What do you think? He's always been flabby and doesn't look like he can bench a lot, he's built like the average Joe, how would you compare his physical strength with the one of, let's say, a Briggs, a Vitali/Wladimir, and maybe also a Peter. Not only into a boxing ring, but on an athletic standpoint...pure physical strength.
Physical strength is a broad term. In terms of indurance he is not only better than Briggs but he is in a different league, considering he is 320 Lbs. His punching power does not translate, mainly because he does not commit to his punches, mostly throwing arm punches.
He's gotta be pretty strong, he's a big guy. When you get someone who's in decent shape AND 7ft 300lbs+ they must have a lot of core strength. I've never seen him backed up in the ring, put it that way.
Looks to me like he has functional strength. Who cares what his bench press is? Tall guys with long arms have a hard time benching heavier weight. It's irrelevant to boxing ability.
I wouldnt' say a good bench press is totally irrelevant to punching power, though. It is not a major determining factor, but someone who has a high bench press is much more likely to be a hard puncher than someone who has average bench press strength. I think we all agree on that.
Many top guys like Haye can bench twice their weight. I don't think Valuev can do it. I'm sure he is strong but I don't think his strength is particularly functional in boxing. His best bet because he is a bit slow is to lean over and on top of someone. Then he'll be real hard to move.
Its easy to be strong when you are a freak of nature. If he was 5' 10'' would his strength probably wouldnt stand out at all.
I think he is strong, but not quite as strong as you'd expect such a huge man to be. Kinda like his punching power, you'd expect him to rip heads off but he doesn't.
He's probably not pound for pound strong. But he's strong in absolute terms. An a beetle can lift 50 times it's body weight, but a horse can only lift about half it's own weight. Still, if they fought, my money is on the horse.
I would disagree that it's much of a determining factor at all. Punching power has more to do with technique, speed and leverage than it does raw, brute strength. I bet Kelly Pavlik can't bench nearly as much as Jermain Taylor, but he sure as hell hits just as hard or harder. Tye Fields could probably bench press a Buick but he can't punch because he arm punches and he's slower than prom night at the developmental center. Ditto Valuev.