You are born with heavy hands or punching power. I have two sons. One punches like a truck and the other sons punches are just what you would expect from a boy of that age. Both have done some pad work and been showed technique. So this plays into the BORN WITH IT argument for me the best. In professional boxing everyone has been taught the technique of getting all of your weight behind a punch. But only a small % have that devastating power, and that suggests punchers are born and not made. A recent example of a puncher who has been made is John Ryder. He made massive improvements from the Patrick Nielsen fight onwards. Previously he hadnt stopped anyone for 7 fights in a row, then he stopped the next 4 opponents in a row in devastating fashion. In those 4 fights where he got stoppages, some of those opponents were at a higher level that the 7 he failed to stop previously. He also beat Callum Smith but was robbed on the cards.
I think we all have that one guy in the gym with so-so technique but man does he destroy the pads and the heavy bag. So I think it's largely genetics. I mean we can easily see this in guys like Paulie, Algieri and to a certain extent even Bradley and Khan. All ripped to shreds but they aren't knocking down anyone unless the timing was really perfect.
Povetkin is a decent example of a fighter whose power improved drastically throughout his career. His early stoppages were often from refs waving off opponents taking too many unanswered punches while his latter opponents were often brutally one punch KOed. You can argue why that change came about, but practically it looked like Povetkin's set up, timing and sharpness were a lot better in his later years. He was still noticeably the same size, still roughly as fast, but shots which before had little effect on opponents suddenly rendered them unconscious. This content is protected Remember, this is a guy who failed to even knock down Nicolai Firtha when they fought, then ended up stopping Wach and knocking Takam, Duhaupas, and Whyte unconscious with single blows. This content is protected
True he was made into a puncher but he already had the ability to generate massive leverage through his body type and had very fast hands, both of which are natural gifts. Steward just taught him how to exploit those gifts.
Junior Witter is another guy who learned to punch. He only had 4 KO's from 15 fights going into his fight with Judah then after that went onto KO 15 guys straight and become of the the divisions most feared punchers. He probably always could generate good power but didn't have the style, technique or skill set to utilise that untapped power. Personally I think everyone can learn to have a decent punch, feather fisted guys simply don't have the technique or style which can tap into or prioritses delivery of that power.
Yes, I don't think there's any particular mystery with power, although obviously certain fighters start with innate physical advantages that allow them to generate it more easily than others, and others might start (or develop) certain disadvantages like joint problems, brittle hands etc that mean that punching hard can't be a priority for them if they want to enjoy a successful career. There is also that mentality issue that BCS8 mentioned. Some fighters are innately more wired up to want to put a beating on others, while others may be more focused on winning at any costs.
So more nature over nurture anyway in this regard. How does a skinny little guy with bad basics like Hamed have legendary power? Or a guy like Bradley be a relative featherfist?
I always said it was down to bone structure. There are boxers with crude techniques that can punch hard.
Was curious to hear Fury claim Sugar Hill has added single shot KO power to his game. Maybe just spin but if he came out and whacked Wilder over and out with one shot I'd be mightily impressed.
Hamed much like Pac had a very strong base. Most boxers have skinny legs but Hamed had strong quads and calves so even though he was small he had the ability to generate force, combine that with his speed and you have the 2 elements for power. He then increased his effectiveness as a puncher by becoming a counter puncher. His early style was to make guys miss with his crazy style and then counter them. Later on his career he stopped being a counter puncher and just relied on his speed and innate power and launched himself at guys with haymakers, unsurprisingly he started going the distance more. Having the ability to throw a hard punch doesn't make you a great puncher, the ability to set up and then time your opponent are also very important and he lost that after he split with Ingle.
Pov in am KB sometimes managed to drop lads without anything enough properly landed and sorry, elite " amateurs " are more tough oponnents than some obese highly ranked over the hill uncles for sure. Most likely due to modern Oly boxing he switched more to point scoring judgement system. Like most watchable Briedis versions were am KBer in Briedis. Huck too was very watchable am KBer. I think Pov had re scheduled automatic things from high level am boxer till pro. Power he had even when he was am KBer.
There are thing that anyone does have some gifts and he still needs training and polishing there. Regardless do you have elite training or no, some your punches will be more effective, some less and you will have some kind of attacks you are more vulnerable and some kind of punches where you will be less vulnerable. With very high level superstars too this was the same.
I'd rate Sam Langford among the single greatest puncher of all time and he was taught. He describes himself some technical re-arrangements offered by an old-school middle that helped him realise his power. It doesn't sound like it was a long lesson but for him it unlocked seismic power whereas before he was but a good hitter.
