This thread is always beat to death, but often times I see people just throw names out there who don't necessarily deserve the title of being "underrated". A few names which come to mind for me:
Michael Watson
Ike Quartey
Esteban DeJesus
For a good period of time, these men were among the very best fighters in the sport or in their respective weight class.
Watson was able to largely outbox Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank before the tragic events of their second fight. He probably should have gotten the nod against Eu their first go around and he was on his way to winning their second before getting caught with some ridiculous shots. Watson also gave a spirited effort against another severely underrated boxer in Mike McCallum, before fading late and suffering a vicious knockout loss. Watson was a fine boxer who possessed great skill, toughness and focus in the ring. Many don't remember just how good he was for quite some time there.
Quartey inspired me to make this thread. The guy was as good as any other Welterweight (yeah Trinidad and De La Hoya) at his best. I feel he actually beat Oscar and Forrest, but that's another story. From '93-'96 he was a scary opponent for any Welterweight throughout history. He could win fights on his jab and physical strength alone (Jung Oh Park and Phillips for example). He often walked through his opponent with his ramrod jab and a chopping right hand behind it. He also possessed a strong left hook which he'd use upstairs and down. Too bad inactivity and inconsistency plagued his career. He was a hall of fame type of fighter.
DeJesus was the first man to beat Duran. He beat him in his prime. That right there tells you what type of fighter DeJesus was. He later captured the Lightweight crown but never quite returned to the form which saw him outbox the great Duran. At his best he was a GREAT Lightweight, a fighter who could have thrown hands with any other great Lightweight throughout history. The events at the end of his life were quite sad, but he should be remembered for the great champ he was.
Jorge Castro too. Seriously one of the toughest fighters ever. I don't understand how he came back to win after taking as much punishment as he did against JDJ. He also took beatings against Jirov, Jones and Gomez. Pretty good fighter though. 100+ fights, wins over Jackson and Johnson, impressive win over Derrick Harmon when he was as old as John McCain.
All these mentions of De Jesus and not one of Escalera? :nonono:
Freddie Pendleton is a great addition. Dude had an ugly record on paper but was a very good fighter at his best. Beat Mayweather, Bramble, and old Tony Lopez and a young Ty Trice. Great right hand.
Good call. Another guy I'd add is Alfredo Escalera.
Already gave him a mention...stop shaking your head.
Now that I'm thinking of Escalera, a guy I have heard was a damn good fighter but never really got to show it was Tyrone Everett. I never got to see him fight, but he was said to have outboxed Alfredo Escalera before getting the bad end of a decision. I wish I could have seen him in action.
Julio Cesar Vazquez was also underrated. He was one of the best Junior Middleweights of the 90's. Strong bastard with a good left hand. Wins over a younger Winky Wright, Javier Castillejo, Aaron Davis and Carl Daniels. Not bad...too bad he never fought Terry Norris. That would have been a good one.
He's still severely underrated.
The only people who even know who he is, are die hard boxing fans.
True, but that has to do with the division he fought on, it comes with the territory, that doesn't mean he's underrated, only means casual fans don't know much about those divisions.
I see very few people appreciating the skills of James Toney...He comes into fights with dangerous opposition totally out of shape and still has never been knocked out, hardly knocked down, and still manages to make people look silly.
Haha there isn't a damn thing underrated about James "Lights Out" Toney. If anything he borders flat out OVERRATED.
He beat Nunn and Jirov. Who else?
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I see very few people appreciating the skills of James Toney...He comes into fights with dangerous opposition totally out of shape and still has never been knocked out, hardly knocked down, and still manages to make people look silly.
Lopez was great for years in an obscure light division. Very few people are aware that Men that size even box, let alone there being a star fighter who weighs 100 pounds. Even if someone were to look at his record on paper, the average line of thinking is they'd denounce it because of his size.
It's hard enough for fighters under 140 pounds to make headlines unless they beat each other until they're both half retired.
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Just because he isn't popular does not mean he's underrated. Those that do know him rate him very high.
I think it's up for debate what "Underrated" means.
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He's still severely underrated.
The only people who even know who he is, are die hard boxing fans.
Just because he isn't popular does not mean he's underrated. Those that do know him rate him very high.
I will be honest with you, alot of the oscar "past his prime" talk has alot to do with underrating mayweathers win, you should have seen this place before the fight started, they deny it now, but people couldnt wait for oscar to land that left hook. that fight was hyped on here like nothing else, only after the fight do you see the shit youre seeing now.
Hasegawa, Daisuke Naito, Eagle Kyowa, Koki Kameda, Nobuo Nashiro, i have seen all those guys in action, they dont get much talk here because of their divisions, as well as the fact that those guys are NEVER on american tv, ever. Its hilarious to think that Nashiro became world champ with 7 wins like he was playing ring king.
Bingo! Anything to shut up Floyd nuthuggers works for everyone.
Regarded by many as the best flyweight in history, how the hell is that been underrated beats me
He's still severely underrated.
The only people who even know who he is, are die hard boxing fans.
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The man in my AV is the MOST UNDER RATED EVER. WAR MOTHERFUCKIN RICARDO LOPEZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Regarded by many as the best flyweight in history, how the hell is that been underrated beats me
Hozumi Hasegawa is by far the best of the bunch. Kyowa lost about like 8 months ago so he isn't a world champ. Nobou Nashiro upset Martin Castillo so that was a big win.
Here is a fight of Hasegawa's in english:
Saphrom wasn't as old as they were talking about. He only had 1 loss (in his 9th pro fight) going in and Hasegawa beat him. Then in the rematch Hasegawa looked amazing.
good stuff.
Emanuel Augustus. But I think a lot of people realize he had potential. I think he just liked smoking weed too much, which led him to not give his full potential. One fight he would get a huge upset, and another night he would look like he just wants the paycheck.