Soccer Ball Theory

I think that prety much holds true.

 

Very well done, Boilermaker.

 

In terms of moving backwards to absorb or even avoid shots goes the best at it today is Mayweather. His primary defensive move is to either take a step back or to sit on his back leg moving his torso back to avoid the punch, and allowing him to counter. This is one of the many reasons I'm a big fan of the Philly Shell.
As for a Klitchko/Mariciano match up. I don't know rather it is more accurate to punch up or down. Also I don't know if being small gives you enough advantage to make up for a longer reach. In ternms of power punching down using gravity would give you more power.

 

Very good read/points Boilermaker

 

If you were standing firmly on the ceiling somehow this would be true. With the legs on the ground, punching upward yields more power than punching downward. It's hard to get the hips, legs, and feet fully into the punch while punching downward. When standing on the surface of the planet, the power in your lower body is stronger than the power of gravity...if not you wouldn't be able to jump.

 

Good post, Boilermaker! :good

 

Great theory, I thoroughly agree with your points.

 

Interesting theory

 

I think it holds true and consequently it proves that guys like Mike Tyson probably have a better chin than Muhammad Ali.

In every fight in which he lost, he was tagged- Constantly. The fact that he was walking into punches without backpedaling at all suggests that his threshold for pain and ability to absorb punishment gives him the edge against a guy like Muhammad or Evander who employ a style that often relies on lateral movement. This is of course according to your soccerball theory which would suggest that Douglas doesn't need to a one punch KO artist but the power in his punches were clearly amplified by his opponents forward movement.

I was watching Mercer Holyfield (followed by Tyson Holyfield I) a few nights ago and I thought of this. If Ray Mercer never backpedaled towards the 8th 9th round he would have been stopped by Evander. He was pretty shakey and was trying to avoid a toe to toe slugfest that would have ended the night pre-maturely.

Just something to ponder

 

Acatuly it is pretty easy to get the hips, legs and feet into a punch going downwards. I don't know your build but I'm 6'0" about 160. So for me a jab/straight combo is very useful to me. I can throw that straight downwards and put my hips, legs and feet into it. I know this because I have been expermenting with the macincis as I type this.
If your talking about a punch going straight down in close quarters.
This is going to be hard to describe but I will do my best.
Keep in mind that I use an orthodox stance. I also prefer a version of the philly shell so idealy my left hip and shoulder is facing my opoent.
I'm not simpely using my arm to punch down.
I'm doing all this at the same time
1. I rotarte my right hip so I'm now squared up with my oponet.
2. My right leg bends
3. I rotate my right sholder forewards.
My target is the left side of the head of my opoent.
Think of it as a downwards right hook from an orthodox stance.
In terms of punching up. The best punch I can come up with is the upper cut.
While I can get my hips, legs and feet into it. My feet lift up. I lose power when my feet rise up. Hence the term sitting down on your punches.
That is just my take on the matter.

 

You should roll with punches. I liken it more to the analogy of catching a baseball. Everybody knows if you stick your glove out the force of the ball hitting the glove is more powerful then when you slowly pull your glove towards yourself when catching the ball. Jake LaMotta talks about this on why he thought his defense was underrated and that he wasn't getting hit cleanly as much as some might think. He knew he had a good chin and psychologically thought no man could knock him out. He says this on the times segment with SRR and LaMotta on viewing their 6th fight with Don Dunphy.

Both have their advantages. I think a good thing would be a balance of both. Shifting your movement and using angles while sometimes pulling back from punches are both ways to defend. I don't think moving backwards foot-wise is as important as rolling back with your upper-body movement. This way you're still in a position to attack or possibly counter.

 

I've always considered this.

I feel in this way a guy like Tyson's chin is underrated. However, someone like Tua or Chuvalo who just plant themselves to take punishment aren't really risking rushing forward to get hurt, and aren't going to not see the punches coming. That's why more aggressive guys like LaMotta, Basilio, or Rocky, and Tyson have probably underrated chins.

Whether Ali or Tyson has a better chin... who knows. Ali did take bigger punchers from bigger punchers. The thing that needs to be considered is when a forward fighter gets knocked by a good shot, he usually just putters around and stays stagnant. You see this constantly in Tyson vs Douglas. So we can't over-state this either. But It's something I've pondered about.

 

excellant