppercut so you don’t have look for that punch in return.

 

Shavers made great use of the uppercut but Earnie was also prone to holding his opponents head in place to receive it (and perhaps even pull their head down into it).

Earnie did just that in one of his most celebrated KOs - vs Jimmy Ellis.

Lennox Lewis wasn’t too shabby at that dual handed execution either - see vs Michael Grant for one.

 

Louis displayed a vast array of technically perfect punches - the jab, uppercuts, hooks, straight right hands etc.

A true power puncher with both hands.

So, from an ideal standpoint of near perfect execution for each and every punch, which punch in particular would people nominate as being Louis’ hardest - the straight right hand, perhaps?

Without wanting to be hit by any of them, I would say so.

 

Jersey Joe Walcott would agree - but then Joe also “fell” to Rocky’s “sneaky” uppercut in the rematch.

Tbh, after the 13 rounds of torture in their first fight, I would say that Jersey Joe, while sitting on the canvas, said to himself, **** that for joke. I’m not doing that dance again.

 

The uppercut is my favourite punch to throw. You throw from mid to close distance and you can really leverage your body weight going into it (esp when thrown close and after building momentum from a roll-slip). But, there's a reason the 'pure' uppercut is rarely thrown - you do need momentum and proximity for it to be hard and even then it's not typically a KO punch because it doesn't usually target the sweet spot of the jaw where your lights turn out (it's located on the right or left side/tip of the jaw).

Personally, I mix the uppercut with the hook as it feels most comfortable for me (throwing a technically sound right angled left hook with palm to the floor is uncomfortable and just doesn't feel powerful enough, and an uppercut by itself lacks the proximity (& needs bodily momentum) - so I just fuse them together). Best of both worlds.

The hardest punch in boxing is definitely the hook, more specifically the left hook as it's sly (you don't see it coming and BOOM!). Joe Lewis, RJJ, Corrie Sanders, Mayweather, etc. all had formidable lead hooks.

The most underrated punch is the lead power jab IMO though. People throw different strength jabs - arm punches, flicks, snappy ones, step-in jabs, But the lead power jab is rarely thrown IMO - where the hip is properly pushed into the leadhand like a backhand - where the power comes from the legs and the torque of the hip.