Just crossed my mind, what an underrated punch it really is. Just recently both Bernard Hopkins and Arturo Gatti won two of their biggest fights with this punch ( Over oscar and Dorin respectively ).
Marco A Barrera lives and dies by this shot and Juilo C Chavez in his prime used to cause all sort of mayham with it.
The old boxing expression is the punch that KO`s you is the one you don`t see coming and the left hook to the body is certainly in this catagory.
Apart from being a KO punch it also works as a wear down shot, to weaken an opponent for later in the fight.
Out of interest does anyone know any big fights apart from the ones i mentioned that were ended with this shot?

i love throwin the left hook to the body... 1 2 to the top and end it with that hook to the body...

i love throwin the left hook to the body... 1 2 to the top and end it with that hook to the body...
Evander employed this combo to Riddick Bowe in their second fight to great effect. Throwing the one - two convinces the opponent to either defend or counter over the top so the left hook to the body is not prepared for. Simular with Oscar Vs Hopkins last year. Hopkins was loading up with right hands over the top then BANG! Hook to the body and over!

The left hook downstairs was Ricardo "Finito" Lopez favorite punch, he mastered this punch and did a lot of damage with it.

Johnny Tapia kayoed Cesar Soto with the very same punch.

Johnny Tapia kayoed Cesar Soto with the very same punch.

Sure did.

And the best left hook to the body award goes to Micky Ward IMO. He has hurt so many fighters in the past with that punch, that I lost count. He bombed the hell out of Steve Quinones with that punch, and knocked him out in the first round with it. He is a ****ing master when it comes to body punching, and Quinonez also said he had trouble training after receiving it. Shea Neary, and Emanuel Augustus recieved it the hard way also. He brutalized Emmanuel with that same punch at least 75 times.

The suprising thing.....was his fight with Judah. He landed the left hook to the body a couple of times, and it did not even seem to phase him. I suppose physical conditioning plays a serious role in taking that punch. I dont think people can simply "Take it to the body, or not". That might come with building muscles in the torso, or your relative position when you recieve the punch. Micky Ward would make an excellent mob cronie who jumps people when they enter their house.

Fat T sends his regards....followed by the left hook to the liver.

Gerry Cooney had a nasty left hook to the body. Nasty Nasty Nasty.

An excellent fight to watch which shows the left hook being mastered is Barrera Vs Richie Wenton from 1998 ( on Hamed/McCullough undercard ).
Wenton wasn`t top flight but you see how the left hook just drains the will and fight out of a man, brutal!

The left hook to the body is more damaging when the person receiving it is exhaling at the time of impact.

The suprising thing.....was his fight with Judah. He landed the left hook to the body a couple of times, and it did not even seem to phase him.

Actually, I saw Judah interviewed a few years ago (before the Tszyu fight) and he said a Ward left hook to the body in the 11th round of their fight was the worst he had been hurt in his entire career to that point.


Good call on Ward though. He had one of the best left hooks to the body of all time.

<img src=http://www.boxing-pics.com/Arturo_Gatti-Mickey_Ward_I/Ward092.jpg>

[QUOTE=Kimmy]
Marco A Barrera lives and dies by this shot.

Barrera KO'd Luiz Freitas [Acelinos brother] in the very first round, it was the only power punch of the fight.

the left hook to the body is devastatign cuase what is on the right side of your body? your liver, the largest internal organ. here some info on the liver after u read it think about how it must be to get hit there while its doign this.


Where is the liver located in the body?

Your liver, the largest internal organ in the body, is located in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen, immediately under the diaphragm.

What does your liver do?

The liver is a complex chemical factory that works 24 hours a day. Virtually all the blood returning from the intestinal tract to the heart passes through the liver. This means everything you swallow that is absorbed into the bloodstream passes through the liver.

Your liver is a complex organ that is essential to life. You simply cannot live without it. Specifically, your liver helps you by:

Cleansing blood:
metabolizing alcohol and other drugs and chemicals
neutralizing and destroying poisonous substances
Regulating the supply of body fuel:
producing, storing and supplying quick energy (glucose) to keep the mind alert and the body active
producing, storing and exporting fat
Manufacturing many essential body proteins involved in:
transporting substances in the blood
clotting of blood
providing resistance to infection
Producing bile which eliminates toxic substances from the body and aids digestion

Regulating the balance of many hormones:
sex hormones
thyroid hormones
cortisone and other adrenal hormones
Regulating body cholesterol by producing it, excreting it, and converting it to other essential substances

Regulating the supply of essential vitamins and minerals such as iron and copper

Performing literally hundreds of other specific functions!

Didnt foreman or Lampley always say that if he could take any 'weapon' to the next life it would be a good left hook to the body?

lamply said it. i forgot what fight though, wasnt it a barrera or DLH fight?

Im pretty sure he said it at any fight that ended with a hook to the body. Well that may be an exaguration but Ive heard him say it multiple times.

wards money punch

wards money punch



damn straight!!!! if done right ( with enough force )it can do PERMANENT DAMAGE to the liver. ****in' A!

If you put Ward's left hook on a better fighter, that person could have a great career. He throws that punch beautifully. There's something perfect in the way he does it. I like a good bodyshot KO.

If you put Ward's left hook on a better fighter, that person could have a great career. He throws that punch beautifully. There's something perfect in the way he does it. I like a good bodyshot KO.



what was perfect about ward's liver shot was that he believes in it, when he threw that ****er he committed totally to that punch and put everything he had into it, cause he knew it was gonna save his ass

Didn't James Toney put down Evander Holyfield with a left hook to the body???

what was perfect about ward's liver shot was that he believes in it, when he threw that ****er he committed totally to that punch and put everything he had into it, cause he knew it was gonna save his ass

A lot of Ward's punching looked a bit awkward and unskilled. But that body shot was perfect, as if that was the only way his arms and body could move properly. You're probably right about him committing to that punch more than others. Good way of looking at it.

Yeah Ward was a monster with that liver shot, Judah was visibly hurt by one late in his fight vs. Ward, he covered his abdomen with both arms and bent down at the waist. Carmen Basilio also had a very good hook to the body, but he was a somewhat more balanced banger than Ward. Don't forget Tyson's left hook to the body/left hook or left uppercut to the head combination, nasty stuff lol

how about Kostya Tszyu taking out Hurtado....he took him out with some wicked left hooks to the body.

A well-executed left hook to the body is the most beautiful sight to see in a fight.... especially when you see a fighter end a combo with it, or mix it in between the combo.

miguel cotto uses it alot. i think the left hook also needs to be carefully timed so that you aren't countered when you throw it. It's hard to setup, and then difficult again to perform. But if it connects, it also opens your opponent to headshots. Personally, I think it must be used in a combo. You can't just wing it out of nowhere. You use it during a firefight and commit enough to it, or else your opponent wont feel it and he'll hit you in the head right as you're recovering that arm.

Roy Jones had those monster left uppercuts to the body where he completely rotated his body and torso into the punch. They probably weren't as hard as Gatti and Ward's but I remember him doing a couple of these to Toney, Hopkins, and Glenn Kelly. Looked cool, especially when leading with them. Gatti's knockout of Dorin was perfect, one two upstairs then a left hook with as much power as he had.