Is punching power proof of physical strength

Of course not.

 

http://home.earthlink.net/~acoggan/misc/id4.html

 

no
but their is a link between sprint speed and hand speed.. its not concrete but its a good indicator.

 

My favorite fighter Thomas Hearns is a great example. Tommy was not physically that strong because his legs were so thin but his speed and leverage made him a hard puncher. He could get those long range punches in with leverage. If Tommy was stronger physically he would have fought on the inside more with Marvin and Iran. But he would rather use speed and hit from the outside with leverage.

 

Proper technique and Speed to go with a body weight shift= KO power.
Oxygen eating Big chest muscles and big biceps = slowed down....there for lack of boxing power.
Hayes has a nice big bench pressing beach chest. He should have built up his back and lats instead....in big chest muscles and big biceps get in the way, causing a chicken wing jab, from over built muscles getting in the way, forcing the elbow, out where it can be observed in it's first inches of movement.....ie telegraphed.
Benches move a bit slow...
You are not lifting anything, but striking something.... needing a different set of muscles.

Question is how many of the MMA fighters are weight lifter over built? How many great boxers/sluggers are or were "overbuilt"?

 

No, but its a good indicator. Power punching is generated from leverage and weight, and aided by strength. Who do you think benches more, Cotto or Floyd? Better yet, who has and throws more weight into their punches, Cotto or skip-pitee-do-dah?

 

Like some people say, you can turn a fair puncher into a good puncher, but a great puncher is born. But its more important with accuracy and movement (like Frazier beating Ali in their first fight because he was moving forward while Ali was backpedalling)

 

Speed is power when co-ordinated properly. A well muscled bloke, with no degree of cardio fitness or stanima.... just a giant upper body and tree trunk legs generally aquires concussive power... often affording a KO, yet rarely do they land flush. As a former Welter, I sparred cumbersome heavies a fair bit.. Often, the landed punches hurt, yet, being able escape the 'full impact' denied any potential risks of KO... albeit, accidenlty.

The average bloke, with well tuned timing, speed, strength and footwork combined, is the likely man to have legitimate KO power. If you ask most fighters about a punch which delivered a flash KO, the majority of fighters who landed the KO will exclaim they were suprised with the result, as there is very little impact reverberated back into themselves... The punch feels sweet and clean... Hence the other bloke just wants to go to sleep...

Max Baer called his right hand 'Mary Anne', as one kiss from her, sent many men to bed early.

 

Punching is an athletic ability like running and jumping.

You can improve it but not by much, and all weak punchers probably go through a period of trying to increase it.

 

Well said.

Obviously technique is the key - hip movement, posture etc. But I think there's a hell of a lot of people who don't know how the arm works - i.e. that biceps are for contracting/hugging and triceps are for extending/striking. Lots of people think big biceps = big punch.

 

Cotto can bench 200lbs more than Floyd but that doesn't mean ****.

 

Totally different... Just look at the guy in my avatar.