To be exact, Rodriguez was ranked #2 by the WBC on the day he fought Evander Holyfield. One year later, the WBC had dropped him to about #10 around the time of the Foreman match. Yes, he had a rating, but it was very brief, and for the short time he held it, it was probably deserved. Rodriguez went into the Holyfield fight as a 35-2-0-26 contender and had avenged his only two losses from earlier in his career. He was the long time south American heavyweight champion who two years prior to the Holy match had decisioned James Smith months after Tyson did. His credentials were by no means stellar, but I can also tell you from personal memory that in 1989 the heavyweight upper tier was not looking particularly stellar. Carl Williams was the IBF's #1 contender and earned this position by decisioning an aging Berbick. Razor Ruddock was building his record on declining foe as well, and damn near lost to a 36 year old James Smith ( who Rodriguez handely outboxed a younger version of. ) Mike Dokes, George Foreman, and Tim Witherspoon were all comeback fighters, who's abilities were still in question. Alex Stewart was a nobody with a padded record.... Rodriguez briefly holding an alphabet rating is not really noteworthy of a claim for being overrated.
But that is the point, Rodrigues was overrated because of circumstance, he looked on paper a hell of a lot better than he turned out to be.