List some guys who were overrated in their primes, but have been so ripped since that they're now underrated. There's three guys who come to mind for me: Norris: He was unbelievably overrated on forums 20 years ago. However, he's been ripped apart so much in recent years that now I think he's a little underrated. Not a Leonard, Hearns level fighter, but some people talk about Terry like he was Andre Berto. Mosley: In 2001 he was one of the most overrated fighters of all time. I despised him. But he's been so heavily criticized since, and forgotten about post-retirement. I think fans now underrate him, just because he never lived up to the Leonard and Robinson moniker. Shane was a special fighter from 98-01. Ricardo Lopez: Same as the two above. He was overrated as all Hell on forums and by the media 20-25 years ago. Nowadays his opposition gets so criticized that he's gotten underrated. He ain't in the class of Chavez, Sanchez, and Olivares, but nonetheless, he was a great great fighter.
Another one who comes to mind: Michalczewski: He was extremely overrated 20-25 years ago. Now, he's almost treated like a joke. He was an excellent fighter.
Kingpetch for many years, decades even, had a reputation as a lower weight atg based mostly on inaccurate western reports being the primary source for his exploits. He took a hit though when footage of the Harada, Ebihara and Perez fights became more widely available, mostly being thought of as a very good but protected fighter, derided for the skulduggery in Thailand and his ties to the king etc. He was in all top 10 flyweight lists from the sixties through to the nineties initially but never cracks them nowadays, probably rightly tbf. But he was a truly excellent fighter, a really skilled, accomplished and elegant stand up boxer with very good footwork and a corking left land, more lacking in physical ability than anything.
Locches rep has dipped quite a bit in recent years, he was lauded a few years ago when a wider audience became more aware of him, but he gets a harder time these days, too much so imo. He was looked after in Argentina a bit, no doubt but you'd think he basically just avoided punches for the duration hoping to get gift decisions every fight. Some of the fighters I've seen people pick to beat him in h2hs boggles the mind. Klompton over on ESB has long been a bit of a fucker with him and hates anyone liking him in a slightly unhealthy way
Agreed 100% with Locche. He's definitely gone from overrated to underrated. Think I remember a recent matchup where people were picking Hatton over Locche. Wtffff. Locche would wipe his ass with Hatton.
Mike McCallum is an interesting because I felt he went from being underrated to severely overrated, and then back to underrated.
Hmmmm, I think McCallum is probably rated fairly. Everyone acknowledges that he's an ATG. Thing is, there was a time when people had McCallum right up there as just as good as Hagler. He wasn't as good as Hagler. McCallum today???? Shittttttt!! He'd easssillyyyyyyy be P4P #1.
I agree with this wholeheartedly. Admittedly I am one of those that acknowledges that he was a master defensive genius but found him to be quite overrated. I just couldn’t get myself to really look past the favoritism that he had in Argentina and the style that he fought where he could fight negatively with half ass offense but still do just enough to go his way. Also his “draws” with Carlos Ortiz and Ismael Laguna didn’t sit well with me at the time. Looking back at it now I guess I was just being more harsh on him because of his antics and favoritism. He’s a brilliant defensive genius who has gone from being overrated to being underrated.
I'd actually add Mayorga here. He was overrated as Hell in his prime, but in 2022 people act like he was a scrub. He was a dangerous fighter in 02-03. I would pick him over most of today's welters.
Just as a side note, I don't think the Laguna decision was actually that contentious. If anything, Locche seemed to get the short straw. And given the amount of high level fighters Locche gladly took on, I can't understand the protected notion. Favoured? Sure; but not protected, you don't let a guy who you're trying to 'protect' fight Laguna, Ortiz, Perkins, Morgan, Hernandez, Urbina, Cervantes and Fuji. Locche was an all-time great of a very high order; on top of being an absolute wizard. I don't think he ever got the full credit he deserves for fighting the best, and he definitely doesn't get enough credit nowadays.
Disagree vehemently. Hatton was good enough to give a hell of a fight to pbf before the ko. He has a shot against Locche
I wouldn't say he gave Mayweather a hell of a fight. He was doing well early on and had some success but got figured out and dismantled handily in the end. A hell of a fight is more like what Castillo and Maidana gave Mayweather first time around imo. I could see Hatton harrying Locche in some ugly rounds and nicking them on toiling activity early on. He was certainly fast enough of foot and determined enough to force the issue. But he was miles away from being an Armstrongesque swarmer, not really sharp or varied enough offensively and not really that good of an infighter other than being a strong basic mauler. Locche was the better infighter of the two imo despite his somewhat limited output at times and even with his best punches, Hatton tended to telegraph from way back and lead with his face, which doesn't bode well against the ungodly reflexes and anticipation of Locche. Even to the body I think he'd just struggle to land anything clean at all and tire himself out missing, growing more frustrated and reckless and getting picked off more easily as the rounds go on. Pretty wide decision loss in my book.
Sugar Ramos's prime was from 62-64 and even throughout it he often left part of himself on the scales fighting to make weight. It's hard to tell what he had left exactly after the Saldivar fight. The move up in weight should have reinvigorated him but Saldivar probably knocked something vital out of him permanently. He did have some very good wins and creditable losses afterwards tbf but was never quite the same.
Hatton's awful habit of bobbing to the side he was going to punch with just before he did, in an extremely consistent rhythm would be awful for him against Locche. Not only would Locche be able to narrow down what punches were coming, but he'd be able to time them effortlessly. As soon as Mayweather found this out, Hatton got dismantled. As soon as Pacquiao found this out, Hatton got laid the fuck out. Locche would school Hatton and it wouldn't look remotely competitive after the first few rounds.
