A new survey has found that 22 per cent of men could defeat a chimp in combat, with a similar number backing themselves to come out on top while wrestling lethal king cobras. Experts say males would stand little chance against chimpanzees, which are four times stronger than humans because of their denser muscle fibre.

Can a human overpower a chimp?

Chimpanzees do have stronger muscles than us – but they are not nearly as powerful as many people think. ... But because they are lighter than the average person, humans can actually outperform them in absolute terms, say O'Neill.

What is stronger a human or a chimp?

Writing in PNAS journal, Dr Matthew C O'Neill, from the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix, and colleagues reviewed the literature on chimp muscle performance and found that, on average, they are 1.5 times more powerful than humans in pulling and jumping tasks.