Interesting commentary because I have always viewed winning a world title as only the second best achievement a boxer can be proud of; for me number one has always been IBHOF Hall of Fame induction.
Nobody remembers Jimmy Clark, but definitely a good shout out. Could've been some facsimile of Jimmy Young. Percell "Magic" Davis is a great pick. He was a smooth boxer with power and skills who ended up eating himself into a characture of himself. He could've and should've been a top ten guy. Let's add "Candy Slim" Jeff Merritt and Ron "Never met a tavern I couldn't pass out in" Stander as well. I doubt Stander would have reached great heights, but seeing the version of him against Frazier when he didn't train on beer verses the other Stander footage when he did is really telling. Big difference.
@Richard M Murrieta @mark ant @mr. magoo @Bokaj What do you think is the absolute height of achievement for heavyweights – Hall of Fame or world title belt? Do you think Golota is a Top 10 heavyweight underachiever?
Don't think I know enough of him to say. He did look much better against Bowe than anyone else, but how much of that is styles coupled with the decline of Bowe? There are so many with mostly one really impressive win/performance, so where to start? Off the top of my head: Bowe, Ruiz, Brewster, Sanders, McCall, Douglas, L. Spinks. Then we have Page, Witherspoon, Dokes and Tubbs that also usually surface in these discussions. So I wouldn't object much to Golota being there or not being there.
Riddick Bowe Mike Dokes John Tate David Haye Clubber Lang Carl Williams Vitali Klitschko Ivan Drago Tim Witherspoon Tony Tucker
Good list! Btw, when it comes to absolute height of achievement for heavyweights – is it Hall of Fame or world title belt?
For your first question I don’t know if being a world champion is always the height of achievement. Ezzard Charles is commonly deemed the greatest light heavyweight of all time yet he never won a belt there. Meanwhile far lesser men have won titles. As per your second question, no I don’t think Golata is one of the biggest underachievers. He lacked heart and at times couldn’t fight clean.
Actually I don't think he overachieved in career 2 but maximized when he had and brilliantly marketed himself ...
Joe Goddard deserves a mention. Strong and good-sized heavy for his era. Possessed first-rate power (30 KO's in 32 wins) and produced good results, KO'd Choynski, Maher, KD'd and drew with the great Peter Jackson, but drank like a fish and fought on well into his 40's. Had he started earlier, devoted himself more to his craft and laid off the hooch, he would be mentioned with the likes of Corbett, Fitz (as a HW) and Jeffries.
If he had the mentality of a Marciano, then by god he could have picked up a belt, when Lewis started dropping them!
The difference between an under-achiever and a fighter who just wasn't quite good enough to scale what some people consider the fistic heights in usually a matter of fan perspective rather than reality. A fighter usually ends up right where he deserves to be, IMO.