Tweet
There are a lot of fighters that come to mind when I think of them being overrated. A lot when I think of boxers who are underrated. Then there are some that, I believe, people are confused about. That list, I happen to think, includes the following five boxers;
Bernard Hopkins
Joe Calzaghe
Paul Williams
Ricky Hatton
Antonio Margarito
Keep in mind, this is only my humble opinion, and it's based on the feeling I get from readers of this site, and this site only. Relatively speaking, of course.
BERNARD HOPKINS
EVIDENCE: He reigned as undisputed middleweight champion for roughly a decade. Controlled all the major titles and then some. He beat decent opposition in Antwun Echols, Robert Allen, Syd Vanderpool, William Joppy and Howard Eastman. He also beat both major challengers who stepped up in De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad. Glen Johnson is also a noticeable win. His only notable losses, disregarding the debut loss at the hands of a no-namer, are to Jones and Jermain Taylor, twice. Both atleast slightly disputed. He then moved up and beat Tarver for the TRUE world Lightheavyweight title and defended against the under-sized, but slick Winky Wright. Is set to face the true Super Middleweight champion in his upcoming megafight. Made 20 successful defenses of his Middleweight title.
VERDICT: Unless you're someone calling him the BEST middleweight of all time, it's hard to overrate him. No matter how hard to try to angle it, it's hard to call that OVERRATED. He has had a GREAT career.
JOE CALZAGHE
EVIDENCE: Has had 20 PLUS defenses of his title at SMW. Is recognized as the true champion at 168. Undefeated since becoming a pro. Has wins over the likes of Chris Eubanks, Robin Reid, Omar Sheika, Sakio Bika, Jeff Lacy, Peter Manfredo and Mikkel Kessler. In fights with his best opposition, he seems to shine the brightest. Losing, at the MOST a combined 6 rounds in all three fights with Lacy, Manfredo and Kessler. Will be moving up to face TRUE LHW champion in Bernard Hopkins.
VERDICT: Hard, once again to overrate someone with those qualifications. Both he and Hopkins, essentially get the same wrap. Sometimes, it's not who you're doing the damage to, though. It's how well you do it. Both he and Hopkins box, WONDERFULLY. And they have for EXTENDED periods of time.
PAUL WILLIAMS
EVIDENCE: Truly his only notable wins come over Sharmba Mitchell and Antonio Margarito. One fighter, slightly faded and the other with his own reputation in question. He, nonetheless handled both well and even managed to stop Mitchell, a durable fighter. Has a portion of the welterweight title, though lacks the TRUE title. Has remained undefeated as a pro.
VERDICT: With the type of praise he gets, I'd consider him a BIT overrated. He has a great jab/overall offense. Nonetheless, he has lapses in his defense, is susceptible to a solid, sustained body attack and can get a bit lazy with his jab. He's also not beaten enough name fighters to have some claiming, he'll be the number one fighter in the world. Some making claims that he'd dominate the p4p champion. It's a bit early to claim it. Could happen, but it's still a bit early. I like the guy, I'm just saying.
RICKY HATTON
EVIDENCE: Has one loss, coming at the hands of the p4p best fighter in the world, Floyd Mayweather. Otherwise, has gone on to beat Vince Phillips, Ben Tackie, Carlos Maussa, Luis Collazo, and Jose Luis Castillo. He also has a career-defining win in beating Kostya Tszyu, who had reigned as UNIFIED, UNDISPUTED 140 pound champion for a rather long time. Handed him a stoppage defeat, in front of a sellout crowd in the M.E.N. Arena. 42 fights before tasting defeat.
VERDICT: He's a hard call. It depends on the fan you're asking. You ask one of his die-hard fans, then yes he is overrated. If you ask a normal fan, who is neither a hater, nor a nuthugger and you'll get the truth. He's a very solid, above-average fighter with a lot of will and heart. He can beat a lot of top 140 pounders, STILL, after his lone defeat.
ANTONIO MARGARITO
EVIDENCE: Three of his losses came relativelt early in his career, before he buckled down and stay commited to the sport. Had a stretch of 20 wins before losing his 4th fight due to a cut caused by a headbutt. Last loss was to Paul Williams. Has wins over Andrew Lewis, Kermit Cintron, Joshua Clottey and Golden Johnson. Held a piece of the welterweight title for close to 10 fights. (His second-to-last loss was at 154 to Santos, involving the cut situation.)
VERDICT: Honestly, he is overrated. Due to two major things. For one, he has fans but his numbers are limited. His fans are diehard and rabid. When only a select group focuses on you and tries to show you the attention they feel you deserve, they tend to go a bit overboard. Secondly, he's not often given the chances that he deserves. Because even with 5 losses, he's a challenge for anyone at 147. If he and Cotto get by their next challenges, we'll see where he truly belongs.
There are plenty more I could get into. De La Hoya, Mayweather, Cotto, Pavlik, Taylor. But I wont. For one reason or another. Some are just foolish to question, some are going to SOONER rather then later shed more light on the issue then I could. Nonetheless; discuss, disagree, debate.
Bernard Hopkins
Joe Calzaghe
Paul Williams
Ricky Hatton
Antonio Margarito
Keep in mind, this is only my humble opinion, and it's based on the feeling I get from readers of this site, and this site only. Relatively speaking, of course.
BERNARD HOPKINS
EVIDENCE: He reigned as undisputed middleweight champion for roughly a decade. Controlled all the major titles and then some. He beat decent opposition in Antwun Echols, Robert Allen, Syd Vanderpool, William Joppy and Howard Eastman. He also beat both major challengers who stepped up in De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad. Glen Johnson is also a noticeable win. His only notable losses, disregarding the debut loss at the hands of a no-namer, are to Jones and Jermain Taylor, twice. Both atleast slightly disputed. He then moved up and beat Tarver for the TRUE world Lightheavyweight title and defended against the under-sized, but slick Winky Wright. Is set to face the true Super Middleweight champion in his upcoming megafight. Made 20 successful defenses of his Middleweight title.
VERDICT: Unless you're someone calling him the BEST middleweight of all time, it's hard to overrate him. No matter how hard to try to angle it, it's hard to call that OVERRATED. He has had a GREAT career.
JOE CALZAGHE
EVIDENCE: Has had 20 PLUS defenses of his title at SMW. Is recognized as the true champion at 168. Undefeated since becoming a pro. Has wins over the likes of Chris Eubanks, Robin Reid, Omar Sheika, Sakio Bika, Jeff Lacy, Peter Manfredo and Mikkel Kessler. In fights with his best opposition, he seems to shine the brightest. Losing, at the MOST a combined 6 rounds in all three fights with Lacy, Manfredo and Kessler. Will be moving up to face TRUE LHW champion in Bernard Hopkins.
VERDICT: Hard, once again to overrate someone with those qualifications. Both he and Hopkins, essentially get the same wrap. Sometimes, it's not who you're doing the damage to, though. It's how well you do it. Both he and Hopkins box, WONDERFULLY. And they have for EXTENDED periods of time.
PAUL WILLIAMS
EVIDENCE: Truly his only notable wins come over Sharmba Mitchell and Antonio Margarito. One fighter, slightly faded and the other with his own reputation in question. He, nonetheless handled both well and even managed to stop Mitchell, a durable fighter. Has a portion of the welterweight title, though lacks the TRUE title. Has remained undefeated as a pro.
VERDICT: With the type of praise he gets, I'd consider him a BIT overrated. He has a great jab/overall offense. Nonetheless, he has lapses in his defense, is susceptible to a solid, sustained body attack and can get a bit lazy with his jab. He's also not beaten enough name fighters to have some claiming, he'll be the number one fighter in the world. Some making claims that he'd dominate the p4p champion. It's a bit early to claim it. Could happen, but it's still a bit early. I like the guy, I'm just saying.
RICKY HATTON
EVIDENCE: Has one loss, coming at the hands of the p4p best fighter in the world, Floyd Mayweather. Otherwise, has gone on to beat Vince Phillips, Ben Tackie, Carlos Maussa, Luis Collazo, and Jose Luis Castillo. He also has a career-defining win in beating Kostya Tszyu, who had reigned as UNIFIED, UNDISPUTED 140 pound champion for a rather long time. Handed him a stoppage defeat, in front of a sellout crowd in the M.E.N. Arena. 42 fights before tasting defeat.
VERDICT: He's a hard call. It depends on the fan you're asking. You ask one of his die-hard fans, then yes he is overrated. If you ask a normal fan, who is neither a hater, nor a nuthugger and you'll get the truth. He's a very solid, above-average fighter with a lot of will and heart. He can beat a lot of top 140 pounders, STILL, after his lone defeat.
ANTONIO MARGARITO
EVIDENCE: Three of his losses came relativelt early in his career, before he buckled down and stay commited to the sport. Had a stretch of 20 wins before losing his 4th fight due to a cut caused by a headbutt. Last loss was to Paul Williams. Has wins over Andrew Lewis, Kermit Cintron, Joshua Clottey and Golden Johnson. Held a piece of the welterweight title for close to 10 fights. (His second-to-last loss was at 154 to Santos, involving the cut situation.)
VERDICT: Honestly, he is overrated. Due to two major things. For one, he has fans but his numbers are limited. His fans are diehard and rabid. When only a select group focuses on you and tries to show you the attention they feel you deserve, they tend to go a bit overboard. Secondly, he's not often given the chances that he deserves. Because even with 5 losses, he's a challenge for anyone at 147. If he and Cotto get by their next challenges, we'll see where he truly belongs.
There are plenty more I could get into. De La Hoya, Mayweather, Cotto, Pavlik, Taylor. But I wont. For one reason or another. Some are just foolish to question, some are going to SOONER rather then later shed more light on the issue then I could. Nonetheless; discuss, disagree, debate.
Comment