which fighters aren't as talented as others think? I nominate Michael Dokes. Fast hands but i was never overly impressed in terms of his power and overall skills.
Yeah... All it took was a Coetzee with new management to beat the brakes off of him. Gerrie crushed him once he was with McCoy, Randall Cobb was COMPETITIVE with him, and he has a pretty thin resume. He looked good against Weaver, and that was really it.
Ernie Shavers Power: May be it's just cause most of his fights that I've seen were losing efforts, but I think his power was overrated, or at least how it transpired to his overall talent. Of his 70 knockouts, the only names that really stand out to me are Jimmy Young, Jimmy Ellis, and Ken Norton. Ellis and Norton were already at the tail end of their careers with histories of being knocked out... The Young KO is quite impressive, at least on paper, but they fought to a draw a couple years later. Aside from that anytime Shavers stepped up to fight even a halfway decent opponent, he came up short or got knocked out. He has losses to Jerry Quarry, Ron Lyle , and Tex Cobb of all people. I don't put him on the same level as a Deontay Wilder, but he seems to be somewhere around the same category
Usyk His claim to fame are wins against British fighters that are levels below Lewis, and there is overrating of Lewis in and of itself In reality he is about a 7/10 fighter, an actual ATG like Louis or Ali would have absolutely no issue going 350-0 instead of 335-15 against the same amateur opponents, Tyson might have been able to do it while still a teenager
His power was great, but he lacked the technicality of the sport to make it just as effective as someone like Deontay Wilder did. Wilder kinda perfected how to use his strength to his advantage, because it was just about all he had- And I'm sure that if Shavers was given Wilder's trainer, the fighter we would've gotten would be incredible. Everyone of note that felt his power has corroborated this- Ali, Holmes, Lyle, etc. And even though most of his fights against big names were losing efforts, he almost always left a mark. Losing to fighters like Quarry, Lyle, and Holmes are not the marking of a bad fighter, but the fact that he put up a fight in all of them is what makes him so remarkable. He's sent many to the canvas, and the only reason that they didn't stay there, is that he's fought men with some of the best chins and recoverability of all time. Here's a short list of men he's put down: Larry Holmes Ron Lyle Joe Bugner (stopped on cuts) Jimmy Ellis (stopped) Jimmy Young (stopped) Ken Norton (stopped) Randall Cobb Bernardo Mercado Jeff Sims (stopped) James Tillis Roy Williams (knocked out) And look at what makes the difference here- It's not that Shavers was bad, but that the men who beat him were nigh perfect counters for him. Guys who could take punishment and turn Earnie out once he started to gas (and that's without even mentioning that he was past his prime for a bit of these fights, like Tillis, Sims, Mercado, and Cobb). All of these guys are notable, too.
Will say Tommy Morrison - I think he was overrated, although he was a wasted talent at the same time. I also think AJ's skills have been overrated at times, when AJ beat Ruiz in the rematch he was glazed like crazy for his 'boxing masterclass'.
Wilfredo Benitez… talent isn’t really what I’d associate with someone who has been training since he was 7, not playing, but fighting other kids, his dad was a decent enough trainer but treated him like a c0ck fighting rooster and he survived, by the time he’d become champion at 17 (his real age is debatable more like 19) he had a decade of hard, hard training against real pros like Esteban De Jesus whilst still a teen and years of daily spars and abuse - his strength was experience, hence his reflexive sort of whacky movement Witherspoon turning pro at the age he did and going on to almost beat Holmes is more indicative of talent.
Ramon Garbey , very skilled guy ,amateur star,i understand why he lose Toney but not understand how he lose Tagoe,Oquendo and Releford.
David Benavidez. Well-rounded boxer but absolutely nothing exeptional in any area - either physical gifts or boxing skills
People often say Leon Spinks had talent, but he only had fast hands and an engine. His punch selection was average, his defence was passive and he could be set up for power punches, he couldn’t box on the outside whatsoever. He might do well against certain styles, but even at his best, I feel he’s on the level of a Marvis Frazier.
George Chuvalo,he had a tough chin and some clubbing power and end,I love his infighting though,classic Freddie Brown product.