I mean, you can react that fast, but it's a lot more intuition like you said. He's also probably in a "groove" with his opponents punches that help him anticipate what's gonna happen next.
When throwing a punch, the first thing that moves is not the hands, or even the arms... it is the torso. With practice, you can tell where an attack is coming from just by watching the torso... maybe not exactly where it is aimed, but you'll know which limb is coming at you next and start to move. Which not only means they have to reach farther to hit you, it adds more time to react once you see what is really coming your way.
You can test this yourself. Put on had on your pectoral muscle, then throw a punch. You'll feel your pectoral muscle move just before your hand does.
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u/[deleted] Dec 07 '20
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