Overrrated or Underrated

Tommy Hearns vastly underrated, he fought brilliantly when losing to SRL but his chin let him down, that reach and power at that weight was something else then he fought smarter against Benitez a great counter puncher with an even better defense that was outsmarted by Hearns and Steward and al a lot of casuals can go on about is the war with Hagler a bit like how the heavier slower but more famous 70`s stage of Ali`s career overshadows his leaner faster prime years because of his better opposition, Hearns was more exciting at middle because he wasn`t as effective yet retained his power which often led to kill or be kill fights that he became known for.
SRL is overrated simply because some casuals often say him or Ali were the greatest of all time. Leonard`s wins over Benitez and Hearns were amazing but also highlighted his flaws compared to Mayweather, SRL was open to right hand counters after leaving his lead hand low after jabbing which showed up at times in his fights like the Hearns bout another factor in that fight was the long stiff jab stopping him getting an offense going until he held his hands higher and fought in the pocket but if Hearns had a chin he might not have won and I think if SRL wa behind against Floyd he wouldn`t win because Floyd takes a better shot than Tommy did.
Hopkins is underrated because he`s such a great fighter when you look at his old fights but people rate Monzon and Hagler higher, I think some casuals would even put Hearns at middle above Hopkins! Because of his power and the Hagler fight. I feel Hagler was made for Hopkins because he just followed SRL around the ring and was open to right hands and Hopkins was far better than SRL at middle.
I feel JCC`s defense was underrated, he was amazingly hard to hit while coming forward, the fighter that caught him the most in his prime was Taylor but that`s because he threw so many lightining fast combo`s how many other fighters would have had the hand speed to land like that against Chavez, even if Taylor was ahead in that bout it wasn`t because of defense, Chavez was far better defensively than Taylor.

 

Hearns definitely underrated

Holy underrated by many, too (his late career from 38 to 48 was unimpressive)

 

1. Tommy Hearns - under
2. SRL - over (very slightly)
3. Evander Holyfield - under
4. Bernard Hopkins - under
5. JCC - about right

 

I think SRL is underrated just by victim of people wanting to appear more learned.

I mean no offense to anyone by that, but it's hardly interesting or impressively astute to say that the man looked absolutely amazing, and has the superb fighting record and list of scalps, with barely any filler at all within, to go with it.

He is an amazing example of a top of the tree great fighter.

It's just not all that impressive to list him as such, cos he's not that cool underground choice that everyone likes to have up their sleeve.

 

There are always outliers in terms of haters and fans, but overall I'd say these guys are rated about right with the exception of maybe Hopkins. He most often seems to be ranked outside the top 5 at MW, which I think is strange since only two other MWs displayed his long time dominance.

 

I'm always cautious about this question because it begs another: Do I overrate or underrate my ability to gauge how how highly others rate a fighter?
That said...

1. Tommy Hearns About right

2. SRL About right

3. Evander Holyfield
Not sure there's even a rough consensus. I think he's arguably the best heavyweight of the last 30 years - though I vacillate on that a lot - and there's no one in history I feel I can safely assume will beat him comfortably.

4. Bernard Hopkins Slightly underrated

5. JCC About right (And I don't consider the Taylor stoppage a tough call at all.)

In short, these are all great fighters who at the very least are arguably worthy of most the hype.

 

Benitez
Hearns
Hagler
Duran

I assure you ANYBODY that beats these four is not overrated.
Hearns was a monster at welterweight. Nobody had ever seen such a welterweight.
6'1 with the reach of a heavy. And Ray beat him.
Benitez- hadn't lost. Until Ray beat him.

Duran- had ONE loss. And Ray made him quit.
Hagler- Hadn't lost in years. Ray came back and beat him.

Outside of Robinson Ray was one of the greatest boxers of all time.

 

And I hate to crush the myth but Hearns chin wasn't that bad.
You do not survive the Kronk gym wars with a bad chin.
Hagler,Leonard, and Barkley were not Julian Jackson type punchers but they could hit. No shame in being stopped by them.

 

Yup. My only caveat would be that the Hagler win is of course highly controversial. Leonard is worthy of his namesake.

 

I was a huge Hearns fan. Hated Leonard.
But he beat Hagler. Although Hagler was so set on fighting orthodox he basically gave the bout away.

 

I haven't seen that fight in a loooong time. Might be good to rewatch it soon...

 

1. Hearns is way overrated at 160. He was vulnerable as hell at that weight. The consensus that he'd knock Floyd out also shows that he's overrated. If anything, he would peck to a decision.
2. Leonard overrated. Not special outside of 147.
The others seem about right to me. But I think Chavez would lose plenty of fights against top flight opponents.

 

1. Tommy Hearns - Underrated

2. SRL - Overrated

3. Evander Holyfield - Underrated

4. Bernard Hopkins - Overrated

5. JCC - Underrated

 

Funny because Kalue was an unbeaten champion and Leonard moved up and stopped him.