What is the hardest recorded punch?

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"Rocky Marciano ko Jersey Joe walcott with the hardest single punch ever thrown."
"I work at the Physical Research Center, and we test the PSI (Pounds per square Inch) in Many Boxers, and in terms of the hardest punch ever recorded is recorded by a Boxer named "Smokin" Joe Frazier in 1973, it was 2700 PSI, which is the equivalent to being hit with a small club, this was until Manny Pacquiao broke this record by a mile with a record shattering 3000 PSI Haymaker, equivalent to a heavy blow to the head with a hammer. If you need help finding a reasonable resource, Visit Scientists at Swansea University. We always do research on strength and human capacity of physical capability. We have a website www.swansea.ac.uk."
I have tried very hard to find such a Center, but it appears not to exist - it is beyond suspicious that a center that is supposed to have been established for over 35 years and has recorded research on elite athletes has no website on the Swansea University page, not their research cited in any other domain. Swansea University has performed this kind of test on ONE boxer, Enzo Maccarinelli, in 2006. The numbers obtained were nowhere near the ones fabricated above for Joe Frazier and Manny Pacquiao; the 3500kg (NOT psi) of instantaneous force measured would be equivalent, for a split second, to being hit by a small van (weight 1500kg approx). Divide this number by the surface area of a boxing glove (conservative estimate of 15 square inches) and you get a number far below 3000PSI.

However, much like being hit with a hammer, the two are not the same as both the hammer and van would be producing continuous force. Also note that "being hit by a small club" means practically nothing to anyone, as there is not to my knowledge any standard mass and density of a "small club", unlike the comparison to a van above - why then would such comparisons be made in scientific research? Such frivolous statements do not appear in scientific literature in the real world.

This is likely an answer concocted by an adolescent boy with too much time on his hands, and is about as authoritative as any playground rumour you might have heard in elementary school. Once again, to worry about it is wasting your time as you are almost certainly NEVER going to encounter such a punch unless you are a professional boxer.


No boxer strikes with the entire surface of the glove, only a small area protecting the first two knuckles (an area about the size of the striking area on a standard hammer).



Rampage Jackson registered an 1800 psi strike. The take into account the padded glove which absorbs much of the impact, and then the padded surface of the target and you end up with a number similar to that of an average man swinging a 10 lb sledge hammer with a surface area of about 9 square inches, with a velocity of about 40 mph. This is enough force to break any bone in the human body, even if it were safely hidden behind a cinder block.

First answer by ID3383389520. Last edit by Bobdylan89. Contributor trust: 0 [recommend contributorrecommended]. Question popularity: 20 [recommend question].