Who are the most Overrated boxers in history any why?

[fightfan]

Who are the most Overrated boxers in history any why?

 

Current or back in time fighters allowed

[RAZZ-MCFC]

i wouldn't say most overrated in history but a fighter i've always considered to be overrated was Mike Tyson.

 

His ability most definitely wasn't overrated but for the majority of his career, he didn't achieve nearly as much as he should have with the potential he possessed.

 

Fair enough he unified titles and was the youngest ever world heavyweight champion, but his opposition was pretty poor in my opinion bar a few names.

 

Obviously a lot of you will disagree but remember, boxing is all about opinions ;)

[gavpowell]

Must...resist...saying..Pacquiao...

 

No, sod it - Manny Pacquiao.

 

Talented? Yes indeed. Achieved a lot? no doubt. A modern phenom, the second coming of Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Robinson? Absolutely not.

 

He's a testament to careful management and a brilliant trainer, and how he managed to keep his weight down for the years below light welter I don't know, but I can't understand why he's hailed as this once-in-a-lifetime fighter the way some have portrayed him.

[RAZZ-MCFC]

Must...resist...saying..Pacquiao...

 

haha the thought did cross my mind!

 

While we're on the subject i was reading an article yesterday from some site saying who the 10 most overrated boxers in history were.

 

Here it is. A lot of it is complete rubbish but a few of them i agree with.

 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/796919-top-10-most-overrated-fighters-of-all-time

 

It's just a news site, not strictly boxing so i'm sure it'll be ok me posting the link as it's a slideshow

[McBride]

I have always believed Tyson was overrated simply because you dont lose to everyone who fights you back the way he did. ( And I simply dont believe the feeble excuses about he was past his prime ) A 23 year old who's had 37 fights and only boxed less than 130 rounds in building that record is NOT past his prime.

 

As for Pakow I agree with Gav, the guy is brilliant, and talented, and disciplined otherwise he wouldn't have been able to boil down to 130 for as long as he did. Its this catchweight horseshit that I cant stand, and the " titles " he is awarded for fighting them. Its become more boring than when Leonard did it now.

 

Another one for me is Hopkins. Calls himself the " executioner " with a stoppage rate of just over 50%. Spoils, is boring to watch, and never stops telling the world how great he is, when he was comfortably beaten on more than one occasion.

[iamasadlittleboy]

Leonard-Massive talent but manipulated things left right and centre

Ali-Another huge talent...but he's gotten wins he didn't deserve (Norton fights being the obvious ones) how would he be looked AS A BOXER had he lost those close ones? A great, not the Greatest

Jack Johnson-Ahead of his time but certainly nothing that he's cracked up to be, take out his historical point and, would people really consider him a top 10 heavyweight?

Dempsey-Avoided the African American fighters of his era and avoided others too. Yes exciting, yes fun, but a top 10 heavyweight? No

Marciano-You can't argue with the 0 but plenty will build him up as a great off it

[gavpowell]

Hopkins has earned a little of my respect since he left middlweight, but I agree he's far from this boxing legend he's often painted as.

[McBride]

In fairness to Marciano ( who I dont consider an ATG ) he did fight all comers at that time.

[Joe Ko]

As I have said many times.

 

Pacquiao, beat a shot Mosley, a shot Hatton, worn and drained Magarito, Clottey the shell, Cotto weight drained, DLH shot and weight drained, David Diaz was good not great, Marquez last competitive fight was very close.

 

Then there is Mayweather who has been the best matched fighter in recent times. 10 years since Castillo fight that got his team shitting themselves. The last 10 years you cannot say he has beaten a prime fighter who is at the same weight class as himself.

 

Matchmaking kills boxing in a sense, but I am glad this year we have had fights like Fury vs Chisora and Groves vs Degale and Friday night fights in US, they have put on real 50/50 fights.

[irondave85]

Am I the only Hopkins fan on here? mlol/

[gavpowell]

Razz is a huge Hopkins fan, but between the two of you I think that's his fanbase, full stop.

[RAZZ-MCFC]

Razz is a huge Hopkins fan, but between the two of you I think that's his fanbase, full stop.

 

mlol/ to be fair there's a few Hopkins fans on some of the other forums i post on so there's at least a handful

[grapevine241]

tommy hearns and joe calzaghe come to mind

[RAZZ-MCFC]

tommy hearns and joe calzaghe come to mind

 

why do you say Hearns mate?

[gavpowell]

Tommy Hearns? Really? I haven't seen all of Tommy's career but he seems to live up to a fair amount of the hype.

[grapevine241]

dont get me wrong hearns was a great fighter but i feel like there is a bit of a pity party about him

[gavpowell]

Ah, you mean "If only they hadn't massaged his legs!" "If only Leonard hadn't been there!"

[RAZZ-MCFC]

Somebody said Leonard also

 

i know that's personal opinion which is fair enough, but not sure if overrated would be the right word?

 

He legitimately beat Duran and Hearns when they were both in their primes, there's no disputing that.

 

I also agree that he did do his fair share of picking his own terms etc, and he admitted himself he only signed to fight Marvin once he'd seen that he was on the decline in the Mugabi fight.

 

But to me, Marvin was still the best middlweight by far when Ray fought him, and not much past the fighter he was when he fought Hearns.

 

like i said it's down to personal opinions but i don't think overrated would be the right word to use for Leonard.

[grapevine241]

Ah, you mean "If only they hadn't massaged his legs!" "If only Leonard hadn't been there!"

 

yeah more or less. i dont really base it on any stats, i just always groan when i hear "tommy hearns would have done this" or that

[SeelowHeights]

Tyson would have to be very high up, but his name has already been mentioned. Stand up to him, and more often than not, he couldn't hack it (See the Douglas and both Holyfield fights). For what it's worth, if a past-it Holyfield got the better of Mike, then I reckon Vitali would have had him too.

 

I would probably throw RJJ into this category as well. At his best, he was a phenomenal athlete but he was fortunate in that there wasn't a hell of a lot of competition around (sure, he beat Hopkins, but Hopkins was probably a bit green at the time, and he did beat Toney handily but some of the other names were old men such as McCallum and Hill) and it is fair to say that in terms of boxing fundamentals he wasn't technically outstanding like a Mayweather, or a Marquez, hence his rapid fall - in more ways than one. However, Ruiz was a poor heavyweight world champion, and defeating him gave RJJ a lustre he didn't really deserve IMO. Throw in the hint of illegal substances and it will always taint his legacy IMO.

 

Has anyone mentioned Naseem Hamed? Not quite Tyson-like, but he could not hack it after his bubble was well and truly burst by Barrera. He was also like RJJ in that his fundamentals were somewhat lacking, but he more than made up for it by speed in spades.

[Moonrod]

Jack Johnson? Tyson? Marciano? Pacquiao? Calzaghe? Ali? Dempsey? Hearns? Can't believe these names have been put forward..... we would've all missed out on so much great boxing nights & history if these guy's never bothered to glove up!!!!!

 

I do agree with the comment about the carefully crafted match ups during Mayweather's career - but still - what an amazing talent, just hope he takes at least one risk before he retires (for real).

[RAZZ-MCFC]

Jack Johnson? Tyson? Marciano? Pacquiao? Calzaghe? Ali? Dempsey? Hearns? Can't believe these names have been put forward..... we would've all missed out on so much great boxing nights & history if these guy's never bothered to glove up!!!!!

 

I do agree with the comment about the carefully crafted match ups during Mayweather's career - but still - what an amazing talent, just hope he takes at least one risk before he retires (for real).

 

Calzaghe was well and truly overrated!

 

Only two prime, live names on his resume are Kessler and Lacy.

 

Could also make a case for Hopkins.

 

Apart from that nothing. Was happy to sit back for years and defend his belts against nobody's like Veit and Manfredo Jr.

 

Ducked/avoided/didn't make fights with the likes of Johnson, Dawson, Ottke, Beyer

 

may have or may not have won them fights but we'll never know because he didn't fight them

[Skav]

As I have said many times.

 

Pacquiao, beat a shot Mosley, a shot Hatton, worn and drained Magarito, Clottey the shell, Cotto weight drained, DLH shot and weight drained, David Diaz was good not great, Marquez last competitive fight was very close.

 

Then there is Mayweather who has been the best matched fighter in recent times. 10 years since Castillo fight that got his team shitting themselves. The last 10 years you cannot say he has beaten a prime fighter who is at the same weight class as himself.

 

Matchmaking kills boxing in a sense, but I am glad this year we have had fights like Fury vs Chisora and Groves vs Degale and Friday night fights in US, they have put on real 50/50 fights.

 

Just because a fight is a catchweight doesn't mean the fighters are "weight drained." Provide me evidence that Margarito and Cotto were weight drained, please?

 

I don't think Hatton was shot either. His defeat at the hands of Floyd wasn't brutal enough to send him over the hill. Hatton was never the same since beating Tszyu, actually. He struggled badly on the world scene. The Floyd defeat wasn't a Tito vs Vargas type beating. Cotto and Margarito both looked the same as they always have! The only ones I agree with are Mosley and De La Hoya. Clottey had the talent to give Pac a decent fight but turned into a pussy on the night.

 

As for my picks, I'll go with Tyson because he didn't beat many of significant note. Even Larry Holmes was past his best, even if he did carry on into the 2000's.

 

The public were and are more interested in his mental state than they were with his boxing style.

 

David Haye is another for obvious reasons.

 

I would say Ali, like Scott did, too. I'm all Ali'd out after all the media coverage over him. He got a lot of the media attention due to the racial issues.

 

Frank Bruno. He may have been portrayed as the gentle giant the British nation fell in love with but he was shite, to be honest.

 

Naseem Hamed. Very exciting like Tyson but quit when Barrera broke his heart and he knew he couldn't beat the elite.

 

Leonard because of his manipulation of boxing.

[iamasadlittleboy]

Jack Johnson? Tyson? Marciano? Pacquiao? Calzaghe? Ali? Dempsey? Hearns? Can't believe these names have been put forward..... we would've all missed out on so much great boxing nights & history if these guy's never bothered to glove up!!!!!

 

I do agree with the comment about the carefully crafted match ups during Mayweather's career - but still - what an amazing talent, just hope he takes at least one risk before he retires (for real).

 

Yes over-rated. Johnson was ahead of his time but his title reign saw him beating Middleweights, old retired men and not very good fights....then losing Willard! Imagine the stick Wlad would get for beating Martinez then Lennox Lewis and losing to Ustinov.

 

Marciano for all his tenacity and power was a crude slugger who lived in an era where heavyweights were small, whilst he wasn't big himself it's funny that some people rate him a top 10 heavyweight. Dempsey is another who's legacy is tainted due to an unwillingness (or maybe Doc Kearns unwillingness) to get him in the ring with Wills.

[gavpowell]

Just because a fight is a catchweight doesn't mean the fighters are "weight drained." Provide me evidence that Margarito and Cotto were weight drained, please?

 

 

No proof(indeed Cotto himself at the time said the weight made no difference), but he looked bloody terrible against Clottey - I thought he was going to lose like he did v Margarito. The catchweight makes little sense - if it had no effect, why ask for it? It debases what could have been a perfectly legitimate win - instead of which Cotto moved immediately up to light-middle.