Physical attributes are more important than technique

[stav]

Hard worker pretty much never beats the talented one.

Never saw it during my amateur fighting days

I have actually seen it both ways, to be honest.

In my experience, I have seen both what you have experience but I have also seen the dudes with less talent outperform b/c they put in twice the work.
Its not a simple 1 +1 furmula

There are degrees of talent and degrees of work/effort.

Work will maximize your personal potential in every case though.