Misjudged fighter qualities

[Capaedia]

Underrated and overrated fighter qualities. I get the feeling this has been done a thousand times but we have no current topic.

Louis and Liston's chins has to be mentioned. They were both much sturdier than some would have you believe.

I think Joe Frazier's handspeed is quite underrated, but his power is often overrated.

George Foreman's style never seems to be done justice. I think he had more caution than he is given credit for. Not a whole lot, but his fight with Boone Kirkman is a good example of him establishing an edge before he starts going for the kill.

Larry Holme's staredown is my outside pick. Never hear it get a mention, but that was a hell of a staredown.

I think this is going to be an unpopular one, but I think Robinson's tendency (not ability!) to box is overstated. Although I'll admit that I have a lot more reading to do about that.

There, one of those isn't a heavyweight. What do you think? What are your picks?

[Capaedia]

I also think Roy Jones' chin was actually pretty good before he cut back down from HW. Not great, but not glass.

Hearns' reputation as a power puncher seems to have overshadowed just how quick his hands were, and how good he was at boxing (outboxing Leonard twice, as well as Benitez). His chin was also pretty good. Again, not great.

Floyd Mayweather at the lower weights had legitimate power.

[TBear]

I actually think John Tate did not deserve the bad chin rap he used to get. Yes he was stopped by Weaver and Berbick, but both stoppages were very late in the fights. Yes there was an conditioning problem as Tate stood to the punches early in the fights only to be iced in the late rounds. He also took the heavy punches of Kallie Knotzee and Gerrie Coetzee(although the Coetzee fight was held on what seemed to be an ice rink).

Perhaps the same thing might apply to Frank Bruno as people used to say he had a bad chin too.

[Capaedia]

Perhaps the same thing might apply to Frank Bruno as people used to say he had a bad chin too.

I second this one. He took some pretty good shots from Tyson and Lewis.

I'd also like to nominate Foreman's stamina. He may have punched himself out, but that was more of an issue with his pacing than his stamina. I think his stamina in the Rumble in the Jungle was great. He was throwing hard punches and lots of them. Most if not all other fighters would've been long gone, shame the man opposite him was Ali.

[Barn]

Haglers boxing skills. Already made a video on this.

Joe Frazier right hand for obvious reasons.

Leonard's punching power and heart. Mostly people who don't know their history to be fair, saying he's a fairy and only there for the money and not got any bottle. Leonard was the real deal and he punched VERY hard at Welterweight.

Duran's heart. Ever since "No Mas" people would have a jive at Duran's heart. Completely forgetting all the times he went 14 rounds etc to knock people out in close fights. Forgetting he got up from a DeJesus left hook in the first round twice and won one of the bouts! Lets not forget Hearns, his corner was going to stop it after the first round but Duran said no. He didn't want pulled out.

Tyson, LaMotta etc. Short fighters jabs. I find the way they use their jabs impressive, it's a very very good cover for when they move at side and usually thrown at awkward angles to keep the boxer busy. Very under-rated tool for fighters like these and it's usually dismissed.

"Tyson wouldn't land on Wlad the jab would stop him." People forget when Tyson was to move inside he'd throw his own jab as he was doing so. Then if that gave him ample cover he would throw a hard punch or combo.

[Barn]

I'll go for Lennox Lewis' chin as well. It was by no means the glass people make it out to be.

[nomadman]

I'll go for Lennox Lewis' chin as well. It was by no means the glass people make it out to be.

There are very few heavyweights at champion level who've ever had bonafide glass chins. Wlad's another one whose rep in this category is overexaggerated.

Lennox took on a murderer's row of big punchers and was only ever stopped twice, by guys he underestimated. I'd say his chin was pretty damn good.

[Capaedia]

The punches that took out Lennox would probably have downed plenty of other champions, some for the count. Good call

[Sceptic]

This thread is a clever idea. I will give it some thought.

[nomadman]

Couple more:

- David Tua's handspeed (not footspeed, not brainspeed). In his prime his hands were very fast for a heavyweight, and always had bad intentions on them. When he fought Darroll Wilson he hit him with three left hooks in under a second, all solid shots. When he killed John Ruiz to death the shot which set it up was a wicked leaping left that caught Ruiz cold. He landed that shot a few times against Lennox as well who was generally pretty good at avoiding shots from shorter fighters.

- Evander's power. First man to drop Mercer, stunned Big George badly, stopped Tyson. Not bad for a CW.

- Bruno's chin. Someone already mentioned this but I'll reiterate it. His chin wasn't so much a problem as his stiffness, poor stamina and, occasionally, mentality. He could physically absorb a hard shot, but mentally he'd sometimes go to pieces which would lead to his downfall. Many of his stoppages came from repeated punches to the jaw which forced the ref to step in. Not a great jaw, obviously, but not a truly terrible one either.

- Wlad's heart. For some reason Wlad got this undeserved moniker and it's stuck. He's never quit in a fight, never mentally given up, and always tried to get up from knockdowns. Even against Sanders, where he was as close to getting knocked unconscious as he's ever come, he was struggling to get up.

- Mercer's jab. I think this is one of the best heavyweight jabs of all time but it's so rarely mentioned. He outjabbed Lennox and was matching jabs with a prime Wlad at age 40. Anyone that can do that has to be at least considered among great jabbers.