Those guys all deserve plenty of credit for those wins but you’re right that the standard narratives overrate them. Foreman wailed away like a headhunting barroom brawler until he ran out of steam, and he didn’t make any adjustments. Wasn’t just a lucky punch Foreman landed on Moorer but the story about Foreman shrewdly setting it up by luring Moorer to sleep always just seemed a bit much.
That and Jess was off for three years, during which time he was apparently working for a rodeo. He returned at age 37 to fight Dempsey. Shell of a champion
DLH was too big and strong for Gatti. While Mayweather out classed him with speed and skill. It's a fun fight to watch.
Was gonna say this. Yeah his fanboys think every fighter became an all-time great and was at their peak when he fought them.
LaMotta-Robinson. Jake gets more credit beating a WW SRR than Turpin gets for beating a MW version. I'd probably say Hagler-Hearns as well, since Hearns never truly convinced at MW. These are the ones I come to think of right now, but in general I think wins tend to get underrated rather than overrated.
Yeah, I am a bit surprised how it easily it gets dismissed by some. I didn't really make it on to every list of Tyson's five best wins. I think it's a case of that he just looked so dominant that it makes Spinks look so bad that it devalues the win. In reference to that, I'm a bit surprised that Jones-Toney haven't been mentioned yet, since it seems to fall under the kind of reasoning for some.
C'mon, it's not like Gomez moved up from light heavyweight to heavyweight. Gomez moved up four pounds. FOUR pounds. Gomez weighed even more (129) for the Eddie Ndukwu fight the year before and demolished the guy. There was nothing to indicate Sanchez was going to break his cheekbone, floor him repeatedly and stop Gomez. I'm still amazed by that win. You could make an argument Sanchez ruined Gomez.
Strangely enough it's four pounds Gomez never conquered. He just never looked like he did at 122 IMO, even when he beat Laporte.
Cant agree. Gomez was actually the betting favorite and Sanchez beat him up badly. Gomez had tremendous problems making 122. He was a natural featherweight by the time he fought Sanchez. I know he dropped back down to 122 for awhile afterwards but he eventually fought top competition again at 126 in 83-84.
And that's the argument you can make that he never fully recovered from the Sanchez beating. He looked like his great self at that weight prior to Sanchez - when he fought the likes of Ndukwu and Tamariz. After Sanchez, not so much. He took a thorough beating. Sometimes, you don't come ALL the way back from beatings like that. Had he moved up and fought Pedroza instead of Sanchez, whose to say Gomez wouldn't have dominated.
I thought one of his best performances ever was after Sanchez vs Juan Meza, he didn't miss a beat that night, and that was two/three fights after Sanchez.
Leonard was not shot. Rusty maybe. He wasnt shot till 91 when Norris destroyed him. Hagler wasnt even shot. Passed his best definately. Shot fighters have greatly diminished reflexes and or walk in postholes - they no longer resemble themselves. 1983 Saad = shot. 1991 Mugabi= shot. 1996 Riddick Bowe = shot. 1987 Leonard and Hagler definately not shot.
Who overrates Jones Jr vs Vinny Paz? Or Gatti/Barkley for that matter. Those are hailed as dominant displays but as actual wins?
