I've been thinking about trying boxing with my friends, and was curious if a particular drill I had in mind would be effective. Say I keep my abs tense and then keep punching them for maybe 5 minutes straight. Would this be effective at training for being able to take punches to the stomach, as well as developing my abdominal muscles?
I've seen guys doing that in the gym. They say it tightens the abs. But there's a lot of hearsay and training myths in boxing.
In comparison, the Thais slam each other in the chest with old tires while lying down and kick trees barefooted for Muay Thai, so yes
Get to a boxing gym. Boxing is far too complex to tackle by yourself.There are decent manuals written by Joe Frazier and Jack Dempsey you can read that will help, though.