Which fighters do you feel are historically overrated

[IronDanHamza]

Not sure I agree with this. He had a great left hook to the body and a left uppercut on the inside.

Show me the fights where he did this consistently because I've seen all his footage and I must have missed it.

[ShoulderRoll]

He's scored knockouts and knockdowns with both punches. I don't know if that counts as consistent but it certainly shouldn't count as non existent.

[billeau2]

Well as far as the nostalgia thing I will let Juggernaught respond to that.

Imo Dempsey in the top 3 is absurd and that makes me think he is even more overrated than i originally thought. If experts who witnessed him say he is top 3 based on the eye test then fair enough but resume/longevity wise I don't think he is top 10.

well I don't do lists for a reason. People always seem to lose something when the list is made, its very difficult to really get a sense of "better" of "worse" in the linear, discursive nature of a list.

I don't mean to sell Dempsey to you, just explaining why Dempsey appears on these lists at times. It is particulatly signficant that when guys alive who saw Louis and Ali when they ruled the roost often chose Dempsey...Its certainly not due to nostalgia, whether one agrees, or finds others more worthy.

[billeau2]

great post, Mike Tyson is one of the most knowledgeable boxing historians on the planet. Tyson rates Dempsey as the greatest ever. Also Ray Arcel rated Dempsey as the greatest ever. Fighters of Dempsey's era like Sam Langford & Gene Tunney rated Dempsey as the greatest fighter they ever seen in their lives.

Thank you and its funny you say that because Tyson happens to be smart as a whip when it comes to Pigeons and boxing.

[IronDanHamza]

He's scored knockouts and knockdowns with both punches. I don't know if that counts as consistent but it certainly shouldn't count as non existent.

I don't see a single second of inside work on that highlight video.

I'm seeing Lopez pick off shots from distance.

When he walks you down and goes for the finish he's still keeping distance.

[billeau2]

Ok here are some guys I thnk are overrated:

Joe Calzighe

Caesar Chavez

Oscar De La Hoya

[ShoulderRoll]

I don't see a single second of inside work on that highlight video.

I'm seeing Lopez pick off shots from distance.

When he walks you down and goes for the finish he's still keeping distance.

There's a left uppercut on the inside about 35 seconds into the video. From 39 seconds to about 43 seconds....that looks like inside fighting to me. 2:05 to 2:08 seems like infighting.

In this gif he throws a compact hook at about as close a distance as you can get:



And here he closes from long range beautifully but then finishes from in close:


Maybe we should clarify what you mean by inside work, though. Do you mean things like shoulder bumps and maneuvering with the head?

[The Old LefHook]

Historical ratings are era-bound. Contemporary fighters are commonly overrated by their contemporaries, whereas oldimers are characteristically overrated by oldtimers remembering their primes. This I have observed convincingly over the years. Personally, I feel that the only division contemporaries might do half well in is the heavyweight, where they would enjoy a 35 lbs. + advantage.

As for advancements in technique, we have seen that commodity is very rare, hand to hand combat being thousands of years old. The old bodies were as hard as the contemporary ones.

If you want to know who is overrated, be aware if you are talking to an oldtimer or a contemporary. They will each overrate a different set of great fighters. People may not like that fact, but I know it to be sociologically true.

[REMOVE SHARK 55]

Sugar Ray Robinson

Roy Jones Jr

Mike Tyson

Tommy Hearns

My standouts. There's a few more. Just to make clear I'm talking purely about Boxing skills not greatness.

[Boxer992]

most ancient fighters