Some thoughts about power, KO ratios, effective punching AND CHINS

Good article dude you know the facts!

 

There was one thread about this a while ago,in essence the KO retios don't show the fighter's fighting power.

 

Good points.

Many people don't seem to understand the subtleties behind punching power, and the factors involved in scoring a KO or having a high KO ratio.

 

Usually the higher % of lower class opponents you fight, the higher % of KO's you have.

I think you've got to look at guys who are getting KO's in the big leagues like RJJ Jr used too, like Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis used too, like Wlad and Vitali do.

They're all powerful for their weight, with sharp punches. In the case of Lennox and Wlad, it's more grind you down but the other 3 will spark you out

 

You have to switch vitali in for wlad. wlad is the harder puncher of the two. Vitali is a volumepuncher who wears you out.

OHH. and ask golota, grant, botha,briggs and ruddock if lennox cant take you out with one shot.

 

Decebal, that was a good read.

I think the "being fed bums" point is most applicable to boxers in the present day. :good

 

good thread man. truly gauging a fighters power is a combination of different factors.

 

Cool thread i was thinking about making a thread on this the other week. KO % essentially tells us nothing unless its outstandingly high, then you can generally conclude that the fighter does in fact have good power.

Video footage is really the only way we can gauge a fighters power. Good call on Margo and Pavlik, i remember people acted like i was crazy when i claimed Pavlik's power was overrated before the Hopkins fight. He didn't have huge one punch power (like an Abraham) it was his work rate and ability to take one to give one that allowed him to really beat his opponents up badly, same with Margo.

There are a few main attributes to a knockout in a fight:

1. Power, simply how hard the fighter hits his opponent

2. The fighters ability to land punches, basically everything that makes a boxer good, handspeed, timing, workrate, footwork, ring IQ. Simply the ability to land clean on the opponent, and how regularly they can do it. So for an example, a fighter with a very high work rate who lands a lot and scores a lot of knockouts may not actually have that much power.

3. Pretty much the opposite of 2, the quality of the guy being knocked out. How good is his chin? How good is his footwork? His defense? If he is hit easily and has a weak chin, a stoppage might not say a lot about his opponents power. If he is very easily hit, and it takes his opponent 12 rounds to stop him, on accumulation, that doesn't give the power rating a very good wrap.

Punching power is so hard to gauge because some fighters have pretty bad overall punching ability, but with good strength. Other fights have awesome punching ability but probably don't put as much force on it. I think there are so many different factors to punching technique and power that it makes it almost impossible to accurately gauge "power" outside of having some sort of machine directly measure the impact.

Some guys have great physical strength but as soon as they get tired they can't throw very well and lack technique (Peter). Some guys have very stiff punches and really push them into their opponents at times (Wlad's jab). Other guys like Haye aren't quite as big but really load up from range. Some guys punch through their opponents from close, these ones rip the heads of their opponents back in an unnatural fashion - see Hearns ripping the massive shot into Duran from close range and punching right through him, high velocity punch with perfect technique and timing.

 

Unfortunately, not even video evidence will tell you much about a fighter's power. What it will tell you is how committed and how effective a certain punch was, against a certain opponent, in the given instance. Some puncher's are deceptively powerful, even if they don't commit to their punches and even if their punches don't look powerful.

Ultimately, the only way to be certain about the power a certain fighter's punches is to ask his opponents. I remember reading a thread in the British forum a while ago; Tony Dodson was saying his sparring partner Robin Reid punched considerably harder than the person who had him out in three rounds, Carl Froch. Now, you wouldn't guess that by watching film, would you? Nor would you guess that Reid was a powerful puncher by looking at his stoppage percentage. Still, apparently he punches harder than Froch.

 

Another way to gauge pure raw punching power is to simply use technology for an exact measurement...

 

Yes, certainly it is a multifaceted topic. Good read.

 

I did a thread on this a little ago but you've covered things with a different and interesting slant. People get seduced by the numbers too much in boxing. Joe public thinks ko percentage is in direct proportion to power but its not as simple as that. Nice read.

 

another thing you guys have to take into account is finishing. some fighters punch hard but are poor finishers and/or have poor stamina