The science of Knockouts-Does the impact of head hitting canvas hard get overlooked?

The head normally clatters the canvas only when the shot was concussive enough to trigger the temporary loss of motor function. That's what shakes the core and makes the neck so loose. So its a double whammy, a good shot and a heavy bang on the canvas = more dramatic knockdown.

Referees are forewarned of this paricular issue as its deadly.
Outside the ring also, most deaths during single blow assaults are triggered by a blow to the lower back of the skull, the blow to this area doesn't have to be that powerful at all to seriously injure or kill.
Therefore the simplified answer is probably is pretty much both are huge factors and most refs and fighters notice when it occurs.
Khan v Prescott was also a good example, along with Lennox's two KO losses and the Roy jones loss you mentioned.

 

I think yes but I would also say that there is more chance of a hurt fighter banging his head on the floor than say for example a fighter who is caught off balance for a flash knockdown.

 

http://www.boxingforum24.com/showthread.php?t=182602

 

You still here Craney?

Thought you'd have been part of the exodus to the other place, you'd fit in a treat there I'm sure.

 

Thanks for that. Great thread.

 

Reminds me of the Hamed stopping Daniel Alicea - the ref basically stopped the fight because of how hard Daniels head hit the canvas

 

I would never normally post in a Craney thread but I'm making an exception here.

People touch on it but no one actually mentions in that thread what is known as "second-impact syndrome" which is essentially what Craney is referring to. It is basically a theory supported by physicians that if a single head trauma injury occurs, whilst the body is still coping with that, a further head injury occurring can cause fatality or permanent disability as the brain loses control over cerebral blood flow. In boxing it probably doesn't occur that much as the canvas is designed to absorb momentum and isn't made of concrete.

However, this is the reason that a lot of people die accidentally in street fights. People think it's very unlikely but it is actually really not that uncommon and there are dozens of cases every year. Someone gets in to an argument in a pub, they decide to settle it the old fashioned way and take it outside. One man hits the other very hard in the side of the temple and they're knocked out, when they fall they whack their head on the pavement. The first blow causes a massive head trauma but the second impact of the pavement causes a second head trauma split seconds later and that is what usually proves fatal. Think about that next time any of you get into some silly drunken row, it happened to someone I know and ruined their whole life as well as the life of the victim and their family.

I don't think it is an especially prevalent phenomenon in boxing for reason already mentioned but I would say yes that hitting their head on the canvas certainly doesn't help them to regain their senses. Though usually the force of a blow that would cause a man to fall so hard in the first place would be the main problem.

 

Off topic slightly but i've sparred and had a couple of white collar fights and one thing that seems to get over looked is how much it hurts getting punched in the throat, its a weird sensation and takes a lot from you a bit like a body shot obviously no one is going to aim for the throat because it is better and easier to target the chin but no one ever seems to mention it.

 

well usually if a guy can't even break his fall to the point that his head cracks off the canvas then the punch was obviously a hell of a concussive shot in the first place, but of course smacking your head on the ground sure doesn't help, but the damage is usually done I believe, with some exceptions

Of course like JohnnyBGoode says, in those street fights that turn tragic, usually thats with concrete though so its much worse

 

It's scary how easy it is to kill someone in a silly street brawl

 

Probably because it's pretty rare to take a flush shot in the throat with boxing gloves, I've been with a hook in the neck under the jaw before but never the actual throat...I tucked my chin in though!