How good do you think he was? Under or over appreciated? Should be have stayed in his lane at LHW or did he do good to move up a division?
Under-appreciated, especially his courage. Because he didn’t fit the mould of a cartoonish hero - outwardly fearless - he has been overlooked for what he was…an absolute model of real-world bravery. Someone with open & visible fear in their eyes & heart, who nonetheless put themselves into great & knowing danger, & took clear uphill battles at the tail end of their career against the young Lions of the division. He is far, far too unheralded for his intestinal fortitude. More guts, IMO, than someone like Sonny Liston, who for all his front-running tactics, showed terrible character in two of his most difficult moments. Beyond that, he was a very good fighter, which is belied by his chin. Just a little better in this regard, perhaps a little stouter of frame, & he’d get more respect for his positive attributes - terminally under-valued punching power &, for mine, the single fastest hands I’ve ever seen at Heavyweight. Great heart, good stamina…probably the most under-rated Heavyweight Champion, alongside Gene Tunney.
Probably one of my favorite Heavyweight Champions, there was something about him that just seemed so cool. Beautiful boxing, a handsome face, and the heart of multiple men.
I think the worst thing he ever did in the public eye was deadname Ali, but there was something so kind about him that Muhammad just ended up allowing him to call him by his old name. Odd thing, especially considering that Ali wanted to punish him in their first fight for such.
Good fighter. AJ reminds me of him. Just a giant version. Not style but both had great hand speed and good combos. Questionable chins. Both fought a ton of contenders. Even ones detrimental to their style. But both were not the best of their era despite being champs and good fighters
Well, I did say, “in two of his toughest moments,” not the only two tough moments of his career. Liston showed some guts with that broken jaw early in his career.
People talk about him staying at LHW, but I have questions about that. Going into the 1960s, he was weighing 190 pounds. With same day weigh ins, could he have comfortably made 175 and kept his strength? With day before weigh ins, he boils down to 175 and comes in the ring at 190 the following night. I think he would have to had moved to heavyweight at some point.
Ehh I think Joshua was the best of his era briefly before Fury came back. Only other possible Numero Uno was Wilder. We'll never know for sure who would've won but Joshua had the better body of work imo.
IMO, he would've been better suited as a LHW (for as long as he could make the weight), but then he wouldn't have "made history" as the then-youngest fighter to win the HW title & the first to regain it, so take from that what you will. He intentionally bulked up once he committed to fighting @HW & he bulked up further for the Johannsson rematch in an effort to withstand his punches better. IDK how long he could've stayed @175 regardless, but if that were his intention, he wouldn't have made the efforts to add weight that he did as a HW.
