gorilla arms are disabled for these fist fights... but mastering the movement is vital, as well as picking up the reflex boosting cyberware.
I'm pretty sure they are not. I did the first two fights on VH with a 6 body/6 reflex character and almost no perks in either (couple in handguns) without using them and it took forever for each. Under these conditions the fighters will 1-2 shot you with a hit, blocking is unreliable because it doesn't stop damage getting through (even on a perfect block), and hitting them does almost no damage. For the others I specifically equipped Gorilla arms and the special damage appears to add oomph to your hits. Perhaps this is tied to modifying the damage type.
Yes, I spent an hour and a half beating on the Twins/Buck over and over without getting hit more than once while relying entirely on dodges to avoid damage
.
All fist fighters cycle static scripted sequences. A dodge sequence, a couple different 4x attack sequences, and at least one 1x attack sequence. Which one they use at any given time depends on a couple variables (not completely sure what they are). It's easy to see this when they enter their dodge sequence. It's slightly amusing.
I found Cesar and Razor to be the easiest fights (and the clown). The reason is based on your positioning you can largely force them to use a single attack sequence. By getting in and beating their ass after they miss then backing out to recover stamina. Cesar does his warpy thing but as long as you get the timing on dodges down it's relatively consistent. Razor is quite fast for such a big boy but it's the same deal. You also have to get used to the limited space available in the ring there.
For the other fights I switched my game to easy mode because the mechanics/behavior all fights reach new heights of jankyness. The hitboxes are dumb, the way perfect blocks don't stop damage is questionable and the fighters "fight" like morons. It just didn't seem worth it to spend more time than necessary.
Sadly, I don't believe you can murder the fist fighters after beating them because they have plot armor. I admit I dumped half a dozen clips into the body of Buck after beating him. He's immortal. The Twins and Cesar are the only fighters I didn't want to murder after beating them
. The rest are assholes and can go drown in a bucket of bleach.
Sometimes the fighters will magically heal to ~60% health from 10%. They can do it several times in one fight too. I don't know what triggers this but it didn't feel intended. There are random boxes/debris/the ladder vs Rhino thrown around where you can get stuck. I have no idea why. It's also interesting how you can kind of map out their behavior and "solve" them. You could do the same thing for various creatures in TW3 (Drowners are one of the best examples).
Oh, and prepare yourself for disappointment for completing all the fights. The end of that whole line of quests it's just... bleh. It's a bit of a spectacle and there are a couple conversations but otherwise it was a huge let down.
Apologies for the wall of text. I figured I'd be thorough (suffer the might of my text wall, forums).