I've been here a pretty long time, made some good and bad contributions to the board and tried mostly to laugh at myself if I get a little too rambunctious.

Anyhoo, I got to thinking the other day about punching and why boxers sometimes break their hands.

A lot of people here have expressed an opinion that the wrapping of the hands and the use of gloves is what causes the breaks. There is also the issue of target choice--I'm big on that one myself--you hit somebody in the skull with your bare fist, and you just might break it. Certainly a better chance than if you hit them in the gut.

However, the wrapping and the gloves thing is was usually catches my attention, and the reason why is simple, and, in all honesty, slightly whiney

There is another reason why boxers might break their hands, and it has nothing to do with conditioning or equipment, yet nobody here ever seems to have considered it. It might just be that good boxers hit much harder, on average, and there is only so much punishment the small bones in your hands can take. A guy like Tyson or Lewis generates a tremendous amount of force when punching, so it's no surprise that hand breaks might happen.

I'm not necessarily of the opinion that this is true, because I truly don't know, but its interesting that I don't ever see this possibility expressed.