Who are some fighters who punch hard but don't have a big ko percentage. Jake Lamotta seems to fall in this category, especially his come from behind knockout of the Frenchman Dauthille. Who are some others?
Having a lot of punching power is one thing, having the ability to land on your opponent is another thing altogether. A lot of casuals might see Tyson among the biggers punchers, but he isn't, and I say that despite being a huge fan of his. Sure, he had great punching power, but I wouldn't include him in my top 5 biggest punchers. But yet he seems so, and that's cause of his amazing accuracy and technique. Tyson was just something else in his prime.
This thread typifies for me anyway Curtis " hatchet man " Sheppard , I mean no less a fighter than The ole Mongoose himself is on record as stating Sheppard hit him harder than any other !! when you think of the fighters Moore fought, that is some statement, not just Moore but I have read anecdotes from other HWs of his era claim the same, anomaly being he stoppage record is 33 out of 87 fights, if those were the stats of a fighter you didn't know, or even did know ! you wouldn't think " what a puncher " would you ? keep well.
If we're talking modern day then I'd throw Josh Warrington in here. Has a very low KO % however many fighters he's fought have said afterwards that he cracks hard. Frampton has said he's the hardest puncher he's ever been in the ring with.
Curtis Shepard is the answer. It is ability to land and not be landed on that qualifies for greatness in boxing a judge of distance, a sense of rhythm and keen eyes for timing are all you need. Application will always trump speed, technique and power. While he was powerful Curtis was said to have only landed on Archie I believe twice with authority and twice he felled him but still he lost.
Ezzard Charles Dick Tiger Sam Langford Sugar Ray Robinson Barbados Joe Walcott Joe Choynski Freddie Steele Lloyd Marshall