yeah i agree with loads of these.
what about Riddick Bowe? from what i seen, the guy was awesome. great jab, great one-two, could fight both inside & outside, etc. Bowe gets so overlooked these days, but the guy convincingly beat a prime Holyfield a couple of times (Tyson lost to a pastprime Holyfield a couple of times & Lennox just about got past an ancient Holyfield a couple of times)
Mike Watson, outboxed both Benn and Eubank
Watson had very good skills, but watch again and you see Benn blasting him about in the early rounds (first four or five rounds) and in the first Eubank fight Eubank was out-classing him in the early rounds (first four or five rounds). So Watson didn't really out-box them, Benn punched himself out and Eubank got lazy (in Eubank-Watson first fight). In the second Eubank fight, Watson completely changed his boxing style to attack Eubank with endless sharp clusters.. so he wasn't showing his usual finesse self in the second Eubank fight although I admit he was clearly winning the fight before the uppercut from hell. Watson looked unbeatable on that tragic night.
underrated? barney ross, charley burley, jimmy mclarnin, tony canzoneri, lou ambers, ruben olivares, jim jeffries, tom sharkey, barry mcguigan, fritzie zivic etc.
i could go on and on and on...
I agree with Juy Juy on this one. Mike McCallum was very under-appreciated. If he'd been around a little earlier, during the Leonard, Duran, Hearn and Hagler era he might have been involved in some of the classic 80`s fights and may have won a few too. He just doesn't get the respect he deserves.
a lot of them but the one that always comes to mind is Buster Douglas 1st of all he is not the worst heavyweight champion ever he was big fast had an ok chin and good skill he just never stayed in shape i think he would do well with a Ken Norton Patterson and meny others
Azumah Nelson
Mike McCallum
(underrated or overlooked) Evander Holyfield
Think about this:
Azumah Nelson was very green and was not well known outside of Africa by the time he stepped up to face Sal Sanchez. Sanchez was one of the best little guys ever and Nelson fought the tough little fucker in his what...13th or 14th fight? NElson took Sanchez to the brink with his sheer physicality and freakish strength. The thing that won me over with Zoom was when Sal KD'ed him in the 15th round and Zoom popped right back up like "come on lets fight motherfucker!!" After that he only went on to become a 3 time world champ, challenged for the distinction of being one of the top 3-4 fighters at 130 ever, and proved a big point by dissecting a monster in Jeff Fenech in their rematch bout. He always looked for the toughest fights (Gomez, Whitaker, Fenech, Sanchez) and always fought hard all the way until the end. Nelson is one of the best boxer-punchers that the lightweight division will ever see.
Mike McCallum beat a laundry list of very good opponents (Kalambay, Watson, Collins, Graham, Curry, McCrory, Jackson) and was one of the greatest 154 pounders ever. He was the best body-puncher the middleweight division has seen for my money and you will never see a more intelligent fighter in the ring. He was a technician in every sense of the word and was competitive well past his best years with elite opponents like James Toney. McCallum had an impressive unbeaten streak going until he was jobbed by Kalambay (okay so I threw that out there I've never seen the fight, but I've heard that he got a shitty decision in Italy or wherever the fight took place). McCallum also compiled a sweet amatuer career (like 200+ wins).
Holyfields earlier accomplishments usually are slighted when he is discussed among the all-time great fighters. From my perspective it seems like people only want to remember the heavyweight career and later downfalls that this guy has had. He was an unbeaten light-heavyweight, he was probably the best cruiserweight ever in that divisions young life, and he was a 3 time world heavyweight champion. He has one of the best resumes of the last 30 years, beating Qawi, Dokes, Foreman, Holmes, Bowe, Moorer, Mercer, Tyson, De Leon, etc. His intangibles go without mentioning. He was a fairly small heavyweight with one of the biggest hearts and wills the sport has ever seen. He was a throwback to Frazier and Marciano. I don't think there's ever been a tougher bastard in the sport.
I only seen one McCallum fight so far...
When he was WAY past his prime and still gave RJJ HELL!
I think James Toney is under rated look at his age he is in good shape and still wins over younger fighters with good records
he can sure box, but good shape, come on
he used to be in tremendous shape now he is just...
how could i descrive it :confused:
It's tittie TIME :D
I think James Toney is under rated look at his age he is in good shape and still wins over younger fighters with good records
good shape?????????? i hope u mean mentally.ahahaha
i agree with many of the names mentioned, except toney. he gets at least his fair dues.
klitschko brothers come to my mind when i think of extremely underrated fighters of the last 5 or 10 years. wlad was not underrated before the sanders fight, but after he was and still is. vitali was always underrated until after he fought ll.
a lot of what juyjuy mentioned i'd agree with in one or another way, with the exception of holyfield. remember lennox lewis was underrated earlier in his career. but if we wan't to go back in history, well then that's a completely different story.
Jofre is the best bantamweight ever and certainly in my all-time lb4lb top 15. Another top, top fighter who rarely gets talked about from that era is Carlos Monzon.
another mw like that is harry grebb
Azumah Nelson
Mike McCallum
(underrated or overlooked) Evander Holyfield
Think about this:
Azumah Nelson was very green and was not well known outside of Africa by the time he stepped up to face Sal Sanchez. Sanchez was one of the best little guys ever and Nelson fought the tough little fucker in his what...13th or 14th fight? NElson took Sanchez to the brink with his sheer physicality and freakish strength. The thing that won me over with Zoom was when Sal KD'ed him in the 15th round and Zoom popped right back up like "come on lets fight motherfucker!!" After that he only went on to become a 3 time world champ, challenged for the distinction of being one of the top 3-4 fighters at 130 ever, and proved a big point by dissecting a monster in Jeff Fenech in their rematch bout. He always looked for the toughest fights (Gomez, Whitaker, Fenech, Sanchez) and always fought hard all the way until the end. Nelson is one of the best boxer-punchers that the lightweight division will ever see.
Mike McCallum beat a laundry list of very good opponents (Kalambay, Watson, Collins, Graham, Curry, McCrory, Jackson) and was one of the greatest 154 pounders ever. He was the best body-puncher the middleweight division has seen for my money and you will never see a more intelligent fighter in the ring. He was a technician in every sense of the word and was competitive well past his best years with elite opponents like James Toney. McCallum had an impressive unbeaten streak going until he was jobbed by Kalambay (okay so I threw that out there I've never seen the fight, but I've heard that he got a shitty decision in Italy or wherever the fight took place). McCallum also compiled a sweet amatuer career (like 200+ wins).
Holyfields earlier accomplishments usually are slighted when he is discussed among the all-time great fighters. From my perspective it seems like people only want to remember the heavyweight career and later downfalls that this guy has had. He was an unbeaten light-heavyweight, he was probably the best cruiserweight ever in that divisions young life, and he was a 3 time world heavyweight champion. He has one of the best resumes of the last 30 years, beating Qawi, Dokes, Foreman, Holmes, Bowe, Moorer, Mercer, Tyson, De Leon, etc. His intangibles go without mentioning. He was a fairly small heavyweight with one of the biggest hearts and wills the sport has ever seen. He was a throwback to Frazier and Marciano. I don't think there's ever been a tougher bastard in the sport.
A few years back i would've said Ezzard Charles. Now i feel it might be Eder Jofre. Perhaps it's a lack of exposure, but he is rarely mentioned. Eder Jofre is up there with the elite of all-time in my eyes.
Jofre is the best bantamweight ever and certainly in my all-time lb4lb top 15. Another top, top fighter who rarely gets talked about from that era is Carlos Monzon.
A few years back i would've said Ezzard Charles. Now i feel it might be Eder Jofre. Perhaps it's a lack of exposure, but he is rarely mentioned. Eder Jofre is up there with the elite of all-time in my eyes.
Mike McCallum. Wins over Ayub Kalule, Julian Jackson, Donald Curry, Milton McCrory and Herol Graham is phenonimal stuff, then he found himself as the underdog when he came up against the smooth-boxing Michael Watson but produced the best performance of his career to chop like him down like a tree. Then he avenged his only defeat to Sumbu Kalambay. Then he came up against James Toney, in two of his best ever performances Mike boxed on the move and frustrated Toney. He drew Toney's lead and counter punched with accuracy, and held ring centre to dominate with the jab. McCallum paced both fights identically, winning at least two of the first four rounds and two of last, while dominating the middle stanzas with his busy jab and combinations. Despite putting on two clinics in their 1991 and 1992 fights, McCallum's efforts were rewarded only by a draw and an unpopular majority decision loss. Just as the judges were indifferent to Mike, 36, and his skills, so too were The Ring's pound for pound ratings in February 1993:
Julio Cesar Chavez
Pernell Whitaker
Terry Norris
Evander Holyfield
Orlando Canizales
Buddy McGirt
Azumah Nelson
Julian Jackson
Sung Kil Moon
James Toney
That Mike never made this top 10 seemed unfair on the surface, but he had already comprehensively out-boxed number 10 twice and TKO'd number 8 in two rounds. Only two other men in that list had beaten two top 10 pound for pounders. Pernell Whitaker out-pointed both McGirt (twice) and Nelson; Chavez savaged Edwin Rosario and rallied late to stop Meldrick Taylor.