Lemme simplify it, U. Ya either got hand speed 'n hit like a truck on day one or ya never will. The trainers that say otherwise are well-intended snake oil salesmen. The fighters who love the game accept it and make the most of what they have, as light-hitting savvy boxers, like Billy Graham.
But hard as Billy worked --'n I knew him since he was a kid -- he never got "a respectable level of punching power," U. He had a piston jab, an iron chin 'n couldn't break 'n egg.
What they learn is technique that allows them to develop to their full potential of power and speed. If it was possible to improve your raw power above what you're naturally gifted with, I'm pretty sure that at some point Malignaggi or one of the dozens of other powderpuff punchers would have shown some dramatic improvement mid career. It's never happened, that I'm aware of. JG, as always, is in the right.
Imo body mechanics play a big roll in punching power. You could give a fighter perfect technical knowledge/awareness, but if that individuals body mechanics don't allow them to perform a technique in an ideal way the power will still be lacking. I'll give you an example of different body mechanics by using a bench press example. Back in high school my best buddy and I would work out together. When it came to benching we could both push similar amounts but he was a tri/delt pusher and I was a pec pusher. This resulted in him having a flat chest but huge arms and shoulders while I was lacking in those areas but had a huge chest. We couldn't help that our body mechanics made us favor different muscle groups even in the same movement with the same grip(ie wide or close).
Doesn't that kinda answer your original question then? Ring smarts, accuracy and combos can be improved. Course, the guy with bricks for fists can learn these skills too. I would intuitively guess that punching power, and to a lesser extent hand speed can be modestly improved upon, but I guess the training regimes of all pro-boxers are similar enough that relatively, no significant advantage is gained. I do take the point that the guys that become known as big hitters seem to be born rather than made - I remember a Golovkin interview when he was asked 'when did you realise you could bang?' - his answer 'The first time I hit someone'. I guess your original question could be distilled into 'Can taught/learned boxing skills win against natural physical talents?' As I pointed out before, if the level of skill is approximately equal, then of course you'd go for the physically gifted fighter. But there are countless examples of superior skill and experience winning out over power or speed.
Lemme try ta clarify. Billy Graham in the U.S. was long known as the uncrowned welter champ, he was such a consummate boxer. Beat quick-trigger blasters with ring generalship 'n skill ('n fans roared appreciation), but he was nothing more than a powder-puff puncher. Nothin', over his long distinguished career, helped. In a nutshell, ya can't turn a singles hitter (even with current cutting edge sports know-how) into a HR hitter.
Well ofcourse you can be taught how to punch harder. However there are some that have that talent more natural like with everything else. Ofcourse you can enhance your skills in edurance, speed and power but there's a celing to each and everyone of those skills. Not that hard when you acually think about it.
I'd say that training, improved technique etc will just bring out the power/speed you were born with. After it's all said and done, those are raw, tangible qualities that you're born with. You can learn every other aspect though, combinations, build a defence that best suits your qualities and how to follow a gameplan (this is the toughest one though).
Tim's a terrific guy, JD. Spoke to him about his punching power (or lack of). Knows he'll never be a KO puncher, 'n that's what fans want ta see. All he can do is leave every drop of blood in the ring
Well... er....yeah, you're probably right. I thought your question implied that you were interested in how boxing skills can be used to offset physical advantages.atsch
