Honestly, having something in your fist as you punch will absolutely help tremendously. Removing the gap in your fist it will allow you to grip a heck of a lot harder and keep your fist together. But with the proper punching technique you could yield the same results.
Punching flat is a pretty bad idea, if you hit with your middle and index knuckle with a straight arm it’ll keep your knuckles from being completely ripped off your fist. It’s cause those two fingers have heavy reinforcement all up your forearm.
With the proper technique and nice aim for spots like the upper lip or armpit you could probably keep your fist out of harm’s way while bringing harm with your fist.
When I lived near a hospital in a rougher part of town one of my neighbors was an overseas doctor working there for a while. The first time I met him I found out the he was a plastic surgeon. I suggested that was a good choice because he wouldn’t get called out in the middle of the night for “emergency plastic surgery.”
He said that, on the contrary, nearly every weekend he and the orthopod were called in, as a result of fights in pubs or on the streets, to “repair the faces of those punched and the hands of those that had punched them.”
Another way a roll of dimes can help protect you in a hostile situation is by giving you the ability to offer your would-be assailant five bucks to leave you alone.
Rowdy Roddy Piper knocked out Don Muraco with a roll of quarters at in Omni in Atlanta. That settles it for me. I think he did the same thing to Jack Brisco as a heel a year or so earlier.
I remember that. Another advantage of holding a roll of quarters in your fist is breaking them open after the punch to scatter them around showing everyone how you suckered the guy in.
I’ve seen this mentioned in crime fiction. Characters in Rex Stout, and Mickey Spillane novels would protect their hands with a roll of coins. Often a roll of dimes or nickles for guys with bigger hands. IIRC Saul Panzer (a guy Nero Wolfe used often) preferred dimes because he had small delicate hands.
does that really help prevent injured hands in a fight?
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No. It doesn’t matter whether you have something in your hand or not, if you hit with the small knuckles of the hand, you can pretty much count on them breaking.