Curious to see a list of fighters who wound up exceeding their potential/expectations. No real criteria for this, just curious to hear some names and justifications. For example, I think Tomasz Adamek would qualify. When he first squared off against Paul Briggs on the untelevised Brewster-Golota under card, he was a 4 to 1 underdog who was never expected to amount to much beyond contender status. He won the title, successfully defended it twice, and has since moved up to cruiserweight where he has looked sensational (for the most part). In my mind, this clearly constitutes a fighter who did more than what was expected of him in his career. Curious to hear some other examples sited. :good
antonio margarito he wasnt going to beat cotto and be recognised as best WW carlos baldomir beat judah and became champ and was really a journy man who fought out of his skin gavin rees just a 1 dimensional brawler who won a world title with a great performance
John Ruiz comes to mind. So do other heavies like Renaldo Snipes/Scott Ledoux/Frans Botha/Oliver McCall/Ron Stander.
Mike Tyson. Seriously. He was always gonna be a bit of a like, oddball. Caught up with him later than really should have been expected.
I think the guy in my avatar gets a shout on this thread. Danny just wasn't all that talented, but his punching ability, courage, and let it all hang out style, made him a huge fan favorite. He was WBC featherweight champion through 7 defenses. Arguello vacated the WBA title and moved up to 130 about 1 month after Danny won the WBC title from David Kotey. From that point until he ultimately lost to Salvador Sanchez Danny was widely considered the man at 126. Not bad for a slugger with leaky defense and mediocre speed.
Randall "Tex" Cobb. had a decent pro career. Aside from the title shot with Holmes. Troy Dorsey had a good career & stuck around for awhile.
Tracy Harris Patterson. Floyd's adopted son, so you can't chalk it up to genes. I think he exceeded his physical ability and won 2 world titles at 122 (skipped 126) and 130. Sure the divisions had already been watered down woth titles but he turned out to be a very good fighter.