In a previous thread one person said that he was nothing special and another said that he agrees and that he is overrated. His legendary toughness is intriguing and those vicious Philadelphia sparring sessions are facinating. Those earlier comments shocked me. Please give me your perspective. I'm not adding a poll because I want your thoughts.
It depends.I grew up seeing Bad Bennies fights with Monzon,Valdes,Id rate him under these two very good middle , but definetly not HOF.
Overrated in what way? Are people suddenly calling him the uncrowned champ or something? I don't think anyone (at least here) view him as an all-time great, but we do give him credit for what he was...... Bennie wasn't the greatest middleweight ever, but he was damn good, mixing a tough aggressive style with savvy head and upper body movement, a good body attack, was a monster on the inside, and had a good chin. He became a sort of gate-keeper for middleweight contenders; if you could hang with Bad Bennie for ten rounds then you might have some promise. If you beat him, you were bonafide. He was the pre-eminent Philly middleweight in that city's most glorified era, and that says a lot. A guy doesn't have to be an ATG to deserve a world of respect.