Body Punching...A Lost Art?

I really don't know why people don't teach body punching anymore.
I still punch to the body, when I spar.
I think a perfect left cross to the stomach could definitely drop someone, or crack a man's rib. It could also slow someone down over the course of the fight. I think being a head hunter is a huge flaw because then they know you will only punch to the head; they'll adapt their own style and switch from their regular stance to a more high stance. Aka they will have their arms and hands up higher. This is exactly where a good left hook to the body will gut them and send them on the floor with no breath.
About the poll, I picked Joe Frazier easily. Knocked a lot/stopped a lot of good contenders, even though Cooney and Morrison are bigger, I think Frazier just has stopped too many good contenders to not have the best left hook.
He also floored Ali.

 

Floyd is one of the best to the Body , really understands how to slow a fight down with body shorts , his best combination quick Jab, straight right to the body , did it against Judah to great effect , then taught Hatton a lesson. Also made Oscar think , and I think this is how he beats Mosley. Great fighter who never went to the Body and couldnt fight inside was Ali.

 

I believe in recent years, Cotto has had the most onsistant and brutal body attack I've seen...although he seems to have strayed from it his last few fights. Before that I'd saw RJJ and Julio Cesar Chavez.

 

I admit that I'm a fairly new fan to boxing, I've always been casually interested and have been paying really close attention for the last 4 years or so. Has the drop-off been that significant(outside the heavyweights)? I was under the impression that there have always been a bunch of headhunters and solid all-around fighters(meaning guys that work the body and go upstairs) in every generation.

 

The Bute KO is sick.

 

My favorite body puncher will always be Marco Antonio Barrera. The combinations he would throw... jab straight left hook to the body left hook to the head right uppercut jab, step away, come right back in.... what a warrior, that one.

 

Yeah.. I think it was because of Ali's lack of power, that's why he didn't go to the body.
One of the only times he did was when I was watching Ali vs Joe Bugner a while ago.
He had also JABBED do the body effectively, that can slow someone's attack down if they're coming forward and you're jabbing to their body.

 

Best body puncher I have seen is Duran, and it is a shame that it is becoming a lost art, I love seeing a good body puncher do their thing.

Mike McCallum's nickname is also one of my all time favourite's for a boxer.