Horizontal v. Vertical Fist Punching

The boxer Ceferino Garcia is credited with developing the bolo punch in the late 1930’s. When asked how he developed the punch, he said it came from the upward swinging motion he used to cut sugarcane as youth in the Philippines. The bolo punch is usually used as a feign to distract the opponent from another punch, but if struck by a bolo punch, you will probably be knocked out. It was used effectively as a punch in the ring by Kid Gavilan in the early 1950’s. Two of the most famous cases of a fighter using the bolo punch were when Sugar Ray Leonard avenged his loss to Roberto Duran and when he defeated Thomas Hearns in their second fight, but in these cases, Leonard only used the punch as a distracter. If practiced enough, the bolo punch may be used effectively under certain conditions, but it is not taught by reputable trainers since it is practically useless and is usually only used to “showboat” or to be different from other fighters.

If vertical punches work for you, that is great. However, I content that it is only because you trained yourself enough to be good at vertical punching, not because vertical punching was the best way to punch. I content that if you had spent the same amount of time training with horizontal punches instead of with vertical punches, you would have been an even better fighter. This of course is impossible to prove either way, but it is a viable contention considering the facts.