How Important Is Punching Power?

[keithmoonhangover]

I fighter I know is know has had a handfull of fights and has yet to score a knockout, which got me to thinking.... How important is punching power? There's a few different aspects to the question....

How important is it to the fighter? My logic being that if he doesn't have knockout power, then he can mostly only expect to win on points.

How important is it to the promoter? KO's put bums on seats would be my first thought, but Paul Malignaggi is a very marketable guy.

What do you think folks?

[Spiker]

TBH and i only speak for myself.
Boxers without punching power bore the crap out of me.
I watch boxing for pure excitement and although a well schooled boxer is good, a well schooled boxer with a punch is better.

[JDC]

Certainly helps earn your opponents respect.

[el_grande_mauro_mina]

TBH and i only speak for myself.
Boxers without punching power bore the crap out of me.
I watch boxing for pure excitement and although a well schooled boxer is good, a well schooled boxer with a punch is better.

Obviously never watched Niccolino Locche!

[jamesmcdonnell]

depends what else you've got.

[Exoddus]

If you have punching power. You're always in with a chance. No matter how badly the fights going or what round you're in with how many points you're behind.

It also puts fighters off in fear of getting knocked out. Nigel Benn is a good example. Even when he was badly hurt the opponent was still worried of going in, all guns blazing. In fear of getting knocked out themselves.

[Emmseegee]

Definitely depends what other skills are in the locker, theres been many fighters who have been exciting without really having single punch knockout power. Some fighters workrate and accuracy makes them exciting because they wear people down and stop them with an accumulation of punches. There are of course other guys with pillow fists who just dont seem to put a dent in anyone! Lol

[Ezzard]

Sometimes, depending on the fighter, it can end up being detrimental. Some fighters stop continuing to learn and just rely on their power. Start to believe their own hype. And when their opponent doesn’t fold early they can become frustrated and unable to adapt.

Generally though punching power is what we love.

Some guys just seem to have heavy hands. They hit opponents on the top of the head and KO them.

Then there are others who deliver a speedy and accurate shot. Accuracy is often overlooked.

[dondada]

You have to be truly, truly special to get to the really top level without a dig.

Not concussive power necessarily but you do need to be able to offer a threat or back someone up.

My dad (who was, I suspect, a particularly uncultured amateur boxer - and a PTI in the Army and also in the Paras so very fit) used to tell me once he'd shipped a cracking shot from the other bloke - probably after a few seconds knowing him - if it had no effect he'd just go hell for leather after him and win a lot of his contests on fitness.

See Buckland v Truscott for a recent example (I'm being very simplistic, I know).

[ShadrachSimmo]

Fernando David Saucedo went something like 40 fights before he got a stoppage win and eventually fought(and lost) for a world title. It's something you dont see very often at the top level a fighter without a decent dig.

[damianhucker1]

If a guy has no power but is a slick boxer its still easy enough for a toughguy opponent to upset them or at least give them a tough night as they will have no fear of walking through the punches hoping to land something big themselves , but its up to the managers/promotors to not put them in that sort of situation in the first place .

[Ketchel]

Wayne McCullough was no banger but that did not stop him from being exciting. Workrate and chin were enough to deter punchers Morales and Hamed from trying to walk through him.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Sometimes, depending on the fighter, it can end up being detrimental. Some fighters stop continuing to learn and just rely on their power. Start to believe their own hype. And when their opponent doesn’t fold early they can become frustrated and unable to adapt.

Generally though punching power is what we love.

Some guys just seem to have heavy hands. They hit opponents on the top of the head and KO them.

Then there are others who deliver a speedy and accurate shot. Accuracy is often overlooked.

Precisely. Power at the upper echelons of the sport can become a burden, because it is so hard to catch the top level guys with flush shots that they dont see coming, as their defences are tighter, their reflexes finer tuned, and their awareness that much more acute.

Nigel Benn was destroying everyone in his path until he met Michael Watson - and we all know what happened there, when he met someone with a cultured defence for the first time. Nige had to go back to the drawing board and go and train in America to learn some new wrinkles to his game - and came back a better fighter for it. He still had the power, but had a better defence and a slightly craftier edge to his game.

Speed and Accuracy combined with just enough power can get just as many results.

[dohboy]

KO power is the game changer. You don't have to have it to be top level but it certainly helps. Without that power you are pretty much one dimensional

[RonnieTheSharkClark]

It's not the big powerful shot that knocks people out its the punch they don't see :)

From a fighters point of view, if he knocks everyone out he won't get fights!!! Although the paying public love a KO, the promoters and managers ain't to proud of it ;)

[Deserter]

KO power is the game changer. You don't have to have it to be top level but it certainly helps. Without that power you are pretty much one dimensional

Ironically it's normally those with KO power who become one dimensional, not the other way round - fighters fall in love with their power and neglect their skills e.g. Hamed, Honeyghan.

What I find interesting is the distinction between genuine one-punch KO power and those fighters who are regarded as 'heavy-handed' e.g. Julio Cesar Chavez and Roberto Duran rarely KO'ed fighters clean with a single shot, but were still able to hurt their opponents with thudding shots. I remember Danny Williams saying something similar about Vitali K - every single shot was a 'hurter'.

[keithmoonhangover]

Sometimes, depending on the fighter, it can end up being detrimental. Some fighters stop continuing to learn and just rely on their power. Start to believe their own hype. And when their opponent doesn’t fold early they can become frustrated and unable to adapt.

Generally though punching power is what we love.

Some guys just seem to have heavy hands. They hit opponents on the top of the head and KO them.

Then there are others who deliver a speedy and accurate shot. Accuracy is often overlooked.

Precisely. Power at the upper echelons of the sport can become a burden, because it is so hard to catch the top level guys with flush shots that they dont see coming, as their defences are tighter, their reflexes finer tuned, and their awareness that much more acute.

Nigel Benn was destroying everyone in his path until he met Michael Watson - and we all know what happened there, when he met someone with a cultured defence for the first time. Nige had to go back to the drawing board and go and train in America to learn some new wrinkles to his game - and came back a better fighter for it. He still had the power, but had a better defence and a slightly craftier edge to his game.

Speed and Accuracy combined with just enough power can get just as many results.

I hear you Jamie, but if you don't have KO power (the person I mentioned in my OP is now 6-0 with 0 KO's) then you can really only win on points - where as, your opponent can win by KO or on points.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Well it depends how little power someone has - i think a lot of power is about timing, as much as it is raw power, it's the shots that come from nowhere that really do a fighter in, for all his brute strength, Tyson's real menace came from his incredible hand speed, he could hit someone with three shots before they knew what was happening, and that will really fornicate you up.

[Brute]

Accuracy is as important as power. An old pug I trained with once told me "it is not as important to hit him hard as it is to hit him proper."

You can brace yourself for the big shot, but it is the one you don't see coming that will do you in.

[stevieb_8006]

i'd love to hear some of the pro's that post on here chip in on this subject. Derry Matthews and Bomber are both hard punchers, be interesting to hear if they feel they've ever been "seduced" by their own power to the detriment of their overall game and whether its damaged or enhanced their careers.