Most overrated fighter in history?

Spoke about this many a time but I always get a good chuckle out of those lauding Fury as a H2H monster, and dismissing Wilder as a bum even though Wilder dropped four times, gave him hell in 2 out of 3 bouts, and had him dangerously close to a KO loss in at least different occasions.

 

Retiring undefeated and being such a physical specimen for his time added to Jeffries mystique.Some today still hold him in awe ,and repeat highly improbable tales about him.If his record is looked at impartially and the size and age of most of his victims is taken into account ,he doesn't emerge as this unbeatable colossus .

 

I agree that his historical ranking by hardcore boxing fans as a top 10 p4p ATG is well earned.

To demonstrate the reason I & others have cited him as being overrated by casual fans, I'll ask you a couple of questions:

1) If you stopped 100 people on the street at random and asked them who the greatest boxer in history is, who do you think would get the most answers?
2) Do you rank Ali at the greatest p4p boxer of all time?

 

The judges cleaned out most of 1976 for him.

 

His resume was already burnished by then.

 

I'm not a fan of pfp ratings but there were better pfp boxers.

 

Ezzard Charles. All other answers are categorically wrong.

 

Good picks for someone who is just saying stuff for the sake of it. No body other than hardcores even knows who Jeffries is. Let alone overrate him. Ali and Tyson were both greats and rated as such. Dempsey isn’t overrated either. Who has Dempsey in there top ten all time?

 

You also have to factor in their mpact on the society around them and no boxer has captured the public imagination like Dempsey, Ali, and Tyson. Professional athletes are entertainers. They aren't competing in empty arenas and stadiums.

 

Naseem Hamed

 

In UK probably Barry McGuigan, lovely bloke and very good fighter but not an ATG.

 

Care to expand on your post?

 

Yes good points!