It seems that in general, guys who are taller, not as powerful, but defense artist type boxers are generally ignored early in their careers, and not seen as up and coming stars. Guys like Hopkins, Winky Wright, Tarver were not well known until they had accomplished big time feats.
In contrast, guys with offensive capabilities are generally well known early in their careers, but generally aren't as good as they were supposed to be, like Ricky Hatton (we'll see how he does), Roy Jones, Felix Trinidad, Shane Mosley, and in particular at heavyweight, Mike Tyson is the best example.
This is a bull shit post man. Roy Jones and Felix Trinidad overrated? Come on guy, get real.
Furthermore, Hopkins was not a defensive specialist early in his career. Wright isn't as defensive minded as he used to be. And Tarver? A defensive SPECIALIST? I disagree. I'm not saying he's at all bad on defense, but that's not his specialty.