max schmeling. People realise with himdsight he has a strong legacy but before the first joe louis fight he was yesterdays news.
Helped: Ken Buchanan - the loss to Duran not only looks a lot less shocking/embarrassing than it did in 1972, but now he even gets credit just for lasting as long as he did. Sal Sanchez - a stoppage win over Nelson looks a lot better with the knowledge that Nelson was an ATG-in-the-making (who was never stopped otherwise). Holmes - a number of the "unknown" and/or "inexperienced" title challengers he fought later went on to become titleholders themselves. LaMotta - Turns out he was the first guy in 100-plus fights to beat arguably the greatest fighter in history. Greb - Not that his legacy needed any "help," but now he has the unique distinction of being the only man ever to beat a future HOF HW champ (though on the flipside, it's possible some of his other big wins aren't fully appreciated today, so perhaps this more or less evens things out).
