Fighters you didn't rate who turned out to be something special

Lennox Lewis. I thought of him as another 'horizontal heavyweight' being fed a diet of stiffs.
When he was matched with Ruddock, I thought he was in over his head.

 

Pacman until the Barrera fight.

Winky Wright.

 

Pavlik.

 

Although I wouldn't rank Oliver Mccall as anything special, he certainly went a lot further than I ever thought he would. I remember the night he knocked out unbeaten prospect Bruce Seldon on ESPN, about 16 or 17 years ago. Mccall came into the ring with a record of like 15-4, and for the most part was known as being a sparring partner more than anything else. Seldon was considered one of the hot young prospects of the early 90's along with Mercer, Morrison, Bowe and Lewis. Bruce was winning the fight handedly through 8 rounds, until he tired in the ninth, and Mccall floored him three times to a TKO victory. Soon after, oliver would go on to being recognized as one of the top ten best fighters for the next decade.

 

I thought Bernard Hopkins would be a decent pro, but never an all-time great; not after the Jones fight. Never saw the unique fighter he became, until he became it.

The first time I saw Kostya Tszyu, was against Vincent Phillips; lets just say he didn't leave a strong first impression. I figured he'd just be a more successful Micky Ward type.

I thought Barrera was finished after the Junior Jones fights.

 

pavlik and winky wright.

first time i saw winky wright was against fernando vargas in 99' when winky lost i said ''whoever this dude is, aint gonna do it big in the future'' but i was wrong :rofl

 

Dennis Andries. Never looked anything more than a journeyman who fluked a payday (and a savage beating) against Hearns. I was impressed by the way he turned his career around, getting Manny Steward to train him!

 

Wladamir Klitschko. I thought they were calling for his greatness a little too soon. Little did I know that I would be more impressed by him when he lost to Sanders. He kept getting up, and walking back to Sanders. That told me a little something about his heart. He hasn't turned out to be great, but he has rebounded since his losses to certainly claim that he has been at the top of division for longer than I thought his career would be.

Hopkins and Hatton were already mentioned. I sold them shorter than what they are.

Cotto. I never thought that he sucked, but I thought HBO was holding him up higher than he had deserved.

I sold Lennox Lewis short too.

 

An obvious choice would be Ali. He was considered a joke by most experts and was seen as just another sacrificial lamb with no punch, no chin, and no heart. But to see him outclass Liston and have a great title run and then comeback again to beat Foreman and have another excellent title run far exceeds the expectations anybody has ever had of him.:good

 

Lloyd Honeyghan-never expected him to give Curry the smackdown,despite the circumstances.
Greg Haugen-was definitely better than I thought he was.

 

I second Wladimir Klitschko. Before the Sanders fight I never really thought much of this guy, as a matter of fact, I figured if he were to fight Lewis at the time that Lewis would crush him no different than he did Michael Grant, and I figured I was correct when he got beaten by Sanders. And I thought he was absolutely finished when he lost to Brewster. As time goes by he's proving me wrong more and more. Sometimes you need to lose to turn into something special.

 

I saw Iran Barkely's six round kayo loss to Robbie Sims early in The Blade's career. I knew he'd been an accomplished international amateur champion, but he hardly looked like a future three division titlist. It was Sims that everybody expected big things of, being Hagler's half brother and all, but Barkley wound up becoming the most decorated club fighter in boxing history.

 

Bruno, whod have thought hed win a WBC world title after Witherspoon Lewis Tyson et al. Steve Collins, bollocks as the four victories over Britains biggest boxing double act n all that may have been, has an (arguably) special legacy n in 1991 nobody wouldv seen past NB CE n MW. Either Klitschko after the 'Shitali' jibes of course he turned out to have a torn rotator cuff or Wlads stamina and chin doubts