Can a puncher be Taught or are they Born?

It depends.
If for boxing, I had some pros and cons that had impacted effect.
Guys relatively quickly were enough knowledgeable what does not work vs me and is too dangerous etc and what works vs me.
Some kind of punches I needed to polish damn a lot and I can't claim that I had bad training.
Some kind of fighting like counter vs straight right was for me natural relatively easily.

Me did not liked that they get what does not works on me.
For example for KB no one ever had landed a head kick, they just stopped to attempt.

Then, some kind of fighters are dangerous with one kind of punches and relatively harmelss with another kind of punches.
One lad I had, this for sure was not more effective than Loma with his liver punching attempts, while being weight classes above Loma there, still if he managed to land uppercut normally, he was devastating with this. While normally landed straight from him I was able to handle.

People are different.
Training and body mechanics polishing, good sparring partners etc does matters.
One guy had points wins vs low level joureymans and walking boxing bags despite was A side guy.
Then he racks stoppage win when he is in foreign country and in B side.
Ppl might post: ohh, he most likely had used peds. In reality he just had enough high level sparring partners if he had to fight aboard.
Some walking bags he had outpointed in hometown wih 0 pre fight camp at all.
Maybe not top level lad and still, with proper sparring he was very good lad.

 

If it was possible to become a one punch KO artist through technique then there would be hundreds of boxers with that type of power but the fact that there only dozens throughout the entire history of boxing would suggest to anyone with a bit of common sense that that kind of power is a gift you're born with.
Or maybe some of the armchair trainers on here have a discovered the secret to devastating power that has eluded all of the ATG trainers ??

 

Definitely one of the main ingredients is a mean streak. Nearly every huge puncher in boxing, guys like Liston, Tyson, young Foreman, wilder, etc have a bad side to them or possess one of the dark personality triads. They really do want to hurt you and enjoy slugging and the feeling of nearly taking someone's head off.

They are also more willing to let their hands go and follow through on shots, which is a completely mental aspect and not a physical one. Although you could argue that on a subconscious level they have that mental aspect due to the fact they know they have strong bodies that suit a power puncher such as thick wrists, big hands, a strong back, fast twitch muscle, etc.

 

Yes I would like to see that beterbiev interview please.

 

He said you need to do this exercise standing on knees, then when you get used to it, you do like it like on minute 2:48

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I just attempted this.

There goes my love life for a couple of weeks.

 

Yeah, but after some time of practise your "girlfriend" gonna enjoy strong manly grip.

 

Do you think Usain Bolt had to be taught to run....It's a gift.!!!

 

Yeah, mentality definitely comes into it. To score a KO, a big part of it, is punching through the target. You're only doing this if you're trying to do it. A big part of it is range, but if you're not trying to get that massive impact on them, then you're not gonna get it. The mentality that the guys who really wanna hurt you have plays right into that, whereas someone like say, Lara or Algeri, wouldn't. The way they punch is a big part of getting KOs.

Even guys with little to no power who have that hurt-him mentality punch through their target. Look at Gavilan and Harada. Little power, but they'll punch right through you with everything they throw.

If someone isn't willing to commit to their follow through, they're not gonna be scoring many KOs.

 

Some kind of boxers punch very effective without long training, yeah.
Might happen that this is not even so good if boxer is not properly managed and trained.

Then such boxer might have career like this example: boxer fights bums, gets high KO% and nice looking fight record. When he step up vs gatekeeper type journeyman or gatekeeper, KO power surprisingly disappers.


Some boxers might rack nice looking fight record even vs not bad opponents until they get defeated.
One boxer today is called as glass chinned but he initially was not a glass chin, might took some power punches who might KO his size boxer and continue to box smoothly.
Guy racked nice looking fight record and looked highly marketable: all wins via stoppages, TKO or KO.
Used approx the same flowchart in all fights. Turned into predictable boxer.
He get high level fight, if he had won this and 1-2 fights after this he had been mandatory for world title fight.
His opponent was well prepared to deal with his casual flowchart. He countered him and this did not had dropped prospect down, prospect was just dizzy and opponent landed on him 4 or 5 full power head blows in row. This looked like boxing bag beating.
After this fight ( he ofc had lost this one ) he looks that started train more seriously and turned into less predictable, more skilled boxer.
Problem is that he now really is " chinny " while then he was not down after get counter and beatup, now he might be dropped with 1-2 punches if is landed on him properly.

There is risk, yeah, one might have power and such guys might fall into trap. Guy drops boxers, they are KOed or get counts : one count, next, next until ref ends this. Sometimes everyone is happy: team, handlers, boxer, sponsors.
What had worked maybe even 20 fights in row, might not work vs next opponent if boxer is too predictable.
This wasn't someone like Foreman, Foreman was skilled. This boxer was not skilled, he had 2-3 things he used for offense and nothing more + packed power.

All they need training even if they are very powerful punchers.

 

Some fighters are heavy handed by nature and blasted people out whether they were amateurs or pros until they got too old to do it - Foreman, Liston

Some guys scored very few knockouts as amateurs and wasted everyone as pros - Hearns, Wilder, Joshua

Some guys mature, slow down and just gradually become physically stronger through the course of living life (old man strength, I believe it's called) - Ali, Moore, Canelo, Fury

Some guys start off as punchers and it fades away as they get older - due to moving up in weight or simply not being as fast or precise as they once were - Duran, Pac.

Some start off as average, move down, and against smaller/lighter men become Hall of Fame punchers - Bob Foster.

Some are just blatant cheats. Take PEDs. Hit hard as younger men but get a second life when they should naturally be fading - too many to mention.

You can be taught punching techniques that definitely help increase power. You can be taught how to place punches where they have more impact and cause more damage. You can be taught how to set up shots, feint a person out of position or blind a guy momentarily with a jab before firing your power shot - so he doesn't see the punch coming.

The rules you are competing under also have an impact. In the amateurs, scoring blows count more than knockdowns. So fighters look to throw lots of quick head punches. In the pros, knockdowns count for a lot. You have more rounds to pace yourself and set up your shots. Body shots are more effective and lead to more stoppages.

It's not a matter of just is it nature or nuture. It's everything.

Bottom line, if you want to punch harder, you can learn to punch harder. If you want to be the hardest puncher EVER, you probably need be blessed with power to go along with the skills to set up opponents for the kill.

 

Born.
'Taught' punchers always had the innate ability to hit hard, but didn't realize it.