The REAL Reasons why some people punch harder

[crimsonfalcon07]

GGG also had monster forearms. His forearm workout was insane. And he wasn’t a fast twitch puncher, he was a consistent thudder of a workhorse.

I don’t know why that would improve punch power though, maybe it made for a more solid, compact punch? Stronger, firmer grip, and extra turnover at the end of the punch?

IMO, GGG was improving his power from being physically dense from the mass portion of the equation, and improving force transfer by making his structure solid. He used a lot of looping shots, and those are responsible for many wrist injuries for boxers. Having strong wrists allows you to punch harder, just as subconsciously fighters punch harder with gloves than bare knuckle.

He wasn't slow either, and his structure was excellent so his force transfer into the target was very thudding, as you say, and wasn't absorbed into his own structure. He was generally in balance and many of his strikes, particularly his jab, landed just as billeau2 describes above. And, of course, he was very accurate and had great pressure. He was more than just power. I personally think he's really underrated here. Guy was a monster in his prime, and even out of prime, never got so much as dropped, even fighting top guys like Ginger.

[Butt stuff]

IMO, GGG was improving his power from being physically dense from the mass portion of the equation, and improving force transfer by making his structure solid. He used a lot of looping shots, and those are responsible for many wrist injuries for boxers. Having strong wrists allows you to punch harder, just as subconsciously fighters punch harder with gloves than bare knuckle.

He wasn't slow either, and his structure was excellent so his force transfer into the target was very thudding, as you say, and wasn't absorbed into his own structure. He was generally in balance and many of his strikes, particularly his jab, landed just as billeau2 describes above. And, of course, he was very accurate and had great pressure. He was more than just power. I personally think he's really underrated here. Guy was a monster in his prime, and even out of prime, never got so much as dropped, even fighting top guys like Ginger.

Yeah the way he flung off hooks from odd angles. He also disguised his power really well the way he would be tapping his opponent everywhere and sneaking in heavy punches.

Loved watching interviews of former opponents talking about what made him so difficult to go up against. Martin Murray’s was a really interesting one, I’ll see if I can find it.

I really wish he started the pros earlier and eventually had a move up to 168. I think him vs Froch would’ve been fantastic.

[billeau2]

100%. Bad structure is such a big problem for many fighters. I see many, even at high levels, who hit with lots of power, but it then gets absorbed by their poor structure. Even really high level MMA coaches like Trevor Wittman (who's a very good coach, don't get me wrong), put out the occasional video in which they throw, say, a cross and have the ends of their toes on the rear foot dragging across the ground.

Another big advantage to the timing you mentioned earlier is that you get the gravitational acceleration of your body mass participating in the strike, which can increase power in significant ways. Inoue is very consistent at landing his shots in that way, which probably contributes to his "monstrous" power.

What kills me is that there are many wonderful works on hitting etc, but Dempsey's Tome still really acts as a kind of final word on the subject lol. I admire jack more for that book than even his boxing lol. Great comments I agree. Dragging... or letting the weight settle too quickly, slowly... Not sinking the mass, flairing the elbows, tensing the shoulders, bending the wrists... oy vay! people do it all.

[billeau2]

did willders power get su-cked into another dimension when he fought top fighters? people say power is the last thing to go but wilder proves that wrong

Wilder was so shot by the time he fought Zhang he could not even let a shot go. He had zero confidance or ability to even throw a punch... Fury is a top fighter just not in your bizarro land where Wallin and Wach and Kubrev are ten times the talent of fighters like Stiverne and Jennings...

[billeau2]

wilder has a 25 percent ko percentage against top 10(ring) ranked opponents. people just fell for the obvious grift of matching him super soft and the obvious marketing ploy of labeling him the hardest puncher ever or some other nonsense. when you look at it the only ranked guy he ko'd was a 40 year old ortiz so even that isnt super impressive but lets give him credit for that i suppose, oh yeah and some opponents like malik scott took clear dives so that makes you question what was going on

How many "top fighters" are in the division? Are you talking about your own bizarro rankings? Wilder was one of a handful of fighters to fight a "top" fighter, so that makes like one fighter... Fury. Your idea of top is subjective BS and alphabet soup...

[billeau2]

GGG also had monster forearms. His forearm workout was insane. And he wasn’t a fast twitch puncher, he was a consistent thudder of a workhorse.

I don’t know why that would improve punch power though, maybe it made for a more solid, compact punch? Stronger, firmer grip, and extra turnover at the end of the punch?

having grip strength, hand size figure in to many aspects of power... A rock climber has incredibly useful strength because of their hands and finger strength. So for example, when you decrease the size of an object generating force, you increase the power per the area being attacked... A strong well trained hand, or finger can strike a target with concentrated force compared to a fist and cause much more penetration and damage. A rock climber can probably (I am speaking out my bhole here lol) literally put a finger through your solar plexus area (the zyphoid sternum bone breaks with 30 pounds of direct pressure), a martial artist with no gloves can often (I can do this) strike with only one knuckle on a fist...

My point being, these are all related to forearm, wrist strength and hand size.

[ELPacman]

It's a real simple equation. Strength+Speed=Power.
Though you need to break down what equals strength and how you get speed.

You can't have only 1 and expect power. You need both. Look at fast guys that are just that. They're fast, but don't have strength, so they don't hit hard. I imagine a guy like Paulie Malinaggi who had decent hand speed but probably couldn't lift weights if his life depended on it.

Now you also can't have a guy who can lift a house, but then throws a punch at 1mph. He ain't knocking out nobody if his punch is in slow motion. Barring a fighter running into his fists head first, it just isn't happening.

So then you ask, well, how does one have speed or acquire strength? I believe some of it is genetic makeup, some of it is the strengthening of tendons and your structure based on exercises or routines you did growing up. Things you may have done and not realized could have contributed.

An easy idea of what I mean with tendons, shoulder injuries! I speak from experience. If you never had one, you don't know what it's like when you no longer have full control over the coordination and speed you want to throw your arm out. It's like, you have 50% control over your arm and no matter how hard you try it ain't happening. You've lost connectivity with your arm. It sucks, but it is what it is.

Now I imagine dudes who lack speed, are some what the feeling of a shoulder injury. They have limited connectivity with their arm. Whether it be genetics, injury, whatever. I'm not saying shoulders are the only part that plays into throwing it fast. Biceps help retract it quick, triceps can help with the force throwing it out, everything is connected and working in unison, however if any of those are lacking, it can degrade your speed.

[real raw]

It's been my observations through years of watching boxing, is that punching "hard", is more a matter of technique, rather than physical attributes.

[Butt stuff]

having grip strength, hand size figure in to many aspects of power... A rock climber has incredibly useful strength because of their hands and finger strength. So for example, when you decrease the size of an object generating force, you increase the power per the area being attacked... A strong well trained hand, or finger can strike a target with concentrated force compared to a fist and cause much more penetration and damage. A rock climber can probably (I am speaking out my bhole here lol) literally put a finger through your solar plexus area (the zyphoid sternum bone breaks with 30 pounds of direct pressure), a martial artist with no gloves can often (I can do this) strike with only one knuckle on a fist...

My point being, these are all related to forearm, wrist strength and hand size.

I’m actually a climber, I’m pretty obsessed with it to the point I’m not as interested in boxing as much these days. But my forearm gains since climbing has been insane, I have popeye forearms now, when they’ve historically been quite skinny.

And yeah a climber could do serious damage to you with a finger to the body for sure. The muscle/tension you build on your fingers and forearms is wild.

[BirdSong]

And yeah a climber could do serious damage to you with a finger to the body for sure. The muscle/tension you build on your fingers and forearms is wild.

u couild damn well tickle someone to death!!! lol