By Michael Hunnicutt
Great punchers are born, and in some cases made. No matter how proficient the balance, leverage, follow-through a boxer may or may not have; unless born with the rare ability to hit hard with terrific force, that said boxer will never be able to hit with extraordinary force. Conversely, no boxer ever walked into a gym and was ever to hit as hard as any man of his weight in the world unless certain abilities are very well honed. The boxer may be a “real” banger” but will never develop into a puncher of frightening power.
There are two gauges that some may use to help determine a boxer’s power that does need greater exploration. Both a boxer’s knockout percentage (KO %), as well as his weight have been held as fairly accurate indicators of all boxer’s punching power.
It is the object of this article to try to put both KO % and weight in a more objective and balanced frame of reference, as well as to investigate further into various factors in regards to great punching power.