Expert: Jack Rose - 2/8/2007

Question
Hi there Jack...

1. Who has the top 10 strongest punches in boxing history?
(I've heard from someone in school that when Lennox Lewis was fighting against Evander Hollywood he recorded the strongest punch through the punch machine. Like in Rocky 4)

2. How do you increase your punching power without loosing speed? Example 1: Punching power of Mike Tyson and the punching speed of Mohammad Ali. Example 2: Arnold Schwarzenegger's power and the speed of Bruce Lee. Or is that not possible to have speed and power together?

Answer
Hi Steve, I would have to put Lennox in there. Holyfield is also in there even though he fought at 208 his punches are so techincally sound that he generates a lot of power for his size... I would also say Tyson, James "bonecrusher" Smith, Thomas Hearns, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Foreman, Hagler, Duran.... not necessarily in that order.

Actually, you don't sacrifice speed at all when you increase power, you should be generating more speed. Speed should equal power. If you are fast but have no power then something is mechanically wrong. It usually means you are not getting your body invloved. The rotation of your body during a punch is where most of the power comes from. You also get power from having more muscle. Muscle is usable energy, it doesn't mean you have to be muscular, it means you have to be lean which normally translates to less than 12% bodyfat (unless your a heavyweight). Start at the mirror and work on your form before moving over to the bag. Your trunk and shoulders should rotate as fast as possible with each punch. It is important to keep the elbow tucked in on the straight punches and roll your fist over during the punch so it flattens out at the end, then reverse it coming back. Follow thru but don't lean forward, keep your feet under you and spread apart.As soon as you follow thru, jerk the punch back to starting position as quickly as possible.
It's really all about mechanics and getting your body to coordinate with your punches. Anyone can be fast and also have power. The reason they are not is because when they first started training, their technic was off and it was never corrected. So they train this same way for years and there body gets so used to it they end up fighting this way for the rest of their career.

thanks for the question and best of luck !

Jack