Bernard Hopkins - Dont get me wrong I appreciate any kind of technician in the ring but when it comes down to it his only legitimate big wins are Antonio Tarver and Kelly Pavlik (maybe Jean Pascal if he wins) the 2 biggest names on his resume are guys coming up in weight who are much smaller and the tactics he pulls in the ring when he fights (faking low blows, Headbutts) the guy can be technical and i think he is crafty and skilled but when he gets dragged into a real fight he cant handle it. Very weak Middleweight reign although he does get respect for what hes done at Light Heavy
Thats because some of his fans are kind of extreme, Marciano can beat anyone etc etc. I think he was a solid fighter Dont know enough about him, so I can comment Underrated imo Why?
Overrated and underrated are subjective terms; and there are occasions when a fighter can be both. I would agree with the thread starter that Kostya Tszyu was overrated for a while, because prior to the Hatton fight there were many who were rating him as the all-time best at 140lbs. given how deep that division has been, historically, and given the lack of truly big names on his resume, it seemed a bit presumptuous to insert him into the top slot. Top ten all time at the weight...Certainly. But I wouldn't put him any higher than say, number eight on my all-time list at 140lbs. Edit: But as time progresses, it seems as though many observers aren't inclined to over-praise him in the manner that they once were. so he's not nearly as overrated as he once was, and if anything might be a bit underrated these days.
Care to give us your all-time list at 140. Tszyu is quite underrated now. A week doesn't pass by without someone declaring "Tszyu is so overrated". There are many truly overrated boxers: Ricardo Lopez, Carlos Zarate, Khaosai Galaxy, Eder Jofre, Nicolino Locche and many others.
you said that when hopkins gets dragged into a fight he can't handle it? one of the strengths that hopkins always had was his craft and that he was excellent at controlling the pace of a fight. nobody - nobody - ever looked good against hopkins. agreed he ruled a weak division, which wasn't his fault. his tito win for me was one of those rare fights that epitomised everything that is great about this sport. i know you're trying to be objective, but assuming you're a calzaghe fan (since you're from wales), it comes across a bit watered down if you're not willing to compare hopkins' reign to joe's...
I'm guessing it's because he's a nutless **** who didn't think this thing through. Or a troll with a layered, interesting sense of humor. Keeping fuel on the troll fire.
You're right. Mohammed Ali is overrated. Muhammad Ali, not so much. Mohammed Ali was a journeyman who had a couple good wins, like over George Furman and Joe Fruzier (two decent journeymen). Muhammad Ali is a consensus top two heavyweight of all time and majority opinion #1 who has wins over guys like George Foreman and Joe Frazier.
Ill admit joes super middle reign was weak but he still faced and beat better opposition. the best fighters Hopkins fought at 160 were Roy jones and Jermain Taylor and he lost all 3 times yet everyone says Hopkins was so great then you get Calzaghe who fought Robin Reid, Omar Sheika, Chris Eubank, Mikkel Kessler, Jeff Lacy (and won) and people say Hopkins resume was better so joe gets underated if anything although i will admit i wish he fought the likes of Glen Johnson and co. Im not saying Bernard is a bad fighter (although he does fight dirty) but his signature wins came at light heavy and thats against an over rated Tarver, a blown up kelly pavlik and winky right and a washed up Roy Jones who he struggled with.