Unsurprisingly a pro boxer's punch carries a heavy weight — just how heavy is pretty surprising though:
Researchers at the University of Manchester in England were curious about just how much force a top boxer can generate with a punch. So they enlisted local boxer Ricky Hatton, an undefeated 28 year old light welterweight and welterweight world champ. And they had him hit a 30 kilogram punching bag with sensors attached.The results should make any spectators who figure they could last a while in the ring with a pro think again. Because Ricky Hatton, who’s nickname is The Hitman, generated a force of about 400 kilograms. An average person with no boxing training can generate only about one tenth that much force with a punch.
Slow motion video found that Hatton could typically generate punch speeds of 25 miles per hour, with one blow reaching 32 mph. The best punch speed that one of the researchers could achieve was about 15 miles per hour.
I guess there’s the question of whether a researcher is in fact average in punching power, or much, much weaker. Anyway, a factor of 10 is a big factor.
By the way, welterweight is between light and medium — just 152 lbs — so Hatton is not a big guy.
And, of course, 400 kilograms is not a measure of force — but we know what they mean.