Boxing - Right Hook?

[Reyaj]

What does anyone here who boxes or is knowledgeable think about the right hook punch?

I am an orthodox figher who is just learning the art, and this naturally seems to be my strongest punch.

However I'm worried because I never hear of this being a knockout punch, or even a punch that's thrown from an orthodox figher when I watch proboxing.

The punches that seem to knock people are either the left hook, or the right cross.

Is the right hook a punch that shouldn't be thrown by an orthodox figher?

I could have sworn I see oscar de la hoya use the left hook, right hook combo and he is fighting aggressively. However he knocks people out with the left hook.

So basically again, is the right hook a punch that is thrown by a right handed fighter?

 

[CLOONEY]

It is a punch that is practically NEVER thrown by a right handed fighter. Only wild brawlers use it. It can only be used on the inside. Use it occassionally when you are throwing combinations or flurries on the inside, but not often.

 

[Phoenix_of_the_ashes]

Dont think of your right hook as your strongest punch. If you think that then it probably means that your other punches arent good enough yet.

 

[Shiftkey]

It's kind of an awkward punch once you learn the basics. I'm not sure why though.

 

[manuva]

A right hook is a brawlers punch.

Work on your left hook (as an orthodox boxer). A well thrown left hook is poetry in motion, and one of the most lethal punches in any good fighters repertoire.

A good right cross is essential of course, but there's nothing better - and more devastating - than following your strong right cross with a shattering left hook.

 

[Bible_Belt]

Every punch has a place, but some of them leave you more defenseless than others. The right hook can work if your opponent is already off-balance from another punch - either one that you landed or he missed.

David Tua is a fighter who is famous for his hooks, although mostly his left.

wikipedia, "punches" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Punches

 

[MuayThai]

Right hook is pretty much only used when finishing off a covering opponent, this is probley the only time they won't see it comming. And it's good for moking an opponent if thier tired or too slow.

 

[youknowtherest]

^^^ MuayThai knows his stuff. I want to add just from personal experience -- I had a brief and not-too-illustrious amateur career in my 20's.

The right hook is, naturally, a very powerful punch for an orthodox fighter. The problem with it is, it has a long way to travel and a lot of arc so it's fairly easy to intercept or slip.

A knockout punch does not have to be a forceful one -- it's all about shot placement and getting a clean hit to a nerve center. The left hook is the typical knockout punch for an orthodox fighter because it's usually used as the finishing move for a combo that will have moved the defender's guard out of position, thus getting a clean connection to the jaw, temple, chin, liver, or other KO-inducing spot.

EDIT: Good luck getting a KO with headgear on, BTW. You can wail on his melon with your heaviest punches and hope to eventually get a TKO, but if you want those KO's next to your amateur record (and they look SO cool!) go for the body.

 

[Reyaj]

Thanks everyone. I guess I shouldn't focus on the right hook so much. Everything all of you said makes sense, and I will work more on my left hook as it follows my sick right cross.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J_BKwsertk

If anyone is interested. Its Felix Sturm getting ko'd by Javier Castillejo. It looks like Castillejo used the right hook for the first knockdown. Although it is rare to see this, I agree.

 

[youknowtherest]

Check out Tyson vs. Savarerse for a textbook left hook KO. It's not a heavy punch at all -- comparitively -- but it's clean on the temple. You can almost see the little birds tweeting around Savarese's head. They engage one more time but the ref stops it b/c Savarese is speaking in tongues at that point.

 

[MyWay]

Gimme a long uppercut... Nah I'm a lleft hooker myself as well... I sometimes do a right one, when my right foot is standing in front, alltough I prefer a left kick then (but not when doing boxing of course hehe).

 

[MrS]

It's not a very popular hook to throw for an orthodox fighter.

As CLOONEY said, it's not an effective outside punch.

 

[Reyaj]

definitely... everything you all said is on the money

I've now noticed it being used at close range once in a while in flurries, but its definitely not a good idea...

Ricardo Mayorga did knock out Vernon Forrest who is an atypical boxer along with 6 heads lewis.... so sometimes a brawler can win I suppose.

 

[SELF-MASTERY]

boxing??? real men brawl

 

[youknowtherest]

Jayer, I was thinking about this some more. If you can find video of Rocky Marciano, he had a two-fisted, brawling style that used a short right hook a lot. He, however, was by no means a textbook fighter. He averaged 80 punches per round -- most modern heavyweights average 40 -- and he threw every punch like he meant to kill you with it, lots of hip twisting and throwing of his weight behind his punches. He literally just battered his opponents and broke them up inside until they couldn't go on. Most heavyweights don't have the endurance to do this for ten rounds -- in point of fact, nobody since Marciano has managed to pull this off -- so nobody fights this way these days. But he had a very effective right hook -- he'd get right in your face and throw it point-blank.

 

[Bible_Belt]

He was a tough guy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Marciano

Rocky had a professional record of 49-0 with forty-three knockouts.

...After being dropped in round one, Marciano got up and knocked Walcott out in the thirteenth round

After having his nose split in round six of the rematch, Marciano retained the title with an eighth-round knockout win.

and, in his last bout, Marciano got up off the canvas in round two to retain his title by a knockout in nine against the equally-legendary Light-Heavyweight Champion of the World Archie Moore

 

[CLOONEY]

definitely... everything you all said is on the money

I've now noticed it being used at close range once in a while in flurries, but its definitely not a good idea...

Ricardo Mayorga did knock out Vernon Forrest who is an atypical boxer along with 6 heads lewis.... so sometimes a brawler can win I suppose.

There have been HEAPS of great brawlers.

Check out Henry Armstrong. The man was perpetual motion for a reason! He just put his head down and kept on walking, had one of the highest punch outputs in history (due to an abnormally slow heart beat) and held the featherweight, lightweight and welterweight titles, AT THE SAME TIME.

But I would not say Forrest is a good boxer, he has a very sloppy jab and not much head movement, he is not that hard to hit. He is more of a boxer-puncher. Pernell Whitaker, Floyd Mayweather Jr, Bernard Hopkins, these are your atypical boxers.

 

[CLOONEY]

Jayer, I was thinking about this some more. If you can find video of Rocky Marciano, he had a two-fisted, brawling style that used a short right hook a lot. He, however, was by no means a textbook fighter. He averaged 80 punches per round -- most modern heavyweights average 40 -- and he threw every punch like he meant to kill you with it, lots of hip twisting and throwing of his weight behind his punches. He literally just battered his opponents and broke them up inside until they couldn't go on. Most heavyweights don't have the endurance to do this for ten rounds -- in point of fact, nobody since Marciano has managed to pull this off -- so nobody fights this way these days. But he had a very effective right hook -- he'd get right in your face and throw it point-blank.

Have you seen Marciano? He did not look impressive to me. And one could very well critisize his record. He beat an old Walcott, and lightheavyweights in Charles and Moore. He was a great fighter, but overrated simply because he never lost a fight. That being said, he was a very nice man.

But there have been men able to throw endless punches in the heavyweight division since Marciano. Frazier for one! The man was a machine and he fought over 15 rounds as well.

 

[Reyaj]

I always thought Vernon had one of the best jabs out there. Thats how be beat Mosley's speed.

Marciano beat the best opposition he could... so I always feel its unfair to criticize him. The same can be said of Larry Holmes.

 

[Reyaj]

It looks like Chuck Lidell uses this punch quite often...