Hop was a very hard puncher in his prime. He also had great stamina and a great chin, but wasn't as clever or defensively sound as he is now. I think Hop started taking something off his punches around the time he fought Allen for the second or third time, right before the Oscar fight. He started shutting down guys offense early while exerting minimum effort/energy so he could come on strong at the end for the stoppage. That did bite him vs Taylor, but I still felt he won those fights. Now he is 50, and he saves the hard shots for those times when he knows he can catch the other guy and discourage them. He doesn't throw hard as often for a few reasons: 1) to conserve energy and not exhaust himself prior to late in the fight. 2) to not leave himself open for a counter that might surprise him and stop him. 3) He likes to frustrate the opponent and play mind games, so he likes that one hard shot at the perfect time to shock the guy and then threaten him with the big shot the rest of the way... If u hear guys like Nazim who hold the mitts for him, they say he punches as hard as he ever did, just not as fast or as often. He was a great puncher in his prime though...