Fighters that get left out/casually glossed over when discussing greatness?

I think that Carlos Ortiz is the prime example of this

this guy is just so great, trajectory as a boxer is just impeccable, wins over EVERY KIND OF BOXER, Undisputed in two weight classes, massively underrated in the skills department, and i don't share the common sentiment that he was boring to watch, i enjoy his fights very much

I think that Mr Ortiz has a better case than Roberto Duran at being the Lightweight Goat (obiviously only in greatness), Ortiz just has a much more impressive resume than Manos de Piedra.

Other fighters i'd mention are Ike Williams, Curtis Cokes, Manuel Ortiz, Masao Ohba, Carlos Morocho Hernandez and Pascual Perez.

 

Mike McCallum!

 

Michael Spinks
Antonio Cervantes
Emile Griffith
Luis Manuel Rodriguez
Eder Jofre
Vicente Saldivar
Ken Buchanan
Dick Tiger
Joey Giardello
Nino Benvenuti
Eddie Perkins
Flash Elorde

 

Yeah Ortiz is super underrated. Greater fighter at 135 and 140 than Duran. If Duran retires after De Jesus 3 I'd have Ortiz clearly over him all time.

And I've repeatedly mentioned him a lot recently, but Jimmy Bivins. How do you have wins over Charles, Moore, Burley, Marshall, Maxim, Yarosz, Soose, Lesnevich, Christoforidis and Bettina, as well as wins over several top HW contenders to the point where you're simultaneously ranked as both the #1 HW and LHW, have a peak record of 52-5, and still have some people say "Nah Tommy Hearns and Eder Jofre were greater". Make it make sense.

Luis Manuel Rodriguez too. Made a thread/poll somewhat recently about who's greater between him and Wlad to see how far the pro-Wlad brainwashing has grown on classic, and I was surprised to see how close it was, and how even usually knowledgeable posters had trouble deciding. I mean, if you don't see how a resume consisting of Griffith, Cokes, Paret, Benton, Briscoe, Rondon, Moyer, Akins, Thompson and Carter is better than whatever Wlad was doing, Idk what to tell you.

 

Danny Lopez doesn’t get his props much these days. Splendid champion who was always must-see for his exciting fights.

Curtis Cokes and Antonio Cervantes probably also deserve a spot on this list.

 

Greñano Dresapapár.

 

Ike Williams - I believe that he could beat Duran.
Holman Williams
Lloyd Marshall
Cocoa Kid
Brouillard
Young Corbett III
Petrolle
Kid Chocolate
Rosembloom
Slattery
Apostolli

 

I'd say Eusebio Pedroza.

He was from the same era as Salvador Sanchez so he kind of lives in his shadow.

Sanchez to this day still gets alot of praise and is mentioned alot.

Which I'm not saying is a bad thing considering Sanchez was a great talent and the way he died so young was tragic which will add to the legend.

But still Pedroza was a terrific fighter who I believe holds the record for the most title defences at Featherweight ?

But despite all that he does get forgotten quite alot IMO.

 

Michael Nunn

 

Pedroza is a great example. He was always overshadowed by Sanchez despite Pedroza being a long reigning champion at the same weight class. 19 title defenses is impressive yet Pedroza doesn't get the same appreciation that Sanchez had. Perhaps people just wasn't fond of him due to his dirty style from time to time but it wasn't like he always fought that way. He was a great fighter who was just as skilled as Sanchez. It's a shame that these two never fought, that would have been the Featherweight version of Leonard-Duran at the time.

 

GregPrice99 who is a great poster on here especially for these P4P comparisons was undecided on LMR vs Wlad btw. I personally didn't know much about LMR so I couldn't go into depth.

 

As has been brought up, Luis Manuel Rodriguez might be the ultimate poster boy for this topic.

Another is Sammy Angott. While I understand his spoiler style wasn’t pleasing to the eye, he took Willie. Pep’s 0, stopped Ike Williams with body shots and beat the likes of Baby Arizmendi, Bob Montgomery, Petey Sarron, Lew Jenkins, Kid Azteca and more.

 

Antonio Cervantes is someone that's always glossed over and seems to be only known for losing to Nicolino Locche, Wilfred Benitez and Aaron Pryor despite being a great fighter himself. Cervantes had many title defenses and was a terrific technician and all round fighter. People forget that he stopped Locche in their rematch, lost a very close fight against a gifted young fighter like Benitez, and also dropped Pryor prior to getting stopped by him. He also beat guys like Gato Gonzalez, Saoul Mamby, Alfonso Frazer, Esteban De Jesus as well. Best fighter to come out of Colombia and he still gets severely underrated today.

 

Joey Maxim. He holds wins over Robinson, Walcott, Bivins, Lesnevich, Patterson, went the distance with Moore 3x and Charles 5x, twice more with Walcott.

Lou Ambers - wins over Cocoa Kid, Zivic, Canzoneri 2x, Armstrong, Davis.

Zivic - his wins include Angott, Armstrong, Burley, Azteca, Booker, Cochrane, Jenkins, LaMotta, and went the distance with Robinson, Beau Jack, Ambers and Conn.