Who would you consider the most overrated heavyweight of all time?

Greg Page. Literal bum.

 

They were calling him the GOAT when he was 21 years old.

That PR still continues. Uncle Bobby (55 yrs old) is now telling nephew Timmy (24 yrs old) that Tyson was the GOAT.. so now that hype is growing up with it, too.

 

So let's find a guy who holds two Boxer of the Year titles, won 12 world championships, defeated five current and five former champions, outclassed the lineal champion, outclassed three Olympic champions, defended the unified title six times, was the P4P leader, and then let's just say he's overrated. Tyson completely squandered his legacy in the latter part of his career. Many remember him for his defeats, as they were more high-profile and unexpected due to his status. But when you consider how dominant he was during that period, it becomes obvious that he's ridiculously underrated today.

 

Ken Norton
James J Corbett
Wladimir Klitschko
Gerry Cooney

Keeping in mind, overrated doesn't mean you don't rate them in the slightest.

 

As the referee, Padilla was one of the three people who submitted an official scorecard for the fight. All three had Ali up by a healthy amount going into the 15th round. Padilla said that even if Futch hadn’t told him to do so, he probably would have called the fight. “Because Frazier was no more.”


Fifty Years After History’s Most Brutal Boxing Match - The Atlantic

Carlos Padilla literally had fifty years, fifty years, to ruminate on what he witnessed that night.

 

Hindsight is always better than foresight:

In the first fight between Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay) and Sonny Liston on February 25, 1964, nearly all ringside observers and boxing experts picked Liston to win. In fact, Clay was an 8-to-1 underdog. The prevailing sentiment was that Liston's power and experience would overwhelm the brash young challenger.

Sports Illustrated reported that many commentators were simply debating how many rounds Clay could survive, not whether he could win. His upset victory—when Liston retired on his stool after the sixth round—shocked the boxing world and remains one of the most iconic moments in sports history.

Yes — before the first Clay–Liston fight in 1964, a poll conducted by the Associated Press asked 46 sportswriters to predict the outcome. Of those, 43 picked Sonny Liston to win, and only 3 picked Cassius Clay.

That overwhelming consensus makes Ali’s upset all the more legendary. He didn’t just beat the odds — he defied nearly every expert in the building.

 

George…. Chuvalo

 

Rocky Marciano

 

He should be one of the most obvious picks for being H2H monstrous, it’s just in season to act like someone like Liston destroys him with his stare down… like instead of the best beating him we’ve got far, far less skilled, smaller guys > Tyson, Tyson was stupid good despite how he fought and was a 220lbs bantam… after 88 he started fighting like a HW and it was pretty apparent vs Ruddock. Louis and Tyson (for a bit) are easily the most exceptional HWs to me…

 

Larry Holmes because he avoided the best of his time at the time when they were ready and most of them big fights- John Tate- co champ-Greg Page (gave up a title) - Pinklon Thomas - unification- would not rematch after disputed fights with Tim Witherspoon and Carl Williams 15 fight fighters, avoided Michael Dokes-co -champ and Gerrie Coetzee and could have unified with a much improved Mike Weaver who won a title from John Tate. He took the weakest challenge fighting Michael Spinks (who never fought other than light heavyweight and lost - Almost got KO'd by young Renaldo Snipes and Shavers (who was his best opponent) and then when he stepped up because he had no choice get destroyed by Mike Tyson.

Holmes fought the most contenders with no experience 10 fight Marvis Frazier, Leon Spinks 10-2-2 - 14 fight James Smith and 14 fight David Bey, 13 fight Ossie Ocasio

I still rate Holmes in top 10 but for me his era was the weakest - he fought life and death with Norton who was KO'd in 1 rd 2X . and dropped 2X in a draw with Scott LeDoux in his next few fights.

I still see his talent and resilience, but he is border top 10 ATG for me based on how many he avoided - Holmes kryptonite was a strong right-hand puncher

 

Great post, and so true about hindsight. It’s also the prime example I point to when people try to take H2H fantasy matchups as a serious factor in rating boxers.

 

You have more than one poster who suggest Ali's victories over Foreman and Liston were matter of fact, nothing out of the ordinary, preordained. Very few experts thought so at the time

 

In the case of Ali vs Foreman it was easy to get caught up in the hype of GF but if you looked at it objectively… it was a green guy with an untested gas tank vs a cagey fighter who’d been fighting since the 60s, one who’d been looking good to he wasn’t going to be stopped and could work for the whole 15. I’m not sure why folks didn’t favour Ali it was either him or the guy who’d had like 150 rounds of experience and didn’t look good against a LHW who moved a little. Different times and less film available for the public maybe?