Lack Of Punching Power

Winstone is a good shout.

I don't agree, though, with the Starling pick. Nothing at all wrong with his power, which was average to maybe even slightly better than average. His issue was focus and workrate. And clowning, which is an offshoot of those other two.

I would pick Meldrick Taylor, who fought like he had heavy fists. Had he been more of a boxer he might have been better off. He loved to fight though, bless him.

 

Ayub Kalule
Ritchie Kates
Alberto Davila
Ken Buchanan

 

John Conteh (bad hands)
Yaqui Lopez
Miguel Canto
Wilfredo Benitez
Pernell Whitaker ( exceptional without much power )
Vito Antufermo
Erik Morales

 

Erik Morales punched plenty hard enough. Actually, so did Sweat Pea when he chose to sit down on his punches.

 

Good call. I'll add another Welshman ,Tommy Farr.

 

Harry Greb

... the universe probably would have imploded under the strain of his awesomeness if he's had one-punch power ala Langford or Fitz

 

Of course many of these great fighters mentioned here "lacked" supreme power partly/mostly due to their incredible styles that made them great to begin with.
eg. Ali ... could hit pretty damn hard, but his fleet-footed style and abilities gave him the opportunity to land punches almost at will, and to control fights, and that was prioritized over delivering single hard punches.

 

Whitaker had 17 KO's in 44 wins and never stopped a top opponent or even floored one ... he was in an Ali class at best for his weight ... maybe less.

Morales was a solid puncher but not a big hitter by any means.

 

Well in 39 rounds he never staggered Ken Norton and could not put a blind Joe Frazier down in Manila despite landing dozens of flush shots ... he was successful based on size, speed, heart, endurance, physical strength and just enough power to get a guy dizzy with ten shots wgich he delivered in about two seconds ..

 

Ricardo "Chappo" Lopez. Beautiful 118'er had beautiful almost poetic skills but could not bang. Even if he could crack he would not have been an all-time great but he would have been much more a contender.

 

He turned Ron Lyle into a glassy-eyed wreck with one solid punch. He stunned Sonny Liston in the 3rd round. He rocked Foreman with single punches from the opening round. He had Joe Frazier reeling backwards at times.

Ali wasn't a consistently hard puncher, due to his style - and bad hands. He never really developed the knack of summoning a hard punch at will. But he wasn't a consistently soft hitter or hopelessly feather-fisted either.

 

I think Karl MIldenberger would agree with your assessment.

 

Jake Rodriguez, Juan Nazario, Haugen, Mayweather and Hurtado were all world class, championship caliber fighters and he dropped and/or stopped them all/

It was more that in watching him firsthand, or even on TV, as he aged he was able to get opponents' respect with his pop. He had enough. No, he was not a power hitter but moreso because he did not commit in his position to be one. When he planted and sat down on his punches, guys noticed.

 

Midget Wolgast and Benny Valger.

 

Hard to believe nobody has mentioned Meldrick Taylor yet. He was the first fighter that came to mind. He had blinding speed and was physically strong but he just couldn`t punch and he loved to stand and hook with his opponents.

I don`t think Willie Pep applies since he overcame his lack of power to be an elite 1st tier all time great. Pep accomplished more in the first 3rd of his career than 95% of all fighters do in their entire careers.