LETTER OF THE WEEK
THE ‘puncher vs boxer’ question came up again while watching the Conor Benn-Jussi Koivula fight this past Friday ( June 21). Koivula looked to be the more proficient boxer but got careless (or underestimated Benn’s power) and then got clipped in the second round, which completely changed the fight. Had Benn not had one-punch power, I think he would’ve probably been taken the distance. This made me think in general about who would come out on top in the ‘puncher vs boxer’ debate. I realise this is an emotive subject for boxing fans, but here is my take: Using the heavyweights as an example, we have three types of elite fighters in the mix – punchers (eg. Deontay Wilder), boxers (eg. Tyson Fury) and boxer-punchers (eg. Anthony Joshua). My initial thought was that Wilder would come out on top maybe seven out of 10 times, even though he’s probably the worst technically. Ergo, an OK boxer with elite power would win. However, this is where things get complicated!
Can a boxer increase his power to elite level? Fury, in his last bout against Tom Schwarz, was obviously trying things out to improve his power and it did seem to work. Imagine a Fury who is both elite boxer and elite puncher – he would be pretty much untouchable. But can he really produce elite power? Similarly, can Joshua improve as a boxer to match his punch-power? Has Andy Ruiz Jnr really got the elite power to match his skills?