BOMBING FOR FUN

Jose "Pipino" Cuevas was a bomber's bomber. You either GOT the 1970's welterweight (Tommy Hearns and Roberto Duran) or he got you (in his prime just about everyone else). And the thirteen guys he fought to win the title and then defend were no joke. Eleven of them were ranked. He KO'd twelve of those thirteen. And often he didn't just KO them. Cuevas was notorious for breaking jaws, noses, orbital bone and knocking out teeth. Pipino was a world champion at 18. That makes him one of only 6-7 men in history who were teenage champions.

There was nothing fancy about Cuevas' approach. But that doesn't mean he wasn't skilled. Look for three things in the following video:

1. The leverage he gets on his punches. The legs fully extended and on his toes at impact. Perfect.
2. The way he moves around the guy after he hits him once. Look at some of the positions he obtains and see if he reminds you of anyone more recent?
3. How he moves his feet for every punch. Pipino is never stationary and his toes are digging into the canvas. His technique below the waist is textbook. Above the waist not so much

Pipino Cuevas was never boring!

Somone asked Earnie Shavers how he hit so hard. He said of course part of it was just being born with it, but also he says because he use to cut down tons of trees

GrantZilla wrote:Somone asked Earnie Shavers how he hit so hard. He said of course part of it was just being born with it, but also he says because he use to cut down tons of trees

Chopping wood/trees takes lots of torque, lots of hip action and the body moving and exploding as one from toes to fingers. Sounds right to me.

But Ernie, and Pipino were both born to it as well.

Why is it almost always a trade off with power and chin. Almost all the great punchers had butter chins

My theory is punchers don't get hit a lot since got opponents moving backwards and knocking them out. And also tend to leave themselves open for big hits

GrantZilla wrote:Why is it almost always a trade off with power and chin. Almost all the great punchers had butter chins

My theory is punchers don't get hit a lot since got opponents moving backwards and knocking them out. And also tend to leave themselves open for big hits

I just don't think that tradeoff is true. Jeffries, Fitzsimmons, Dempsey, Arguello, Foreman, Louis, Langford, Robinson, Saddler, Olivares, Tyson etc all had very good to extraordinary chins.

However I do think the bold above often happens. Overconfidence of a sort.

Come on Marlb, those guys are mentioned because they are greats or could been greats in Tyson's case.

But how many punchers do we see that soon they get hit, their legs turn to jelly. It's a staple on FNF heh

Or they pull a Victor Ortiz, "I don't like being hit, bro!"

GrantZilla wrote:Come on Marlb, those guys are mentioned because they are greats or could been greats in Tyson's case.

But how many punchers do we see that soon they get hit, their legs turn to jelly. It's a staple on FNF heh

Or they pull a Victor Ortiz, "I don't like being hit, bro!"

Sure some bangers have bad chins, some don't. That's kinda my point. I don't think the two traits are really related. I'd also argue the KO records of FNF level guys are often just a function of the quality of opposition faced to that point. It isn't that those guys are big punchers...it's that they are hitting guys like, well, me!

Victor Ortiz, "Good points, my man. I still don't like being hit, bro!"

GrantZilla wrote:Victor Ortiz, "Good points, my man. I still don't like being hit, bro!"

Are we EVER gonna let him forget that?

I hope not

Good night and thanks for the conversation.

Power in my humble opinion is as innate as throwing a fast ball. The ability to punch hard is a skill that is not taught it is honed.

As far as the big puncher no chin argument: I believe that guys with a huge punch simply do not rely on defensive strategy coming up through the ranks because they can dispose of opponents rather easily with their big punch, therefore leaving themselves more susceptible to being hit when faced with formidable opposition. Big punchers also are more likely to take a chance trying to execute a punch and leaving themselves open to be countered. I don't think because their punch is big their chin is small, I just think that big punchers take more chances and have had to rely on defensive strategy less throughout their careers. They're like home run hitters that strike out a lot, you miss a lot of balls when you swing for the fences.

hardcorebee24 wrote:Power in my humble opinion is as innate as throwing a fast ball. The ability to punch hard is a skill that is not taught it is honed.

As far as the big puncher no chin argument: I believe that guys with a huge punch simply do not rely on defensive strategy coming up through the ranks because they can dispose of opponents rather easily with their big punch, therefore leaving themselves more susceptible to being hit when faced with formidable opposition. Big punchers also are more likely to take a chance trying to execute a punch and leaving themselves open to be countered. I don't think because their punch is big their chin is small, I just think that big punchers take more chances and have had to rely on defensive strategy less throughout their careers. They're like home run hitters that strike out a lot, you miss a lot of balls when you swing for the fences.

That bold is as insightful and well phrased a comment as I've seen here.

marciano had a great chin and punch.shavers did not..bob satterfield had a great punch and weak chin.tony anthony could punch and had a weak chin but also had excellent boxing skills...duran had a great chin and punch and excellent boxing skills.that covers the gamut of all the combinations..some things grant mentioned hold true for some of the time as reasons for sure..another reason is big punchers have had a tendency to be matched with big punchers during the course of there career.
the big puncher-weak chin ive also either noticed or thought about for years whats the reason or reasons.i guess it depends on the fighter which category he falls into..duran and anthony also had fantastic defensive skills.marcianos defensive skills highly underated..some bangers throw away that elimate leaving them vulnerable.
one thing for certain is when you truly have a big puncher with a weak chin your in for a exciting evening.

chevas when he was fighting was one of my favorites.great finisher and puncher both hands to head and body..i didnt realize that he was that young to win the title..

dmar5143 wrote:chevas when he was fighting was one of my favorites.great finisher and puncher both hands to head and body..i didnt realize that he was that young to win the title..

Looking back it is shocking that he was only a year older than Tommy Hearns when the two met.