Info that shows us boxing is truly the best at punching

Hmm.. "That's ten time more instantaneous force than an average person with no boxing expertise is capable of generating."

"Thats over 11 times stronger then the stand-up punch of MMA fighter Randy Couture..."

I'm the first to say compared with boxers, MMA fighters have really reduced boxing skills (obviously as a result of the need to train in so many different skill sets as opposed to one for boxing), but that infers your average-Joe hits about as hard as Randy Couture. I wouldnt mind seeing a source and seeing how legit these measurements, and the research over all, is.

 

Cheers for extra information - makes sense now. Pretty interesting stuff.

 

Very interesting stuff. However, I'll point out that the first in that series of youtube vids features Bas Rutten demonstrating more respectable power.

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Bas scores 941 lb, not amazingly greater than Hatton's 880 or so, but also not eleven times less, or half as powerful or whatever. He scored similarly to the heavyweight boxer they had test as well (no idea who it was, probably a nobody). With Hatton's weight training, I'm not surprised he's that powerful.

 

Very interesting information.

 

I'd love to measure my punch. I could probably get the sensors and stuff from work, I don't think it'd take too long to bodge together.

 

I wonder how much tyson would clock up

 

Over 5000 psi would crush most concrete mixes. (well that is constant force, Instantenous force by an impact is different and something that I havent really studied much)

Martial artists breaking hollow cinder blocks is a bit decieving as the material is very weak in tension and the hollow parts means the blocks are put in bending which will have tensile stresses. 5700 psi is stronger than most concrete compression strenghts, meaning it would break a solid concrete slab that is fully supported on the other side.


The comparison with Randy Couture would only be valid if they were both tested on the same machine.

 

You're trying too hard to use this as some sort of anti-MMA thing. Our sample size here is ridiculously small, and you should know that punch power varies hugely even within the same weight category.

Additionally, in an actual match you're enver going to be able to punch something as hard as you do a stationary object in laboratory conditions. This study measures punch force in a different way, but shows that punches thrown in matches do not match up with laboratory testing in terms of power.

http://www.bepress.com/jqas/vol2/iss2/3/

Interestingly, you'll note that punch force wasnt significantly corelated with weight. However, although the sample size is a bit better than simply using Ricky Hatton vs Bas Rutten in lab settings, it's still a small sample - 12 boxers in 6 pro matches.

Just looked it up, and 1 newton = 0.224808943 lb of force, so the punches ranged in force from 194 lb to 258 lb. Basically a quarter of what Hatton or Bas get in lab settings.

Some more info - unfortunately, second hand, but it is referenced, if somewhat sloppily.

http://www.bullshido.net/forums/showthread.php?t=5903

Here's another study:

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/tandf/rjsp/2000/00000018/00000006/art00009

This one measured 7 elite, 8 intermediate, and 8 novice boxers for punching power. Unfortunately, it doesnt say (in the abstract at least, I dont have access to the rest) what weight category they were at.

Just converting the rear hand figures to keep things simple, we get:

Elite: 1079 lb
Intermediate: 836 lb
Novice: 535 lb

Another one:
http://bjsm.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/39/10/710

The average punch force converted to pounds is 770 lb.

In any case, I think it's pretty clear that boxers are not punching on some massive order of magnitude harder than MMA guys are. Ok, Randy Couture didnt have a great punch - but Bas had a perfectly respectable force on his. And if you're trying to measure toughness, take another look at the physics of their kicks in part 2. MMA fighters have to stand up to incredible forces from a whole variety of different weapons that boxers dont have to deal with.

I love boxing, and in a boxing match a boxer will beat an MMA fighter all things being equal - not because of punch force, but because of hand skills, because of the fact that a boxer doesnt have to spread his time as thin as an MMA guy covering all the variety of bases - a boxer can perfect his boxing skills, the timing, defence, etc that will lead to victory in that particular arena. Not to mention practise defensive techniques that are invalidated in MMA - bobbing and weaving etc - the boxer comes in with practise in these abilities, an MMA fighter will have avoided them because in his arena they create vulnerabilities.

 

Crosstrainer told us about this some time ago, power:weight ratio isn't as good at a high weight as it is at a lower weight.

 

didnt jeff lacy punch harder than calvin brock in one of these tests

 

Yeah, I've read in a number of places that Jeff Lacy was the most powerful puncher on the olympic team he was on - including those in higher weight categories. Couldnt find any actual figures though.

It makes sense that punching power has diminishing returns as the fighter gains weight, if we look at powerlifting and the relationship there between weight and strength. Bigger guys can lift more, yes, but it's far from proportional to their weight - as a trend, the little guys are pound for pound much stronger. Then, when you factor in the individual variation - which is vast - its not surprising that you get some small guys who are more powerful than some large guys.

 

I dont think its anti-MMA. Anyway I'm not reading into it that far. I agree that Fighters in any discipline which have to spread out their training are less focused in terms of power than those which specialise in a certain area. It all depends on who is fighting in who's arena, cause they both do better according to their own arena/rules.

I've watched a number of documentaries, even the ones done in Japan on the same subject, and most say that the average hit of a boxer is around 800lb.