Liver shots (or better known as body shots) are legal as they come from the front. You're probably thinking of kidney blows because those are from behind. Also donkey punches (to the back of the head) are illegal.
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Yeah, it was kidney shot.
You are referring to a Rabbit Punch. A donkey punch, is well, used in an entirely different context...
This is absolutely correct. Boxers can be beasts but I never liked the fact that they specifically train to block incoming force by hiding behind their hands and arms. What if they're facing someone with a knife? They still have their highly effective evasive maneuvers, but to paraphrase what you said, what's going to come out in a stressful situation are the things they repeated thousands of times during training. Those arms are bound to come up to block...at least that's my thinking.
Jeet Kun Do self defense moves has a lot of those. I mean, 90% of the situational moves end with a kick in the groin.
I've broken my thumb once with a strike, only because my opponent stepped forward and my fist wasn't fully closed yet, proper form is goddamn important.
FTFY
Also any martial artist should do some boxing as well and not just for the striking, as far as my experience goes, boxing is the only sport where you'll learn how to effectively bob and weave from other strikes.