The Most Overrated British Fighter?

Going on an achievements vs. hype basis, I think it's probably Naz. WBO champs in the 90s need to be viewed for what they actually were, and when he won more meaningful belts it was never against mindblowing competition

Right now it's Callum Smith. I don't see how this lad beats any legitimate world-level contender at 175, his 168 run was thin and circumstantial, and he didn't win a single round against Canelo. Beterbiev could probably take care of all his mandatories in the first 6-9 months of next year if he wanted

 

Bruno had his flaws but i think he's being a bit under sold here. He was leading vs Lewis, Bonecrusher, Witherspoon. Witherspoon and Lewis are high quality fighters, the fact Bruno was ahead on points vs them shows he has some quality.

His 1 punch KO victory over Coetzee in 1st round was great, no one before or after has finished Coetzee that quickly or impressive.

Yes Bruno had stamina issues due to being too muscle bound, and could be like a deer in the headlights when he got in trouble. But he had a fantastic jab one of the better ones in Heavyweight history, a big booming right hand that would trouble most Heavyweights if it landed.

I mean ok overall Bruno probably did get overhyped, because he was such a likeable personality the media ate it up. But i also don't think hes quite as bad some people on here are making out either. I mean he did beat the man who KO'ed Lennox Lewis.

 

Great post.

 

I agree up to a point, however Lennox clearly underestimated Bruno and Witherspoon looked in awful shape from what I remember. If either had been on top of their game I doubt Frank would have done so well. Bonecrusher was a crude slugger and I find it hard to think of many contenders at the time who would not be able to out box him, at least Frank did better than Tim against him! Agreed Coetzee was a good win and Gerry had done well drawing with Thomas, beating Dokes and Tillis and was not too far from his prime.

I thought his win over Carl Williams was ok, despite Carl being crushed by Tyson he had taken Witherspoon to a split decision but was coming off losses to solid journey man Jones and I imagine his loss to Morrison took something out of him when Bruno got him.

Again don't want to be too harsh on Frank, just my perspective. He was certainly a respectable contender while active.

 

I always gave Naz credit for beating much more experienced fighters when so young. He was clearly several notches above strictly European level and made some solid pros look ordinary, when they were in fact decent fighters. I do think that his run of Kelly, Vázquez, McCullough was possibly his peak as far as world class opponents, while Johnson had an excellent run as IBF champ and Medina later won the IBF title after his loss to Naz and was a perennial contender. The fact Naz dealt with them all pretty easily (apart from Kelly!) makes people underrate them as wins.

People forget that Vincenzo Belcastro was seen as a good test for Naz at the time and he made a quality EU level fighter look like an amateur.

For me his loss to Barrera really underlined the gap between a very very good fighter and a borderline ATG (IMO). After that fight Barrera made me realize that being a great fighter is about a lot more than flash.

I find it very hard to tell if Naz was as talented as he seemed but just burned out and didn't have the character to come back from that loss or if he had basically found his level and knew it.

 

Coetzee was flabby and looked like he hadn't trained for the fight.

 

Seven of Clazaghe's 23 title fights were against Ring ranked men

 

True he could only fight what was available to him.

 

Excellent post.

I accept Hamed's achievements are disproportionate to the huge hype he received. However, on a list of FWs ranked purely by the number of top 10 contenders they beat, I suspect Hamed would be top 20 all time. Consider he was mostly dominant in those wins and that he only lost once. I rank him #19 all time at FW. Not an ATG, but not too shabby.

Whilst not old enough to be past his natural physical prime vs Barrera, I consider that - 1) Ingles unorthodox technical training better suited Princes natural physical attributes than Stewards more orthodox approach; and 2) Rumours are that Naz, arrogant as he was, was only training to make weight by the time of the Barrera fight. I recall him saying during a documentary of his preparation, that was aired in the UK, that practicing a pre fight recital he was due give on the mic in the ring was more important to him than his training.

I also think the narrative of the Barrera fight as a 1-sided schooling, has become exaggerated with the passage of time. Barrera clearly won and won well, but the scores of 115-112 x 2 and 116-111 aren't quite consistent with a dominant, 1-sided schooling.

Barrera clearly ranks as the considerably greater fighter based on their whole careers. Naz may not have fulfilled his talent potential in terms of career achievements, but he still had a respectable career.

 

@Mike Cannon and I were saying the same Mac. Good to have you back here.

 

Nice post mate. I have nothing but respect for Bruno. My opinion here is framed by the question.

 

Shouldn't Canada get to claim Lewis? He grew up in Canada, he's a Canadian citizen, and he fought for Canada in the Olympics. Kind of shitty that Canada is denied claim for a top 10 ATG.

 

I worked with a few guys who went to school with Lewis.
His nickname was Junior at that time.
They all said the same thing, Lewis was an absolute sweetheart of a guy and everyone in school liked him.
One of the guys played on the school basketball team with him and told me that in one game, Lewis tried to open palm the ball down but missed the ball and hit his opponent on top of the head, knocking him out cold…