Almost an ATG But Not Quite

[Slugfester]

We know all about Angus MacAskill. Talk about hyperbole! Lol

Yes, a man of exaggerated size but normal proportions.

Maybe he came off as a bit slow and childlike to his contemporaries because he was. There are a couple of recorded instances of normal men seemingly unafraid to tease, badger and hector him to perform improvised stunts and feats of strength. This probably flattered him a bit, but not when it became abusive.

What am I Doing telling you? You know Angus better than any man alive!

[famicommander]

Mikey Garcia.

126: WBO/Ring Magazine (missed weight on 1st defense but won)
130: WBO (1 defense, moved up)
135: WBC/IBF (won WBC, unified with the IBF on 1st defense, moved up)
140: IBF/Lineal (recognized by TBRB)

Past/reigning/future world titlists fought (no Regular or interim):
W vs Mauricio Pastrana KO 2
W vs Orlando Salido TD 9
W vs Juan Manuel Lopez TKO 4
W vs Rocky Martinez KO 8
W vs Dejan Zlaticanin KO 3
W vs Adrien Broner UD 12
W vs Sergey Lipinets UD 12
W vs Robert Easter Jr. UD 12
L vs Errol Spence Jr. UD 12
W vs Jessie Vargas UD 12

Other losses:
vs Sandor Martin UD 12

Obvious Hall of Famer, great fighter, but not quite an all time great.

[kara]

Yes, a man of exaggerated size but normal proportions.

Maybe he came off as a bit slow and childlike to his contemporaries because he was. There are a couple of recorded instances of normal men seemingly unafraid to tease, badger and hector him to perform improvised stunts and feats of strength. This probably flattered him a bit, but not when it became abusive.

What am I Doing telling you? You know Angus better than any man alive!

Good points.

[Willow The Wisp]

My B.Scene pal billeau2 wrote: "To me fighters that were almost ATG fighters often are fighters we just do not know enough about, but we know they were highly regarded... Guys like Joe Choyinsky, Harry Wills, etc. To me, an almost ATG should be an ATG but for uncertainty".
That's qualification of the issue right there.

Greatness is in the eye of the beholder and the line is fixed less, I believe, on the statistics and more by the the respect one has for the athletes, and one's understanding of what it actually takes to win a long string of fights against a same size, same motivated athlete under these "no shortcuts" MOQ fight rules.
Don't mean to blunt the meaning of the question, as it's a good thread filled with good responses.

[Slugfester]

Mikey Garcia.

126: WBO/Ring Magazine (missed weight on 1st defense but won)
130: WBO (1 defense, moved up)
135: WBC/IBF (won WBC, unified with the IBF on 1st defense, moved up)
140: IBF/Lineal (recognized by TBRB)

Past/reigning/future world titlists fought (no Regular or interim):
W vs Mauricio Pastrana KO 2
W vs Orlando Salido TD 9
W vs Juan Manuel Lopez TKO 4
W vs Rocky Martinez KO 8
W vs Dejan Zlaticanin KO 3
W vs Adrien Broner UD 12
W vs Sergey Lipinets UD 12
W vs Robert Easter Jr. UD 12
L vs Errol Spence Jr. UD 12
W vs Jessie Vargas UD 12

Other losses:
vs Sandor Martin UD 12

Obvious Hall of Famer, great fighter, but not quite an all time great.

Great Pick. Mikey Garcia. With the right career choices he might could have put himself among conversations of ATGness, the elite. Spence was a terribly arrogant career choice for Mikey.

[famicommander]

Great Pick. Mikey Garcia. With the right career choices he might could have put himself among conversations of ATGness, the elite. Spence was a terribly arrogant career choice for Mikey.

It was ballsy. He wanted to become a 5 division titlist, which would have put him on a list that so far only includes:
Tommy Hearns (and that's only if you include WBO titles before they were recognized by the WBC, WBA, or IBF)
Sugar Ray Leonard
Oscar De La Hoya
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Manny Pacquiao

But yeah, Spence was all wrong for Mikey. Not sure the other titlists of the time (Thurman, Crawford, Porter, Danny G) would've been beatable for Mikey either. But if he'd been at 147 when guys like Vargas, Broner, Ghost Guerrero, or Berto were walking around with belts he might've had a shot.

[kara]

I wonder how Josh Taylor is looked at now.

[QueensburyRules]

It was ballsy. He wanted to become a 5 division titlist, which would have put him on a list that so far only includes:
Tommy Hearns (and that's only if you include WBO titles before they were recognized by the WBC, WBA, or IBF)
Sugar Ray Leonard
Oscar De La Hoya
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Manny Pacquiao

But yeah, Spence was all wrong for Mikey. Not sure the other titlists of the time (Thurman, Crawford, Porter, Danny G) would've been beatable for Mikey either. But if he'd been at 147 when guys like Vargas, Broner, Ghost Guerrero, or Berto were walking around with belts he might've had a shot.

- - Mikey better than most in the HOF. Falling down in his career, retirement for lack of motivation better than hanging on. He made his $$$, was a star, and finally could care less about the discipline needed and has blow up to 200 lbs or more, but has the best tacos in the world like Andy Ruiz, so if any of them want to invite me over for tacos and beer, I'm all in!!!

[famicommander]

I wonder how Josh Taylor is looked at now.

He has good wins over Miguel Vazquez, Viktor Postol, Ivan Baranchyk, Regis Prograis, and Jose Ramirez. He became the legitimate undisputed and lineal champion at 140.

He got a gift against Catterall and he got his ass whooped by Lopez but neither of those fights erase what he accomplished before. Even if Taylor never wins another fight he's likely a Hall of Famer. Not an all time great, though.

[kara]

He has good wins over Miguel Vazquez, Viktor Postol, Ivan Baranchyk, Regis Prograis, and Jose Ramirez. He became the legitimate undisputed and lineal champion at 140.

He got a gift against Catterall and he got his ass whooped by Lopez but neither of those fights erase what he accomplished before. Even if Taylor never wins another fight he's likely a Hall of Famer. Not an all time great, though.

What do you think about his standing in Scotland?