Who is the most overrated heavyweight, Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Tyson Fury, or others?

Muhammad Ali by a country mile

 

Traditionally it’s always been Ali, but Tyson may be more overrated by the younger generation. Every other big name heavy is either underrated or rated just right.

 

I definitely think Tyson Fury. I hear lots of things from casual viewers talking about Fury would whoop every other heavyweights like Ali and Tyson purely cuz of size. His resume is still not as deep enough to put him in the same class as Ali or Tyson.

 

Why?

 

Fury is so Overated he doesn't even belong on Lists with TRUE Champions or Greats.

Fury IS an Investment PROTECTED Commodity...

MARKETING Commodities...

a 6'9" inch GIANT
a Traveller - Gypsy King pish
a Personality Character,
a Fashion Display
a Trash Talking Singer
a Mental Health action figure
a Large Family(man)

an Hugely INVESTED Money Machine that NEEDS PROTECTED for the Return Paybacks.

a Lovely Guy, YES
a Great fighter, NEVER!

 

Relative to their resumes/accomplishments it would have to be Fury. For someone with such a thin resume whose taken so many breaks and layoffs and barely fought anyone in his era, he gets inflated to ridiculous levels. I personally have him in my top 10-15 h2h list give or take based on sheer size+skill, but I have seen quite a few people rating him quite high without really deserving it. You still have to at least prove you're the best of your era. Even if he manages to beat Joshua and Usyk, he has squandered so much time and missed so many names that it wouldn't really set the record straight. Fury fans also tend to talk the most trash (a habit they picked up from their idol).

Even some of the most die hard Ali fans admit some fights would be close or that Ali might lose. Some will concede Joe Louis, at the very least, has an argument when comparing overall achievements.

Tyson fans are more mellow when it comes to discussing records, but they are usually the most zealous and unreasonable when it comes to h2h. The most die hard fans think he was apparently some sort of Marvel superhero and would beat every single other HW past present or future, no questions asked.

Overall I would say Fury fans are the worst since the other two at least have something to back up their claims (eye test, resume, etc).

 

Of the three you mention, it's Tyson Fury, who doesn't even belong in a conversation with Ali and Tyson. Most overrated heavyweight of the last 50 years has to be Ken Norton. He had one great victory and very little else of note on his record.

 

Jack Dempsey

 

This.

 

Ali. The amount of praise and worship he receives isn’t proportional to his accomplishments. I always felt he received several gifts in his favor that helped his legacy. He was also a very controversial and popular addition to boxing at a time when the sport was lagging in popularity. No one wanted Liston the ex-convict as their champion. The mob ensured the torch would be passed along got the guy who would make them more money. Networks loved him for the ratings as well. Many of his opponents are only recognized today because his name elevated their status. Norton was a mediocre fighter at best, and was robbed against “the greatest”. As was Jimmy Young, Doug Jones, and in my opinion two fixed fights versus Liston.

Ali was also a technically flawed fighter, but could get away with those flaws against smaller, slower, plodding heavyweights. Anyone calling him the greatest (a moniker he gave himself and which sprouted wings across the media thanks to Howard Cosell among others), is a casual fan at best.

 

He was the greatest heavyweight ever.

Iron Mike's reign in the 80s isnt overrated, but I do see his 90s career getting a bit too much praise. He couldn't beat the top guys, and the titles he won were from 3rd raters. Even Ruddock wasn't exactly a particularly impressive victory...look what happened after those fights.

Mike in the 80s...sensational.

 

I would say Wilder and Tyson Fury at this point. These men are looked at as incredible fighters when they’ve beaten maybe five ranked fighters combined. Sad state of affairs for boxing and the knowledge of the boxing community.

 

All he did was beat seven members of the International Boxing Hall Of Fame, four Olympic Gold Medalists, two top ten hw atgs, and one bubble top ten atg, and virtually cleaned out the heavyweight division in two different decades. I reckon Cus D'Amato, Emanuel Steward and Mike Tyson are casuals because they said Ali was the best fighter they had ever seen. I give Tyson's opinion the most credence because of all the film of the greats he watched and he actually beat people up for a living.