Underrated Boxing Skills

These guys had other qualities, like punching power or heart that seemed to make some forget how good they were at boxing....

Erik Morales
Julian Jackson
Arturo Gatti
Marvin Hagler
Acelino Freitas
Felix Trinidad

 

Trinidad? Really? I have a healthy respect for him, but his Boxing skills were pretty abysmal.

 

Well, he boxed the shit out of Whitaker. I personally think he had shit in his gloves, but nonetheless, as a welterweight he generally got it done in organized fashion.

Watch Trinidad/Carr. Or Trinidad/Camacho. Boxing to me is all about the jab and Trinidad knew how to use his.

 

Actually my first thought when I saw this thread was Tito. Sure if you think of his fights against ODLH, Hopkins, or Winky Wright where he didn't seem to have a clue he seems like the odd choice here. However if you look back to his welterweight days before ODLH he was a very good boxer who often was patient and pretty good at figuring out his opponents and slowly picking them apart.

It just seems like later in his career he fell in love with his power and got impatient.

 

Trinidad had horrible footwork.

 

Trinidad & Gatti, no.

 

I knew Tito's name would attract you ::

 

Good choices.

 

I used to like Trinidad, even had a couple of posters up of him as a teenager. But lets face it, the guy's lead leg was made out of varnished mahogany and Germany could get it's self ready for world war 3 in less time than it took him to set his feet under him.

 

word. Dude was seriously stiff...

 

morales, hagler - sure
freitas, trinidad, jackson - kind of
gatti - no way

 

The most underrated boxing skills in the history of boxing belong to Bernard Hopkins though.

Bernard, at his best, could box with the best of them...yet no one seems to think of him as a boxer.

 

If anything, his skills are over-rated.

 

Bernard Hopkins' skills overrated? Are you mad?

Look at the clinics he put on against Tito, Tarver and Pavlik. Look what he did to Echols when fighting the majority of that fight with one hand.

B-Hop can box! He was a master and one of the ATGs. :shadow:

 

I'm not disputing that. I'm just claiming that he can't box as well as people, "think" he can.

All you have to do is look at the opponents you've listed to support your claim that he's as great as people think. Pavlik? Trinidad? Echols? Pavlik at 175 no less?

Your opinion of Hopkins is a perfect example of how over-rated he is.

 

Chavez

 

Vitali.

 

Welterweight Trinidad was not a terrible boxer. Its just that in his defeats he was throughouly outboxed and beaten and people remember those more than anything else. However, as a welterweight pre 1999, Tito had a pretty good jab, was a good bodypuncher, made very good use of his height and reach, and threw good combinations. What he lacked was head movement, and his footwork was poor admittedly. De La Hoya and Hopkins were able to outbox him, but moreso Hopkins. Oscar if he had shown some balls could have beaten Trinidad but he was too scared of getting caught with a big punch so he gave the fight away.

I don't think Hopkins is underrated at all. At least not now. He shouldn't be. As he got older it seemed that he became more safety first. Seeming more concerned about making his opponents miss and not making them pay enough for it. But be that as it may, when he was on and at his best, I can't really say there were any real weaknesses. I think anything of him from 97-01 illustrates this very point.


Roy Jones has become underrated by a few after his fall from grace. Just a few, though. The majority remember him for being a great athlete and an intelligent fighter. Its not his fault the likes of Dariusz, Jirov, and Calzaghe wouldn't face him when he was in his prime.

 

Ridiculous argument. How does the level of competition affect how good someone's boxing skills are? You even mention an all time great in Trinidad as someone not fitting as a test.

Basically you're argument is, Hopkins isn't a great boxer, it's just that all the people he ever fought sucked. Well why don't you tell me what fighter you know that fought only hall of fame caliber fighters.

 

Tyson

 

my mom couldve outboxed whitaker at that point

lmao at him knowing how to use the jab... yeah, UNLESS HIS OPPONENT DID IT BACK

 

with Hagler, this is far and away the best pick in this thread

chavez was tremendously skillfull

 

Dwight Qawi. One of the more skilled pressure fighters theres been.

 

The "Hagler was a brawler" myth is a pet peeve of mine.

 

He was not out-of-place brawling, but real observers will know he was deeper than that.

 

Are you kidding me? Tell me you're being sarcastic.

A better question is, how in the fuck can you measure a fighter's boxing skills WITHOUT factoring in the level of competition? Because apparently you're comfortable doing so.

 

Mine too. And it's obviously said by folks who have not watched many Hagler fights.

 

More specifically, only the Hearns and Leonard fights.

 

you're just full of pet peeves. in fact, that's all you do is come on here and bitch about how people don't know as much as you do.

 

What's it like, Double? Spending so much time immersed in something and retaining/understanding so little?