Boxers with hard to explain power - a theory

It seems simple enough, should be speed, strength and technique. But shouldn't Holmes hit harder than Wilder? Why didn't Holyfield hit harder than Shavers? Some guys are a bit of a mystery.

 

Valero had that type of power, he was a true psychopath in the boxing ring.

 

Yeah what about Bradley? Julian Jackson looked ordinairy as welk but when he hit guys they seemed struck by lightning.

 

Beterbiev has big hands and a big wrist

His forearms are also big. His biceps are nothing special but his forearms are where he transfers power from too

Then he does alot of that upper body strength work; shoulder rotations and compound exercises for explosion.

He also doesnt waste punches and looks for openings. If he looked for one big shot like Wilder he wouldn't be as successful.

Many factors come into it.

Genetics help but I believe someone with a high IQ can find the right shot at the right time to land and get the KO.

 

Jesus. Okay, that's a lot to unpack.

Killer instinct definitely helps with getting the knockout victory, but I doubt it directly influences the punching power, unless one is consciously holding back. A fighter who genuinely wants to put the other one on the stretcher is more likely to sit on his punches, increase the volume, and launch missiles when another fighter would try to set-up a safer way of attack with feints and draws. I do not think that it can increase the natural punching power. Not by a lot. A few examples:

Ezzard Charles was a murderous puncher at his own weight, and yet he almost retired from boxing after his opponent died in the ring. He actually switched to a more subtle, controlled style then, but when needed could still muster his old punch, only he wasn't as punishing as far as quantity of punches and the viciousness of the finish goes.

Max Baer was a killer puncher, but he reportedly wept uncontrollably at the news of Frankie Campbell's passing. A short recollection of the event: “Nothing that ever happened to me—nothing that can happen to me—affected me like the death of Frankie Campbell,” he said, shortly after the fight with Carnera. “It was almost a week after the fight before I could get more than an hour or so of successive sleep. Every slightest detail would come racing back to mind, and I couldn’t blot from my eyes the last scene—Frankie unconscious in the ring, his handlers working on him. And then the news that he was dying … dead.”

Joe Louis was by no means bloodthirsty, but at 6'1 and a half or so, and 200 pounds could brutally knockout Primo Carnera and Buddy Baer, despite them being 6'6, 250+lbs big fellows.

Second career Foreman was a preacher who only came back to boxing because his youth center ran out of funds. Anybody reading his biographies understands how much the man sacrificed for his family, and for the redemption of his soul. He repeatedly stated he does now want to hurt his opponents, and was often seen asking the referee to stop the fight, not wanting to let it unfold into a truly ugly knockout. In spite of that, he still produced incredible stoppages, and Holyfield (fought Bert Cooper, Riddick Bowe, Hasim Rahman, Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis) quickly named him the hardest puncher he ever faced. Moorer needed thirty-six stitches inside his mouth after the knockout punch that many considered casual enough to claim a dive (Teddy Atlas claimed shattered mouthpiece, but it's Atlas, so treat it with a grain of salt.)

Julian Jackson, as mentioned in this thread, was and is a religious man, and so was Earnie Shavers, who was a decent, well-respected man: “Earnie is very generous, to a fault in fact, he’d give you his last penny,” explains his pal Rainford. “Just don’t rub him up the wrong way. He’s the nicest person in the world but he can also be the most vicious if provoked!" .. and yet Tex Cobb, James Tillis, Muhamad Ali, Larry Holmes, and Ron Lyle considered his power inhuman, and numerous other accounts report about his blows being like a bowling ball, hurting immensly even when landing on arms or shoulders.

Naturally, for every example there is a mean mother-f like Gerald McClellan or Mike Tyson (Sonny Liston is very misunderstood, and though he had something immensly cold inside of him, I firmy believed he would be a great champion to the American society, if only the world around him did not reject him with such vicious prejudice), but then again, Tyson was not even the hardest hitting man among the smaller heavyweights, as you would expect from the man who wants to eat Lewis's children.

As for your remarks about Golovkin: look is very deceiving. Jimmy Wilde, the Ghost with the Hammer in his Hand was notoriously sickly looking, but was mauling men 20lbs larger, and anyone withing range of 10 pounds entering the ring with him was considered suicidal. Still, Jimmy had great genetics for power transfer, and religiously practiced timing, sense of distance, and delivery, despite not being nearly as turbulent outside of the ring as say Tyson or Ketchel (as far as I know.) On the other hand Barbados Demon Joe Walcott, the 5'2 welterweight who stopped man outweighting him by 36lbs, and notoriously hit hard enough to make Tom Sharkey's manager avoid making them spar, looked exactly as you would expect, with broad chest, neck, and the likes.

 

Punching power always comes from the shoulder’s. You can have crap legs, not turn your hips etc, as long as you have the snap and strength in your shoulder’s you can knock guys out with ugly winging arm punches like Arthur Abraham has gotten off on a few guys.

Shoulder’s and knowing how to tighten your fist. People that have never boxed make this into some great mystery though.

 

Just as much as this is a mystery, they do say excitable delirium can help a human lift a car if a baby is pinned under it. (Brute strength plus adrenaline+ fight or flight reaction)

An anomaly to throw into the mix: what about Miguel Cotto? Dude was small with small hands and bird chested. I've heard stories that he has no right hand just like how he dropped Torres with it in the same way Oscar hit Vargas with his "weak" right. How can you explain that?? No supposed power but dropping fools??

Another question that goes along with that: Cotto was a giant at 140, big torso, big punch BUT at a more realistic weight "his punches never phased his opponents." Margarito wàs walking through it his Miguel's firepower, eating punches like m n m s. As well he kept laughing at cottos power. Him AND Mayorga titled Miguel as a girl, with his small hands. Margarito has no respect for Miguel Cotto power.

Could it be that it was mental in the rematch, perhaps deep down Cotto was boiling because of the plaster of Paris? I'm guessing Miguel hit hard but probably couldn't throw a football or baseball far, as well as a lacrosse wind up sideways shot. Why? Because there are guys with bigger hands than him built smaller who could do that! Deep down he's a little bit overweight as a bull, but that extra size and physicality gives him PHYSICAL STRENGTH. A solid mfer but not thee hardest hitting. I give him an A 80% for punching power.

Sorry for getting off track but what about bob Pacquiao's body shot to Kevin Kelley? Brutal just like Dubois did to usyk. And what Jones did to I think Virgil hill (cracked his ribs). Boy those are some wicked body shots.

 

I didn't suggest legs were the only reason

 

Any power can be broken down if you analyse the fighter hard enough. There's no such thing as God given power, in the unexplainable sense, although genetic factors definitely play a role. But look at a guy like Hamed or Wilder and you'll see someone who launches themselves full bore into their shots with no fear of what's coming back. Shavers was similar. With Foreman it was his strength that generated the power, same as Beterbiev. Inoue is all about technique and timing, plus a lot of speed and spite. Power doesn't stem from one factor alone. It's a composite quality.

 

Bone density and tendon strength play a role as well. Plus weight transference. This really shouldn't be a big mystery.

Why bring up Holyfield? Because he was superficially muscular? That ain't where power comes from, and never has been.

 

Being able to form a tight fist is actually a huge component of punching power. So much energy is lost through the knuckles otherwise.

But legs and core definitely contribute to punching power. Depends how you throw your shots. The Tyson and Tua types definitely draw a lot of power from their legs.