Boxing’s 10 most overrated stars

It's no secret that some boxers get elevated to spots beyond their abilities and/or accomplishments. Somewhere between hype and wishful thinking, the fans and so-called experts rate these fighters highly when their respective skills and/or resumes tell a different story altogether. Here's a look at 10 fighters who get much more acclaim than their talents and resumes demand: 1. Arthur Abraham (32-2, 26 KOs) In three years as a middleweight titleholder and two more years as a top-ranked challenger before that, Abraham's only real fight of note was a brutal back-and-forth brawl with Edison Miranda. The rest of his fights were against fringe contenders, washed-up former contenders, and club fighters. As a super middleweight, Abraham scored a KO over the badly faded Jermain Taylor before being outclassed by both Carl Froch and Andre Dirrell. He's set to face Andre Ward next and the chances of a win are not good. 2. Marcos Maidana (30-2, 27 KOs) Although exciting and heavy-handed, the junior welterweight from Argentina has a crude skill set and a seeming inability to win the "big one." Although he bested Victor Ortiz in their 2009 war, Maidana has failed to come up big against other Top-10 talents such as Amir Khan and Andreas Kotelnik. Most recently, his limited skills were highlighted by a near loss to the well-weathered former featherweight champ Erik Morales. 3. Michael Katsidis (27-4, 22 KOs) Katsidis "The Great" is a good guy and a compelling performer, but he's not deserving of his status as a top challenger. Promoted as a modern-day Arturo Gatti, Katsidis has failed to be competitive in most of his biggest fights. Robert Guerrero and Juan Diaz cruised to easy decisions while Juan Manuel Marquez and Joel Casamayor both stopped the hard-charging Australian. Katsidis can hang with the second-tier fighters and fringe contenders, but he just isn't the star that everyone wants him to be. 4. Devon Alexander (21-1, 13 KOs) The southpaw from St. Louis was regarded as a top junior welterweight until back-to-back tepid performances against Andreas Kotelnik and Timothy Bradley brought Alexander back down to reality. The fact of the matter is that the 24-year-old former titleholder is good enough to beat guys like Juan Urango and Junior Witter, but he falls well short of the elite of the division – at least for now. 5. Chris Arreola (30-2, 26 KOs) Arreola seems to be a good guy and, let's face it, the United States is desperate for an American heavyweight to be proud of. Unfortunately, despite the wishful thinking and well-crafted promotion, Arreola just isn't that type of fighter. Plagued with weight and motivation issues, Arreola has yet to beat a single Top 10-level heavyweight and has come up short both times he tried to step up – suffering a RTD 10 loss to Vitali Klitschko and a majority decision loss to Tomasz Adamek. 6. Dmitry Pirog (18-0, 14 KOs) When Russian middleweight Pirog beat highly regarded Golden Boy prospect Daniel Jacobs, the natural reaction was to proclaim Pirog as the "next big thing." However, since that TKO win in July 2010, he has had only one lackluster win against an unknown club fighter. Prior to the Jacobs bout, Pirog had feasted on a pedestrian collection of Eastern European club fighters and faded veterans. 7. Tomasz Adamek (44-1, 28 KOs) As a light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion, Adamek was solid, sound, and far from overrated. As a heavyweight, though, the Polish tough man has been judged very generously by those with more optimism than actual basis in reality. Adamek, while entertaining, has only one win of note at heavyweight – a majority decision over Chris Arreola. Other than that, his heavyweight resume consists of journeymen and he still hasn't looked particularly special. Adamek is due to take on WBC champ Vitali Klitschko later in the year. 8. Mike Jones (24-0, 18 KOs) Wishful thinking has pushed this 28-year old Philadelphian into a position beyond where his skills and/or resume would dictate. Eager to proclaim a next-generation American welterweight, fans and media have made Jones the next big thing at 147 pounds. However, other than a couple of close wins over Jesus Soto Karass, Jones has fought an overall unimpressive level of competition and has looked rather pedestrian on most occasions. 9. Saul Alvarez (36-0-1, 26 KOs) Maybe someday the 20-year-old redhead from Jalisco, Mexico, will be something special, worthy of the world title he wears and the prime, network exposure he receives. But right now, "El Canelo" is little more than a kid dangling his feet into the deep end of the junior middleweight talent pool. With wins over Matthew Hatton and Carlos Baldomir representing the high-water mark of his resume, Alvarez is nothing more than a prospect, albeit one with a tremendous promotional push behind him. 10. Adrian Diaconu (27-2, 15 KOs) The Canada-based Romanian constantly finds himself ranked among the best in the light heavyweight division, including a lofty No. 6 placement in Ring Magazine, but a closer inspection of Diaconu's career makes one question this logic. Other than a close win over Chris Henry in 2008, Diaconu has never even come close to beating a ranked fighter and, at times, has even struggled with marginal competition. Link