Fghters who have become 'punchers' later on in their career

[lefthook82]

Can anyone tink of a fighter who has developed power that it didn't appear they had early in their career?

The only peron I can think of off my head is Junor Witter. But then susoicions over the level of competition in tht knockout streak have to vbe raised

Anyone have any other examples?

[Datsue]

Evander Holyfield put more into one punch as he got older & couldn't let the combos go.

[Coco]

Fighters like Junior Witter was brought through on small hall shows with opponents getting small purses.
He wouldn't have got work on those shows as they wouldn't be able to afford him if he was knocking everyone out.
Instead he got the rounds under his belt untill he stepped up into title class

[black panther]

This guy isn't exactly a puncher, but showed improved power later in his career: Carlos Baldomir. In his first 37 fights he only scored 4 kos and that was at domestic level. He then went 19-0-2 (9kos) and at a much higher level, sometimes taking on undefeated prospects in their own backyard. A lot of guys seem like punchers when they first start out, but its mainly due to the level of opposition - once they step up to world level the ko's stop for a lot of fighters.

Oh yeah apparently in the amateurs, Thomas Hearns had a very low knock-out percentage but as we all know in the pro's he was devastating.

[DavidPayne]

What about Ottke sparking out Mundine? WTF.

[The Law]

Manny Pacquiao should be mentioned here. He only had 4 stoppage wins in his first 13 fights.

[DavidPayne]

I always like reading Kirino Garcia's record, sort of related to topic.

Pat Putnam tells his tale well from ages back on thesweetscience.com

[dr_devious]

Tommy Hearns wasnt a puncher in the amateurs, but was devastating as a pro

[Chambers2]

Oakey to a certain extent

[overhand_right]

Holyfield became more of a respected hitter since the first Tyson fight.

Chris Byrd told Ian Darke Holyfield 'had major power' and he ached for weeks after fighting him. Interesting.

[DavidPayne]

He became a crisp accurate puncher, a lot of the big juggernauts have weight of shot but fkk all speed on it. Holyfield was a stronger mix.

[overhand_right]

Yep, agree with that. Holyfield had the very durbale Vaughn Bean down & nearly out with his uppercut, yet a past it Bean stood up to Klitschkos power shots all night and didn't budge.

[SOUTHPAW]

Esham Pickering won loads of fights on points early(including our very own Marc Smith) on then had a great title run stopping all of them

[terminator]

Hamed apparently wasn't a power puncher when he was an amateur

[SOUTHPAW]

Could have fooled me he started stopping them when he was about 16 he stopped Mick Brodie in his last amature fight bashed Mark Epton up in the gym while still a tennager

[terminator]

Could have fooled me he started stopping them when he was about 16 he stopped Mick Brodie in his last amature fight bashed Mark Epton up in the gym while still a tennager

According to wikipedia he had only arounf 17 KO's in 67 fights but i've had a closer look at the source.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2419 ... s-comeback

Clearly it was written by an idiot!!

[steve689]

What about Ottke sparking out Mundine? WTF.

I remember talking with Freiheit after this one and he made a good point which stuck in my mind. Ottke was a perceived "non-puncher" because he never had the need to be. He was a runner/mover/occasional sprinter who had an effective (albeit extremely frustrating and negative) style of hit and run that worked for him and thus was never required to plant his feet and search for the power shots. Against Mundine however, he met a man who was his antidote and (despite what any cards said) was soundly outboxing the German when he got KO'd.

Of course before I get carried away let's not forget that Mundine has a history of getting dropped in fights so his chin was probably not the greatest, but I think Ottke may have hit slightly harder than it first appears.

[rhino222]

What about Ottke sparking out Mundine? WTF.

I remember talking with Freiheit after this one and he made a good point which stuck in my mind. Ottke was a perceived "non-puncher" because he never had the need to be. He was a runner/mover/occasional sprinter who had an effective (albeit extremely frustrating and negative) style of hit and run that worked for him and thus was never required to plant his feet and search for the power shots. Against Mundine however, he met a man who was his antidote and (despite what any cards said) was soundly outboxing the German when he got KO'd.

Of course before I get carried away let's not forget that Mundine has a history of getting dropped in fights so his chin was probably not the greatest, but I think Ottke may have hit slightly harder than it first appears.

i have spoken to mundines then time manager/promoter. forget the fellas name but he bought jason de lisle over for clinton. he told me that mundine was totally fatigued, thats why he did not get up, he had just physically shot his bolt in the fight, completely.

[twenty six]

Terminator,
I can say without doubt, Naz was a power pack even as a kid.
He was great to watch in training.

[black panther]

What about Ottke sparking out Mundine? WTF.

I remember talking with Freiheit after this one and he made a good point which stuck in my mind. Ottke was a perceived "non-puncher" because he never had the need to be. He was a runner/mover/occasional sprinter who had an effective (albeit extremely frustrating and negative) style of hit and run that worked for him and thus was never required to plant his feet and search for the power shots. Against Mundine however, he met a man who was his antidote and (despite what any cards said) was soundly outboxing the German when he got KO'd.

Of course before I get carried away let's not forget that Mundine has a history of getting dropped in fights so his chin was probably not the greatest, but I think Ottke may have hit slightly harder than it first appears.

i have spoken to mundines then time manager/promoter. forget the fellas name but he bought jason de lisle over for clinton. he told me that mundine was totally fatigued, thats why he did not get up, he had just physically shot his bolt in the fight, completely.

Yeah at that point Mundine had only had ten fights and wasn't used to going 12. Also, I saw that fight and it was a temple shot, so you can't really question Mundine's chin on the evidence of that fight.

[observer1]

quote="black panther"]

What about Ottke sparking out Mundine? WTF.

I remember talking with Freiheit after this one and he made a good point which stuck in my mind. Ottke was a perceived "non-puncher" because he never had the need to be. He was a runner/mover/occasional sprinter who had an effective (albeit extremely frustrating and negative) style of hit and run that worked for him and thus was never required to plant his feet and search for the power shots. Against Mundine however, he met a man who was his antidote and (despite what any cards said) was soundly outboxing the German when he got KO'd.

Of course before I get carried away let's not forget that Mundine has a history of getting dropped in fights so his chin was probably not the greatest, but I think Ottke may have hit slightly harder than it first appears.

i have spoken to mundines then time manager/promoter. forget the fellas name but he bought jason de lisle over for clinton. he told me that mundine was totally fatigued, thats why he did not get up, he had just physically shot his bolt in the fight, completely.

Yeah at that point Mundine had only had ten fights and wasn't used to going 12. Also, I saw that fight and it was a temple shot, so you can't really question Mundine's chin on the evidence of that fight.[/quote]

Agreed. Mundine was way too inexperienced then