Are punchers born or made ?

[DIRT SUGAR]

Tommy Hearns style changed when he turned professional and once he came down from his toes and started to plant his feet.

He had brilliant technique too and once he developed 'man-strength', that, aligned with his skill, saw the emergence of the puncher we all grew to love.

He was the ultimate attacking fighter. Good jab, feints, reach and timing and could just plain old whack.

Julian Jackson was just a natural with awesome timing too and could get alot of power into very short punches. Amazing considering he was half-blind. Imagine what he'd have been like if he could have seen properly!

From my experience, some people just have the ability to whack. I never could, it was all about timing for me, making the other man come onto my punches. Plus, I didn't have big hands. I could never just obliterate the heavy bag, I'd pepper it, while other lads in the gym could nearly put holes in it! The bastards!!!

[dalcumly]

Just remembered another one-punch specialist with stunning power - Corrie Sanders . Not many Brits are there - could we argue that Henry's left hook comes into this category ?

[DIRT SUGAR]

I'm not claiming to be a one punch king or anything here just wanted to add my two pence worth by saying I believe I can hit a bit and I have the smallest hands you'll see for someone my size, I will add that I do also suffer really bad withy hands, finally I'll say that I believe 1 punch specialists are born and not made too

Yeah I'm just making excuses for being crap Bomber! Barry McGuigan on the other hand, has ham-sized fists and no wonder he could hurt you with them hocks!

[tonyevs]

I think part of it is definitely just 'heavy-handedness' and to be honest that is something you are born with. If you are built with skinny wrists and small hands, no amount of technique or weights is gona make you a one-punch KO artist.

How do you know these factors determine punching power?

Cos it's simple physics.

guess you'll have to explain the working of that claim to me then...
Rocky Marciano had small hands...or so i've read.

Some people are freakishly strong for their size, some are great distance runner or sprinters. The same principle applies to good punchers.
Two my mates were the same size when we were younger. One boxed for a good few years, the other never laced them up in his life. When we were out and found ourselves confronted by the sorts you seem to meet at chucking out time - it was the non-boxing friend who always seemed to knock them cold. No technique to him.....but devastating punches when he landed.

[ERIC GUY]

Colin Jones and Mickey Hughes were natural bangers,,,,,,,

[DIRT SUGAR]

Colin Jones and Mickey Hughes were natural bangers,,,,,,,

Yep, Gary Jacob's and Kirkland Laing will agree with you there Eric!

[yiddo14]

Just remembered another one-punch specialist with stunning power - Corrie Sanders . Not many Brits are there - could we argue that Henry's left hook comes into this category ?

Would not say Sanders had stunning power. He had power but he wasn't that special.

Never knocked out a top quality chin did he? I think lewis punched harder than him.

[Des1]

Richard Evatt was a natural puncher who I say was born to punch hard

[coneye]

You can take a light puncher and turn him into a hard puncher because once they know the technique,on how to deliver the punch its simple , using the correct technique , SPEED and TIMING equal POWER.

But then will walk into the gym a guy, who is a natural hard puncher, you teach him the same technique and he will probably develop into a devastating puncher .

Now regarding fist and wrist size , myself its often been commented on the size of my hands there big, my wrists probably average definetly not in proportion to my hands, this caused me problems , , my wrists had to be taped very very secure because of my hand size if they were not exceptionaly secured they would sometimes give on me . The big hand size did'nt matter because gloves take away that advantage

[watson748]

Just remembered another one-punch specialist with stunning power - Corrie Sanders . Not many Brits are there - could we argue that Henry's left hook comes into this category ?

Would not say Sanders had stunning power. He had power but he wasn't that special.

Never knocked out a top quality chin did he? I think lewis punched harder than him.

Sanders nearly KO'd Vitali Klit (in the first). Nobody has even wobbled Vitali Klit before or since. Lewis couldn't wobble Vitali when they met, even with 'that' uppercut from hell. Sanders had him hanging on for dear life and it was the bell that saved him.

The South African golf Pro had one hell of a punch (especially that left hook) and he would have given any HW of any era trouble if he had connected.

[yiddo14]

I must have watched a different fight then! I don't remember Vitali hanging on for dear life against Sanders!!! I do remember him holding on against Lewis straight after that uppercut you mentioned!

Maybe I will have to watch it again. I remember it was Sanders' speed and southpaw stance that gave Vitali a bit of trouble to start with.

[fist]

Undoubtedly it can be developed, but the raw knock out power that some boxers have comes from genetics and cannot be trained. Someone on here mentioned Hamed working on his technique as a child, but he is a boxer who I'd say was born with it. Just such a powerful puncher relative to his size; he probably had more knockout power than boxers in a number of weight divisions above his own.

[superpunchout]

Born with it.

Similar to the chin debate. True, elite power(not I can bang a bit etc) is like a fighters chin, it's natural and something the fighter is born with. Irrelevant of shape too (heard fighters need thick necks and round square heads in order to have a good chin for example...complete nonsense!)
Fist size means diddly when it comes to power.

IMO of course!

Agreed.

If physical specs were all that mattered, Primo Carnera would never have lost a single match.

[palooka]

Paul 'Scrap Iron' Ryan was a natural hitter so was Richie Evatt. I remember reading an interview with Peter Culshaw and he said his brother Terry had incredible power; he never had to train and would wreck men with a punch.

In Doncaster the late Darren Lazari had real power, before learning to box he was well known for his punch power. The former professional Robert Harper (who never won a professional bout) knocked the big bag at Brendan Ingles gym from its chain. Former professional Brett Cuffy (boxed as Brett Jonathon) has natural hitting power. In Sheffield Mick Mills had natural power and aggression.

I think real power is an inate talent that has to be developed. True world class hitters are 'freaks' of nature - like Usain Bolt for instance. They come around every 25 or 30 years out of 100's of thousands of participants in their sport. I really don't expect to see a hitter like Julian Jackson for another 10 years though there will be other big punches.

[Asterix]

I miss watching Edwin Valero fight. He was an amazing puncher and waste of huge potential.

[SAPFO]

Booom! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhVi7cH-LaQ


50 1 punch KO's. WTF happened at 2:10? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w00rUYqRJls&feature=fvst

[hurlock]

if puncher's werent born they wouldnt exist D

mickey hughes,wayne alexander,naseem

[lefty]

I think part of it is definitely just 'heavy-handedness' and to be honest that is something you are born with. If you are built with skinny wrists and small hands, no amount of technique or weights is gona make you a one-punch KO artist.

I have skinny wrists but have been told i hit hard!I have a wiry kinda frame aswell.

[lefty]

How do you know these factors determine punching power?

Cos it's simple physics.

guess you'll have to explain the working of that claim to me then...
Rocky Marciano had small hands...or so i've read.

Some people are freakishly strong for their size, some are great distance runner or sprinters. The same principle applies to good punchers.
Two my mates were the same size when we were younger. One boxed for a good few years, the other never laced them up in his life. When we were out and found ourselves confronted by the sorts you seem to meet at chucking out time - it was the non-boxing friend who always seemed to knock them cold. No technique to him.....but devastating punches when he landed.

Its not even strength though i dont think ie alot of these guys would probably lose to people around there own size if it was a test of strength via grappling,etc but in pure punching terms they would would hit much harder than there peers.Anyway punchers are born i think and its something that is very hard to figure out how it works.

[warmachine]

power punching is very complicated and involves alot of factors. I agree that punchers are born then made as I have always had a hard punch from when I was in school but when I learnt proper technique, my punch became so much more powerful. Also despite my size I can run very fast and that means i am mainly fast twitch muscle fibers which helps with explosiveness

[mickey1975]

power punching is very complicated and involves alot of factors. I agree that punchers are born then made as I have always had a hard punch from when I was in school but when I learnt proper technique, my punch became so much more powerful. Also despite my size I can run very fast and that means i am mainly fast twitch muscle fibers which helps with explosiveness

What is your pb over 100m,Larry?

[warmachine]

10.7 mate

[Deserter]

10.7 mate

Slacker ;;-)

[Deserter]

10.7 mate

Larry, my atttempt at lame joke aside,one question for you:
As fans of boxing we can all appreciate just how good Floyd Mayweather Jr is in relation to a British-class fighter - as a former sprinter, how do you view Usain Bolt? I don't know anything about sprinting from a technical perspective, but he just seems like a complete phenomenon - i mean, 10.7 is seriously fast, but he's another second inside that... how is that to comprehend from the perspective of someone who actually understands the 'mechanics' of sprinting?

[warmachine]

Usain Bolt is a freak of nature. he has the legspeed of a much shorter man and then with his stride length. He really is awesome