OK, so I’m not a sports fan and don’t follow boxing. But I’ve been wondering about something. In Rocky IV, which came out in 1985 I believe, his opponent Drago developed a punch of 2,000 psi.
My question is, given that this was 18 years ago, would a punch of 2,000 psi still be impressive today?
I think Ivan Drago was on something, because 2000 psi is a stretch. Google produces sites that say the average boxer PSI is anywhere from 150 to 700, but nothing cite-worthy since it’s mostly message boards. Additional (possibly pointless) info: an alligator has the strongest bite at 2125 pounds.
Correction on the alligator bite - 2,960 pounds.
Yeah, I figured he was taking steroids or something too.
Actually, after posting this, I realized that, since this is GD, I should have asked the question in a more factual way, like asking what the average psi was for heavy weight boxers back in 85, and what it is today. But if today it goes up to 700 psi, then I guess, assuming someone could achieve it, 2000 would still be very impressive.
You figured he was on stroids? They show him being injected with steroids in the movie.
No, I didn’t think he was on stroids. I did, however think that he was on steroids. 
Well I couldn’t remember exactly. After all, it has been 18 years since I’ve seen it.
There must be something wrong here. PSI is a unit of pressure (pounds per square inch) equal to 6.89kPa.
Assuming that I can deliver a force of 0.5kN (hardly respectable for a punch) all I need to do is to make sure that it’s concentrated on an area of 36mm[sup]2[/sup], roughly that of a knuckle. Sure, the knuckle would probably brake, but that’s beside the point, isn’t it?
But, wait a minute you say, they’re talking boxing, so they ought to use boxing gloves. These would give you a surface of about 25cm[sup]2[/sup], which (assuming he manages 2000psi = 13.7MPa) equates to a force of 34.5kN. I have no way of relating this to anything worthwile, as it would depend on the time over which it is applied.
I short, measuring punches in pressure sounds rather silly. Surely it’s better to quantify the power in a punch by measuring the total momentum delivered? (Or maybe energy, but I think momentum is more representable.)
(And, Joel, this isn’t GD, it’s GQ!)
nitpick: Dolph wasn’t being injected with drugs. They were performing a technique called blood doping. Also illegal but no drugs involved. The theory is to increase the person’s red blood cells so that he has a higher oxygen content in his blood supply supposedly allowing his muscles to perform more optimally.
Either way, whatever he was on, it was part of the ‘Russians use sneaky secret technology and are EEEEEEVIL while Americans use good ol’ fashion training and are GOOD’ message of the film.
It’s weird watching cold-war era films these days.
Well, be it HGH, anabolic steroids, or doping, could a human generate the numbers as demonstrated in Rocky IV?
Breaknrun, correct me if I am wrong, but doesn’t blood doping require you to put the blood back into circulation? If so, then he would need an IV. However the movie clearly shows him receiving simple injections. And I don’t believe anything more explicit than that was shown.
Forget Reagan, everyone knows that Rocky won the Cold War.
According to http://www.science.ca/askascientist/viewquestion.php?qID=821 , a karate punch measures at about 150 Joules and another site I read measured karate punch at about 190 Joules which converts to about 135 psi. Granted a boxing punch has a little more weight behind it. However, for a human to reach the numbers in Rocky IV would truly be superhuman.
NFlanders, you are correct but I’m fairly positive the point was that Drago was enhanced using only “legitimate” technology. I haven’t watched the movie in a long time but I would put it down to the usual lack of attention to detail given to hollywood productions.
No, that was his half-brother, Rambo. I can see how you’d get confused, what with the family resemblance and all.
:smack: That’s what I ment.
Well, I think a mod should probably close this thread now. Thank you all for answering my question but these posts are becoming more appropriate for Cafe Society than General Questions.
Anyway, thanks again.
I still think there’s something to discuss here:
How does that ‘conversion’ work?
Joule is a unit of energy, whereas psi measures pressure. I’d like to know how they compare the two.
force = pressure x area
energy = force x distance
-> energy = pressure x area x distance
So in order to convert from pressure to energy, you need to know the contact area and how far the target moves (gives) during contact.
I think the energy is a better measure of a boxer’s ability. The pressure of a punch depends not only on the boxer’s physical strength, but also on the hardness of the target and glove. The same energy hitting a harder surface will result in higher pressure.