Quote Originally Posted by ThomasTabin
you could hit with all the force in the world but it would all just be a big waste unless you can actually land the thing. say you have a good punch, maybe even downright great punch, if you find yourself unable to get it into it's target or if your opponent saw it coming -- in effect allowing him to brace himself for the impact, if not simply rolling away from it -- your punches are all bark no bite. sure you might look scary on a heavy bag, but a bag is not hardly the same thing as a thinking and adapting opponent. its all about getting the punch home and with that power follows naturally as a result.
Very true, a big punch is only useful if it can be landed. Fighters like Hamed and Witter have big punchers because people dont see them coming, their unorthodox style means they can land at will sometimes and really shock an oppenent. Meanwhile a guy like Danny Williams, hes huge and has arms the size of tree trunks, yet hes not really known as a puncher, because his shots are telegraphed and people can prepar and make him miss.

Often, having a big shot is about NOT throwing it, for if you need to load up on it, then its predictable and can be read etc. Myself while clearly not being a world class boxer... my biggest shot is a right straight, thus i work primarly off the left jab, often not following it up with a right straight, keeping my shots in singles, just lining up the right time to let it fly, ie. jab while on the back foot and as he comes on shift the weight forward into a right straight after the 2nd/3rd jab splits his guard.

But people are right, their are a few very important issues for power:

Legs Technique Natural transfer

of which are probably more important that raw strength.

As people have said many people seem to have a naturally good weight shift and leg drive that creates power, but it can be learned by perfecting the technique side. Its not about swininging arms, rather driving from the legs and hips and snapping a punch with the full power.