Is boxing more effective than karate?

Answer 1

This depends on the "rules" of the fight.

Given two, equally trained fighters, a boxer might have an advantage if kicking, sweeping and grappling are not allowed and/or are not viable for use.

Kicks give a greater reach advantage, greater power, etc, but a boxer will generally be much stronger in punching and in guarding their head and body. However, boxers don't guard their legs, so a swift kick to the legs will likely hit. In close quarters, a boxer will have a hard time gaining powerful strikes, while karate trains in knees and elbows to great effect.

If grappling is involved, karate is more effective because they've at least been taught some basic ground tactics.

Depending on the Karate style, boxers may hit harder or be able to absorb hits better, although science shows that Shurei based Karate artist hit harder and Naha based absorb better damage than a boxer of equal training.

Although Boxing is quicker to learn to be proficient in, karate takes much more training time. If we are talking 2 years of training I would pick the boxer hands down, if we're talking 10 years I'd go Karate, but over all karate deals with more ways to use your body to fight and defend than just punching.