THE FIGHT DOCTOR
filtering 250 gallons of blood per day. It stores extra sugar and releases it back into your body when you need energy, and it helps to stop bleeding. You cannot live without it. In 2004, Oscar De La Hoya was hoping to beat the naturally bigger, stronger Bernard Hopkins. One minute, 38 seconds into the ninth round, De La Hoya was stopped suddenly with a left hook below the floating ribs – a classic liver punch. He told ESPN, “It was a well-placed body shot. He caught me right on the button.” Oscar was right. A well-placed liver shot causes a sudden drop in blood pressure, liver compression and a vagus nerve reflex. The vagus nerve runs from the base of the brain (brain stem) through both sides of the neck to the abdomen. It controls heart rate, blood pressure, digestion and relaxation responses. When affected by trauma, it sends a distress signal to our brain. The blood pressure drop is a protective mechanism by the brain, making the fighter drop to his knees to restore blood flow. The boxer’s nervous system overrides the muscles; the legs buckle; and the diaphragm is temporarily paralyzed, taking away their breath. Another shot that will definitely disrupt breathing is a punch to the solar plexus, a bundle of nerves that lies in the center of the upper abdomen and below the
be dropped on the abdomen, the obliques and the liver. If you do it enough, the sensitivity on the internal organs begins to fade less and less over time.” Bradley also notes that sit-ups help shape and build muscle, but getting used to being hit is more important. He points to former eight-division titleholder Manny Pacquiao, who demonstrated an abdominal workout that involved repeatedly hitting his torso with a bamboo stick! In addition to conditioning, desensitizing the torso and improving core strength, there are defensive techniques to withstand body shots, which include maintaining a powerful stance, keeping one’s hands up with elbows tightly against the ribs between shots, proper footwork to maintain distance and utilizing the jab. Other than gloves and a mouthguard, the only other protective gear a fighter has is a well-fitting cup protector. Too many keep it too low. Besides protecting against low blows, a cup protector is designed to protect the kidneys. Kidney shots to the back remain illegal but often occur when fighters are in a clinch. They can cause a hematoma, blood in the urine, chronic kidney damage and severe pain. Renowned conditioning expert Dave “Scooter” Honig has a series of exercises to strengthen a boxer’s core to prevent a
body-shot stoppage. Honig, who works with Richardson Hitchins among other notable boxers, recommends several exercises, including: 1. Hanging Knee Raises , where the fighter is suspended as if they were going to do chin-ups, but instead does three sets of 12-15 reps of bringing their knees to their chest; 2. Isometric Crunches , where they repeatedly maintain a crunch position for 10 seconds, three sets of 10 reps; 3. Russian Twists , where the athlete remains in the sit-up position holding a medicine ball, rotating their legs to right (with the ball to the left) and vice versa, three sets of 25 reps; 4. Cable Chops , where the fighter is in a lunge position facing away from a wall to which a cable is attached and rotating diagonally to strengthen the obliques, three sets of 15 reps on each side. In the end, body shots remain underrated. This is especially true when fighters start their career concentrating too heavily on headhunting when the body is easily accessible and targeting it can accomplish the win. Dr. Margaret Goodman is the former chief ringside physician for the Nevada State Athletic Commission and is the founder/president of the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association. She co-hosts the Fighter Health Podcast.
IT’S NOT THE HEAD… IT’S THE BODY By Dr. Margaret Goodman
The great Ricky Hatton brutalized Jose Castillo to the midsection.
are more likely to require surgical repair, as the pieces are out of alignment. Although excruciating, with ongoing pain due to the motion of breathing, they rarely result in injury to your heart, lungs, liver, kidney or spleen. The intercostal muscles (muscles between the ribs) contract and expand with breathing and maintain space between the ribs to protect the heart and lungs, and they play a part in twisting and bending the upper body. When torn, they also produce sharp pain with a deep breath. “Floating ribs” – the last two below the front of the main rib cage – aren’t connected to the sternum. They protect the liver. They’re much more vulnerable to fracture and, when cracked, make it virtually impossible for the fighter to continue. The liver is located in the right upper section of the abdomen and just below the diaphragm and to the right of the stomach. It is essentially protected behind the lower right ribs. It is the largest organ in the body,
sternum. Above that is the diaphragm, a dome- like structure that sits just below the lungs; it contracts when you breathe to pull in air. When the solar plexus is struck directly, the diaphragm spasms – the fighter feels as if the wind has been knocked out of him, like he can’t catch his breath and may collapse. Former two-division titleholder Timothy Bradley, an expert body puncher throughout his Hall of Fame career, says, “You have to get your internal organs used to the impact from a punch. So, it’s necessary for a 15-pound medicine ball to
S easoned boxers and trainers know striking the body is as effective as head shots are in stopping a fight. In 1998, Roy Jones Jr. stopped Virgil Hill with a body shot that immediately dropped Hill to the canvas, writhing in pain from a broken rib. It was chosen as The Ring’s Knockout of the Year. Ricky Hatton stopped Jose Luis Castillo in 2007 with a vicious liver shot, and Vasiliy Lomachenko found the same target to stop Jorge Linares in 2018. So why are these shots so painful, and why is using them such an important key to victory?
A body shot refers to any punch to the torso, whether it be the abdominal muscles, solar plexus, ribs or flank (side of the body). The type of pain that results depends on where the punch is delivered. Furthermore, attacking the body will cause an opponent’s hands to drop, leaving the head unprotected. It’s useful for boxers and trainers to know a bit of anatomy. Our rib cage is made up of bones, joints, muscles and nerves. The front consists of 12 ribs on each side with costal cartilage (tough, flexible connective tissue) connecting the first 10 on each side to the sternum (the “breastbone”). There are different types of rib fractures – some are displaced, some non-displaced. The former
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