The most underrated fighter ever

No Trplsec it is not Mike McCallum, who is "knowledgeable" boxing fans' favorite choice for this kind of thing.

IMO, by far the most underrated guy is Michael Spinks.

Seriously, when do boxing people EVER talk about Spinks. He has the deepest and best Lt. Heavyweight resume ever, did not lose until a prime Tyson, and in close/debatable fights dethroned Larry Holmes at HW, and keeping him from matching marciano's undefeated mark.

EVERYONE, (for the most part) got their shot in the deepest 175 division ever.

The Jinx is a great, great fighter, who needs some long awaited praise.

 

4 division champ, Leo Gamez!

 

Spinks was a great fight. Don't disagree. Underrated. Overrated. Always in context with who you talk to.

 

You make a good point, actually. Right up there with Charles and Foster among the greatest LHWs ever.

 

I don't think Spinks was under-rated during the time he was fighting. He was thought of as a wonder in the LHW division and one of the all-time greats even then.

In hindsight, the fact he hung with Larry Holmes for two fights (whether you think he won or lost both fights) is all the more impressive.

I think he has become quite under-rated since his retirement and the Tyson debacle has a lot to do with that I think.

 

I don't disgaree with your assessment of Spinks' career, but I've never heard of anyone speaking of Spinks at lightheavy with anything less than glowing praise. Spinks is considered one of the very best ever at his weight class and I've never heard anyone say otherwise.

I don't know that he's underrated. He may not get a lot of press these days, but I think anyone who knows boxing knows how great Spinks was at Lightheavy.

The only valid complaint against Spinks was his sitting on the heavyweight title for an extended period and avoiding any serious challenges while waiting for the big payday against Tyson.

I don't mark him down for the result in the Tyson fight. Nothing he did or didn't do was going to change the result of that fight.

 

I think Spinks is pretty well respected, at least by the knowledgable fans. I think he is universally regarded with Charles, Foster and Moore as one of the greatest LHWs of all time and his outstanding level of opposition (only Charles rivals him there) has a lot to do with it.
He was a great one. I do think that the loss to Tyson is what teenyboppers know him for, but the older more established fans of the sport give him his due as one of the truly special fighters of all time

He has seldom ever lost a 175 Mythical matchup that I can remember

I would say that there are more underrated fighters... how many people talk about Pascual Perez these days? or Fighting Harada? Eusebio Pedroza is more famous for losing to Barry McGuigan (in his TWENTIETH title defense) then he is for anything else... Many people dont even realize that Bantamweight kingpin Manuel Ortiz (18 defenses over two reigns) ever existed

 

the answer to this question is clearly - Veerapol Sahaprom

 

agRASULBUTLERd

 

I have always considered Michael to be one of the top five lightheavys ever.

But: he was bounced around and beaten up by a guy named Eddie Davis who should have won the championship, but Mike was saved by some really strange scoring.

It is Bobby Foster and everyone else as far as I am concerned, but Spinks was a great one to be sure!

 

Antonio Cervantes has to be up there.

 

Spinks is Underrated by "Mainstream" Fans, Because they Only Know him as a 1st Round Tyson Casualty...But Hardcore Fans R Fully Aware of who Spinks Is & WHAT he Did...

Being the 1st Lightheavy Champ to Win a Heavyweight Title, Spinks' Name will B Referenced til the End of Time...Being Born & Raised N St. Louis, REED Looooooooooooooves Michael Spinks & it's a SHAME the Dude Doesn't Get Out to MORE Fights....



REED:hammert:

 

Fuckin A. I couldn't agree more

 

Sumbu Kalambay is HIGHLY underrated, and the reason being is probably cause of the Nunn fight. Sumbu would easily be a top 5 P4Pder today.

He'd have pitched a shut out over Pavlik... but my guess is Arum would have never allowed Kelly within 100 miles of Kalambay.

 

Bob Foster was the BEST 175 pounder I ever saw. In a matchup, I wouldn't favour another light heavyweight over him, ever.

However, Ezzard was the GREATEST lh ever. His resume was spastically good.

 

I go back n forth about Spinks vs Foster all time. But more times than not... I like Bob. He was taller and rangier than Spinks... and my GOD that left hook could knock a man dead.

I cant even pick my boy Roy over Bob Foster at 175.

 

What always amazed me most about Foster, was that with all his size and ridiculous power...he had incredibly quick and accurate hands. He could crank out that left hook from range and still clock you with it.

He was equally as effective on the back foot too. His performance against Finnegan was amazing for a guy of his size, IMO. Just the best packaged 175 pounder ever.

 

REED's Gives Spinks the EDGE Over Foster...Better RESUME @ Lightheavy AND More Success @ Heavyweight...


REED:hammert:

 

If Im doing all-time rankings, I do too. Always ranked Spinks over Foster P4P wise. But not @ 175 and especially not in a matchup against each other.

 

Spinks is a DIFFICULT Guy to Guage N Mythical Matchups...He was Often AWKWARD, GANGLY & Downright UGLY to Watch @ Times...There was No FLUIDITY to Spinks...His Footwork was DELIBERATE & his Punches Weren't Always TEXTBOOK...

Spinks DIDN'T Generate Alot of STYLE Points, he was just VERY Effective N a HERKY-JERKY Kind of Way...Foster was More PLEASING to the Pugilistic Eye...



REED:hammert:

 

Again, I don't disagree there at all.

 

Yeah... Foster did have very fast hands.

 

dsimon writes:

Good to have you back...It appears that you are making sense again with the Chavez thread and this one as well.

The problem with spinx is indeed the beatdown Tyson laid upon him. For one thing Tyson is not even that big a heavy weight.

Also how about Mccallum? Maybe Benitez..... It does all depend on how you look at em

 

dsimon writes:

on the subject of light heavies Spinx was the man but Moore gets points for doing it with style and technique. IMO Foster would win and Spinks also but Moore looked the best at 175 and had the best boxing technical ability... LIke anyone cares though! ::

 

It is a myth that I hate on everyone that fought prior to me being born.

Objectivity is something that apparently takes a lack of experience to have. Anyone could watch Chavez/Benitez/Whitaker/Spinks/Foster/Charles/others and see they are truly special fighters.

Mike Tyson circa 1988, is an absolute beast. Kid Dynamite was an idiot, Tyson is nowhere near invincible, but he was a tremendous fighter. There are few guys I'd favor over Prime Tyson, nobody with Spinks-style could beat Tyson in that time. Nobody that tried to move would be able to take down Tyson at that time.

There are certain myths that float around these "knowledgeable" circles about everything, and thats the way shit is. There are "educated" people who argue RJJ isn't a top 20 fighter in history. Thats fucking nonsense. There are educated people who say beating Tyson was a matter of getting into his head. Thats fucking nonsense. It is the way things go.

Before this thread, nobody had talked about Michael Spinks in a year, I can assure you of that. Spinks resume at 175 is analogous to Ali's at HW, and Spinks won EVERY SINGLE FIGHT.

 

those are the first two I thought of as well. Harada especially. Good call on Ortiz as well, I must admit I'm guilty of completely forgetting about him at times. Flash Elorde is another forgotten man.

 

The correct answer for "Most underrated fighter ever" is Jung-Koo Chang. And thats not even close.

 

This is actually true, when i really think about it i don't know if any other great fighter is as underrated as Chang

 

What? Spinks has his name thrown into every discussion about great Light Heavies.

On the other hand, how often is McCallum's name mentioned with the holy quartet of Hearns, Leonard, Duran and Hagler? The answer is never, unless I get involved in the thread.

::

 

agreed on both counts

Spinks belongs in their company certainly