Hasim Rahman : overachiever or a natural?

Probably overachiever. He was a very tough guy with a big punch and a lot of heart but very little amateur pedigree and not highly touted in the beginning from memory. He made the best of what he had, became a world champion and was involved in some big fights

 

Another "rise to the occasion" guy.

They can certainly bring their A game and win the title on any given night. What they cannot do is have many title defenses. But on that 1 night they can be a very dangerous and underrated fighter that gets the results.

I think the guy fits in with lots of the 80's guys that were rise to the occasion types. But the ability to sustain it?

Would have liked to have seen how he does if he was nutured early w/ the great trainers and had some additional polishing; Angie Dundee. Or that strong corner Commander Vander had from day 1 w/ the Duva's. I tend to think we'd have a 25%, or more, improvement and that gets him to another stratosphere.

 

Definitely overachiever, beat some guys he wouldn’t be favoured over in fantasy matchups, I doubt he’d be favoured over Sanders and definitely wouldn’t be favoured over Lewis.

 

Slightly above average fighter. Maybe a notch above someone like Lyle/Ruddock/Whyte types, but only by a smidgen. A decent all around boxer with decent fundamentals, a good jab, pretty good power, and brave. He gave us a few really good fights, but he also gave us some stinkers, along with some pretty average/forgettable ones. He was a bit all over the place with his results.

He could manage to become champ in some eras, but would fail to become champ in other eras. In other words, he did a little more than what was expected of him. Fringe top 40-50 guy. His biggest issues were his lapses in defense and lacking imagination/variety when plan A didn't work.

 

I think he was an underachiever to be honest, I mean the guy knocks out Lennox Lewis, but loses to John Ruiz.

 

Disagree with your comparison to Lyle who I think was clearly better.

 

A little of both, he developed a good and useful jab.

 

This. Rahman had a good jab, excellent power, and he was fearless. When he was in shape and motivated he could be a problem for anybody, but unfortunately his conditioning and motivation were inconsistent, so I also think he underachieved considering the tools he had.