A lot of people believe that punching power is just something you are born with. Or that if you are a bigger, stronger person, you should be able to throw more powerful punches. Neither of these are necessarily true.
Yes, some are born with more natural abilities than others. Sometimes the body mechanics will just click with some faster than they will with others. In fact, I would argue that the latter is actually the case when it comes to someone thinking they are born with power. It is much more likely that it's not this natural raw power, it's a natural grasp of the body mechanics that go into generating power. As I have said many times, boxing is a full-body exercise. You don't throw punches with your hands or arms, you throw it with your whole body. There is a particular rhythm and shifting of weight and explosive acceleration that can be learned and taught. Plenty of power strikers in boxing and mixed martial arts didn't necessarily start off that way. They learned the skills, they practiced the skills repeatedly, and they committed to improvement.
It is also true that force still equals mass times acceleration so having more mass can translate to power but it definitely does not inherently. A muscle-bound giant throwing a slow, looping punch will not only be very easy to dodge but even if it does land, will not nearly hurt as much as an explosive, whipping punch delivered by someone smaller than you. Plus, just because the mass is there doesn't mean it is being utilized. Proper punches teach us how to utilize every ounce of our own body's weight and translate into power, regardless of how much weight there is to convert.
The perfect example of technique over size is Jack Dempsey. One of the all-time greatest boxers who dominated the heavyweight division despite fighting at under 190 pounds. He (literally) wrote the book on how to generate power using his entire body. Rocky Marciano also more than dominated the heavyweight division for years, retiring with a perfect 49-0, despite weighing 185 pounds. In both cases, Dempsey and Marciano were not even heavyweights and today, would fight in other divisions. In their times though, heavyweights were the only class that most people cared about (and could make money from) so both guys were forced to figure out a way to match the power of larger men.
But there have always been smaller fighters who ruled their divisions through power punching too. As I write this in December 2022, I would say the greatest pound-for-pound boxers is Naoya Inoue. He has fought as light as 108 pounds up to 118 pounds. And 105 is the MINIMUM weight any boxer is even allowed! Not a big guy at all. Yet he finished most of his fights. By knockouts! Through vicious, powerful shots, mainly to the body. I wouldn't consider him a freak of nature either. His technique is flawless and his pressure and set-ups are pitch perfect as well.
Of course one thing these people have in common besides having amazing punching power, especially for their smaller size, is that they are champion boxers. High-level athletes who trained their whole lives to ascend to the top of their sport. So sure, that is all well and good for them but what about us regular folks? Regular folks can do this too. We have a member of our club, Kaleigh, who is smaller than Inoue but throws more powerful punches than most large men. And I am not just saying that to mean she hits hard for a gal her size either. She hits hard for ANYONE! You would be hurt if you ran into one of her hooks, no matter who you are. Kaleigh is certainly strong too but her power comes from proper body mechanics, acceleration and timing. These are all trainable skills that you can master too!
I work mainly with people who are relatively new to boxing. A lot of them are just doing it for the workout and I have met many who use that as a mental road block not to get better. "I'm not a boxer so I don't need to learn how to throw more powerful punches or other skills that take me out of my comfort zone,” are sentiments I know plenty of folks have. While it is true that they may never hit as hard as Dempsey, Marciano, Inoue or even Kaleigh, that does not mean they can't hit harder and more effectively than they currently do. They can get better, you can get better, I can get better, and we all can ALWAYS get better. Never let anyone ever tell you otherwise, especially not your own self!
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