Most Overated Fighters of all Time

[kevvy1979]

Lewis was in my opinion,just because of his chin.If Mccall did not break down in the secound fight,Lewis would not be mentioned as he is as a Top 15 HW of all time.

[acquitted]

mike tyson

roberto duran

muhhamad ali

[SonnyG8R]

mike tyson

roberto duran

muhhamad ali

In the movie Dumb and Dumber, which one were you?

[TysonForeman]

I'm very surprised at some of the fighters you guys say are overrated.
Rocky Marciano: Only fighter IN HISTORY to have a perfect record.
Roberto Duran: Champ from 135-160 right?
Unless you think these two guys were invincible, then it's hard to overrate them.

Lennox Lewis is in my opinion not overrated, simply because alot of people have serious doubts about him. I don't think of him as being all that great.
Ali in a way is overrated. He is one of the greatest Heavyweights ever, but the general public thinks he was God.

[Sir_Jose]

Lewis was in my opinion,just because of his chin.If Mccall did not break down in the secound fight,Lewis would not be mentioned as he is as a Top 15 HW of all time.

Really?

so want to tell me how McCall was doing in that fight?

[chito]

I was thinking....Who does everybody here think are the most overated fighters of all time. I don't mean fighters who did not live up to their potential (ie Tyson, Toney, David Reid) I mean fighters that may have had or are having great careers are doing their best but you believe are given more credit than they deserve.

The first three that come to mind are:

1)Rocky Marciano- Something should be said for retiring undefeated, but his career was largely a case of being in the right place in the right time. He beat Jersey Joe Walcott for the title (already and old man) fought a past his prime Joe Louis and Archie Moore (who almost beat him) and there were no real good young up and coming heavyweights to challenge him. He was around 8-10 years prior to the rise of Ali. He also retired just in time to not have to fight Floyd Patterson. If he was boxing 5 years earlier or later, I doubt he would have been undefeated.

2)Lennox Lewis-May be the best SUPER HEAVYWEIGHT of all time. If there was a division for people of his size, but the fact of the matter was he was a good fighter beating other good people who he had 5-6 inches of height on (at least) and who were giving away 20 pounds or more in weight to. Good big man almost always beats good smaller dude. Yet he still managed to get knocked out by Oliver McCall, Hasim Rachman, and lose to Evander Holyfield on the downside of his career. (No not his first fight where he got screwed out of the decision, the second fight they said he won) He also arguably loss to Ray Mercer. Lennox is not even in my all time heavyweight top 15 maybe not even top 20. In a mediocre era of heavyweights he was only just good.

3)Oscar De La Hoya-Here's why. He has won titles in 5 weight classes true and he is an excellent boxer. But the media hype machine (and throngs of female fans) have made him out to be a better boxer than he is. Its also given him a host of questionable decisions from Whittaker to Ike Quartery, to Felix Sturm just recently. If Hop had let it go to the cards he might have set himself up for a screw job as well. He's a great fighter, but he's had a very carefully managed career that has allowed him to make the most of his oppurtunities and pad his record with impressive (on paper wins). When he's been put in front of someone of equal or better talent he's lost (Tito, Hop, Mosley) although if he hadn't run he would have beat Tito.

I'm sure there are more what do you guys think? Do you agree with my choices, who are your choices?

No one in your list is overrated. If i were to say Hamed is overrated, would you agree? Anyone, what do you think?

[MikeHunt]

What about Ken Norton? Talk about overrated.............

[GxBrak]

Ken Norton was by no means great but he also fought in one of the most difficult eras in boxing (Ali, Frazier, Foreman). He wasnt quite at their level even though he did manage to break Ali's jaw and eventually win in their first match that solidified him as a big name in boxing.

[jabsRstiff]

There is no question the most overrated fighter of all time is Mike Tyson.

He was a phenom in the 80's, there's no question about that. But, even then.....the way folks went nuts about his invincibility was ridiculous.
You could see from the Tony Tucker fight that Mike had limitations....which would be exposed by a heavyweight with real skills & the balls to use them.

You can see how overrated Mike was by the way so many EXCUSED all of his losses.
So many couldn't handle that he lost because of his own limitations as a fighter. They HAD TO attribute it to outside causes, & that's because they were BLINDED by the excitement he generated. They all overrated what he could get done in there.

Look at how many people still think Mike is worth a damn today !
Just proves so many have never viewed his abilities with a clear mind.

[pinkpanther]

People will probably shoot me down for this but this is what I belive: Lets start with the guys that the origional thread mentioned Lewis, Marciano and De La Hoya, I struggle with all of these, I don't think any are overated they all deserve the plaudits they recieve. And as for the guy who claimed Duran was overated, please, Duran if anything is one of the most underated!

My list would involve the names:

Tyson. The guy beat all of the opponents he beat outside the ring because he scared the **** out of them, In the ring he had plenty of fizz in his punches and sure when he was in his prime he also had underated hand speed, however the guy had a suspect chin and questionable stamina and heart I'm affraid. Tyson fans will argure but he ain't a top 10-15 of all time heavies - sorry. The big fights against other guys who would be up on that top 10 - 15 list I affrad he didn't get the job done. He has throughout (inserted for the people who claim that Tysons career should be looked at in two parts)his career lost fights to some average fighters.

Ali - The greatest, not in my opinion. I have him in my top 10 (all weights)of all time just, at about 7-8. He is not the greatest boxer to ever live, he may have been the greatest ambasador for the sport, although I feel thats highly questionable. He was hyped by the media because he also, as well as being a superb fighter, had a brain and a sparkling personality. The whole Ali persona drove a huge media band wagon that just rolled and rolled. Great but not the greatest I'm affraid.

And one for the more recent, Sharmba Mitchell - vastly overated in my opinion, never really beaten anybody of note his whole career spanning over 50 fights. Yeah he can box, yes he's slick and can throw combo's and dance but does really poses any real defining attributes. He has hung around the Jnr Welterweight division won a soft belt on a couple of occasions and run round shouting about it, more worryingly he seems to have convinced the majority of the US that he's a bit tasty. Everytime he has faced a real quality fighter in his career he's come up short: Stevie Johnston, Kostya Tyszu and rather more worryingly Lavander Johnson - sorry hes ain't that great.