Why did George Foreman punch so hard despite having lack of speed ?

Look carefully....his power comes from his hips and he also turns his punch inwards as well to get double impact from that initial torque that the hips generate.

Slow one of his videos down on Youtube to 0.25x speed and you can see it.

Also he trained his muscle groups that contributed to that power; chopping trees, pulling Jeeps etc all develop the core and upper back muscles.

 

Incredible joint integrity.

Sure, acceleration and mass are the components of force, however when it comes to punching power you have to add in power loss upon impact. When you land a punch part of that force is absorbed by your opponent’s head (good) and part of it is leaked through your weak points (joints) and this is bad.

Foreman didn’t have velocity but he did have mass and most likely very robust skeletal frame that did not leak power upon impact.

 

He fought guys who would compete at cruiserweight today. A 225lbs guy always punches relatively hard vs. a 190 lbs guy, no matter how crude or slow he is.

 

This is a fantastic explanation, and something I've long thought to be the missing component of punching power. Foreman just looked like an incredibly solid unit, and despite not punching particularly fast, seemed to just plough through whatever he hit. His jab alone would snap fighters' heads right back and make it look like they'd run into a girder. His power punches made it look like he was swinging at air, only the fighter on the receiving end was getting ragdolled.

 

I saw a car reversing into a bollard the other day, and despite moving at about three miles an hour, it just ripped the bollard out of its concrete. Someone could have swung a baseball bat against that same bollard and not had one iota of the same effect. That (in vastly less exaggerated form) is how I see Foreman's power compared to others.

 

Lack of speed kills!

 

Glad you asked. Evander Holyfield breaks this very question down in the is youtube video....he compares Foreman's power (which he rates as the best) against the power of Tyson and David Tua, who he sparred with.

He does even say that Tyson and Tua had power more based around speed and punches you couldn't see coming, but that Foreman would try to punch through you, which you can clearly see if you watch his old fights

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Big boned, heavy frame.

It's like dropping a big stone from 2 feet above the ground.

Yes, it won't be going very fast, but it will bloody hurt.

By contrast, throw something much lighter at a faster speed and it won't hurt as much.

Speed, in punching, must have weight to really do damage, but weight doesn't always need great speed...if that makes sense?

 

Sure...but when he knocked out 6ft7 260lb Gerry Cooney (the size of Fury or Klitschko today) with EASE you can't say his reputation was build on beating smaller cruiserweight sizes fighters. His power is ATG and would have been an equaliser in any era.

If anyone is over rated in terms of power it is Earnie Shavers.

 

I quite like watching Cory sanders, He looks like someone’s dad, not athletic looking at all but boy did that left hand of his wallop! Stopped vlad with it and shook vitali with it also. Just a shame he was a bit too one dimensional otherwise he could well have held a world title

 

Beat me to it. Cooney looked deboned the way he fell.

 

Foreman when asked who he fought hit the hardest he replied Cooney...

 

I have a freind who is just like this, he is big boned.& no one was left standing if he connected. He's not a boxer , he was a street fighter, he's dead now . In our mis pent youth we used to clash with the old Bill in Moss side, anyway we got cornered by the old bill with the dogs & they called the vans to take us.
This was years ago & before the Zip ties they had to use cuffs, anyway Andys wrists were to big for the cuffs , They had to surround him with 2 dog handelers & 4 policemen until the van came Ha Ha he had a 56" chest & weighed in at 24stone he use to fight 3 at a time for fun ... My spar Noddy & always will be.

 

He sounds like a beast.