most under rated and most over rated heavyweight

His career is still going but I think Tomasz Adamek has been underrated. Has a lot of exciting wins over quality opponents.
Jimmy Young obviously.

Overrated: I would say michael grant but he was more hype

 

Gerry Cooney came along at right time as People viewed him as a real life Irish Rocky. (Rocky 2 was out during his rise and 3 was either out or coming with the Holmes fight). The fact he blew away to very well known fighters in one round on national tv only increased a public demand for him. Ali had left the scene and no one was happy with Holmes personality or star appeal so what could drum up attention since no Ali was on the horizon? A white challenger with BIG TIME KO power. Don King played up the race angle and fight sold like no tomorrow. I actually liked Cooney and thought he fought very very well in Holmes bout and had not depression and drugs got to him he could of been a formidable fighter throughout the 80s.

 

Good post , the size and power and the media promoting of cooney as you correctly suggest as a real life Irish rocky really caught the publics imagination even over here in England . His managers were to protective and matched him to safely by far . Victor Valle his trainer I think genuinely cared about cooney but as stated above although blessed with size power and a good amount of skill and talent the depression and drugs really got him and effectively ended his hopes of fighting at the highest level . Gil Clancy felt cooney was one of the biggest wastes of talent he had seen

 

At heavyweight Liston is grossly over rated by many due to the Ali fights when he was already a middle aged man.

Riddick Bowe has become under rated. When I rematch many of his old fights, even not in the best of condition he could have been in he was still a terrific fighter.

While I do respect his commitment, behavior and conditioning I think Wlad is over rated. His chin and durability would not have help up against many of the fighters of the past.

Mike Tyson is ridiculously under rated. At his best, Berbick to Spinks, he was the most dangerous fighter that ever lived.

 

A lot of people think a prime Tyson would have beaten a prime Lewis. I'm not sure if they are overrating the former or underrating the latter.

 

Everything you say is exactly backwards.

 

Thank you for proving my point ! :good

 

Liston was an old man when he fought Ali but it's way he lost quitting in both fights hurts. Bowe was great offensive fighter but from the 2 Golota fights to the Holyfield trilogy to Coetzer fight and so on he took way to much leather. Was extremely easy to hit. I did enjoy his fights a ton though very exciting and skilled big man. In time Wlad's legacy will be appreciated more than it is today.

 

@mrbutt Gil Clancy loved Cooney's skill set. You can hear him raving about Cooney in the young fight (a good performance becaus Young was not shot as some claim) he was in great shape and would win comeback fighter of the year the following year. And in spinks fight Clancy is still raving about Cooney even though Cooney looks like a shell of his old self. Maybe it was an Irish bond but Clancy loved Cooney...til he trained him lol. Said he was a head case

 

Thanks, see great minds do think alike !!

 

I would agree with Tua, he is made out to be an atg many times on this forum.

Most underrated? My knee jerk reaction to recent threads (most notably elroy and his twin foxy) would be Frazier....but since most knowledgeable posters rate him 6-12 ATG HW, it is probably not the correct choice....Mercer is an interesting choice.

My underrated on classic, unfortunately is Wlad....he is right around top 10 in terms of resume for me among HW's....even though I don't particularly care for him and find his style boring in epic proportions, it does not seem many are giving him his due.

 

I am not a Tyson fan (and from time to time have incorrectly been labeled a Tyson hater), but I would expect, pick and perhaps even wager a decent amount of money (and I am not a betting man) on a Tyson by stoppage outcome in their respective primes.....However I rate Lewis higher...


IMHO Lewis is greater than Tyson, but Tyson is better than Lewis! if that makes sense

 

Grossly overrated: Foreman.
Slightly overrated: Frazier.

I tend to think Tyson is overrated by the boxing buffs and waaaay overrated by the casual/non-researched fans... Tyson goes both ways.

Louis could also fall into the overrated category. Head to head he doesn't do as well as legend has it.

Lewis could be underrated, and Morisson is a good shout as well. Bert Cooper and Mercer are also good ones because of the trouble they caused Holyfield, who may be overrated.

Quarry is definitely underrated. He ran into Ali and Frazier, and there's no shame in coming up short in putting it all out there against those two. Reportedly gave Foreman a lesson in sparring, hence no professional match (I'm open to be corrected on this), and whipped Lyle, a hyped-up Mac Foster, Shavers, and went even with Patterson. Got shafted against Chuvalo. Looked ordinary (shockingly) against Ellis, which, besides the Chuvalo garbage, was the most disappointing fight he had...