Name fighters who reached their peak after being written off

Gavilan was thought by some to be faded or washed after he dropped several SDs in 1950, only for him to begin his title reign the following year.

Barrera was written off by many as "exposed" after his 2 losses to Jr. Jones, who himself was thought to have been washed heading into his 1st fight w/ Barrera.

 

Amir Khan was written off after the brutal Prescott KO. Whilst punch resistance was an issue throughout his career, his peak certainly lay after Prescott and he did go on to achieve modest success at world level.

Frank Bruno's peak night, vs McCall, certainly occurred after he'd been written off, multiple times.

 

Dick Tiger for sure.

 

I'm not sure he was overly noticed, to be written off, but Mike Weaver was 15-8 going into the Bernardo Mercado fight. It's safe to say his best was to come.

 

Is it safe to say Evander Holyfield was written off going into the Tyson fight? I mean Holyfield was about a 25-1 underdog. You read in here all the time that he was considered well past it. He may not have "peaked" against Tyson but it's his most renowned win for sure.

 

I'm sure guys like Teddy 'Red Top' Davis, Kelvin Seabrooks, Steve Robinson and Freddie Pendleton were considered just clubfighters for much of their careers until hitting their groove.

 

He 150% was written off prior to the Tyson fight - many people seriously questioned whether he was healthy enough to still be fighting, period. For purposes of this thread, the real question is whether Holy could still be considered @ the peak of his form vs. Tyson.

Speaking of Tiger, Giardello was widely thought of as an "old man" heading into his title challenge of Tiger (even though he was actually a year younger than Tiger), but he surprised most experts by turning in perhaps the most disciplined tactical performance of his career.

 

Archie Moore was aging and just had surgery. He changed his whole style to protect that injury and most thought his career was done. It only just started.

 

Marco Antonio Barrera was quickly written off after his 2 losses to Junior Jones but not only did he bounce back but he improved more as a boxer and arguably beat Erik Morales the first time they fought.

 

Jim Braddock
Jim Watt

 

Walcott
Foreman

 

You are right. Joey had been fighting for years before winning the middleweight crown. He had well over 100 fights before winning the title. The Giardello vs Tiger four fight series was one of the most brutally even rivalries in middleweight history.

 

Trevor Berbick after dropping consecutive decisions to Renaldo Snipes and S.T. Gordon of all people.