Name fighters who were great in one division but looked ordinary when they moved up

Right, he was far from ordinary, but he wasn't the force that he was at 122 anymore. So he didn't go from great to ordinary, just great to good.

 

He got brutalized by Juan Meza at 122.

His chin was pretty weak, even at 122.

I think he built up his record against pretty weak opposition

After getting blown out by Meza he moved up and faced better competition overall at 126 lbs. than he had at 122 lbs.

 

Arturo Gatti... bless his soul..

 

He’s fighting at Cruiser in weight only. He’s a fraction of himself, maybe 25% of the beast he was in his prime. I’d rather remember him from those days.

 

Concur. The Jr. Featherweight Division did not exist when Olivares moved up 8 lbs to the Featherweight Div. Olivares probably would have camped in the Jr. Featherweight and run off a long string of defenses (like Wilfredo Gomez), as long as he stayed away from the cervezas pre-fight.

 

Arguello was a 3 weight champion. He did too much to be included here. Pryor was just a bridge too far though.

 

Rigondeaux at 130, but he also had age and Lomachenko to deal with.

Chris Byrd and Chad Dawson looked bad when they moved down.

David Reid and Vargas looked crappy above 154.

 

No one agrees with my pick of Bob Foster? He was an absolute terror at light heavyweight but when he moved up he got manhandled by Ali, of all people. Suddenly Ali looked like Foreman.

 

Jack Delaney was seen as a head to great at light heavyweight, but he accomplished little at heavyweight.

There have always been fighters who were "weight class sensitive".

 

What Roman did in his first two fights at superflyweight -edging out two absolutely tremendous hardfought battles with top3 fighters in Cuadras and Wangek- was exactly and precisely the opposite of 'ordinary'. I get your point, however, as he has seemingly had difficulties imposing his style on bigger foes, something even increased by the suicidal managerial choices of his team.

 

Perhaps ordinary was being harsh. I just felt he pushed the envelope one time too many by moving to super fly.

 

Mancini comes out of retirement and moves up to super LW .. couldn't get it done there

 

Everyone knows the Bob Foster story....even Bob Foster (R.I.P). In the Terrell, Ali & Frazier fights he was fighting
the guys weighing 20-30 lbs+ more than him. Foster was a perfect Light Heavy.

 

I agree. Bob's fairly slender build was never going to make it at heavy. Being a KO puncher at 175 and a KO puncher at 220 is a totally different kettle of fish. Bob is probably the best case ever for the existence Cruiser. He gave up 30 lbs to several all time greats and got wrecked for his bravery. Bob vs dempsy and Marciano would have made for some very interesting fights.

 

Rigo will probablyalways remain a question mark at 130. There aren't a ton of guys I'd pick to beat prime Rigo at 130 but the placid 37 year old taking on a future ATG in lomachenko looked totally out of his depth. Sadly it might be his only legacy at that weight.