Was Gassiev the most overrated active heavyweight?

I don't doubt he's had injuries but I wonder how much he's been ducking: he turned down the Hrgovic fight. He came to boxing at 15 and had recently turned 23 when he beat Lebedev in a close fight. He likely had less than 8 years boxing experience at that point, which isn't a lot. Even though he wasn't fighting anyone post-Usyk he was presumably regularly in the gym honing his craft. So he may have been a better version but not been able to execute against a big southpaw mover. And even if he were a diminished version of himself there's no way to quantify it (this isn't a case like Povetkin-Whyte 2 or Kevin Johnson coming off 10 losses in a row). Gassiev's team had been looking at Wallin as an opponent for over a year, so presumably they felt confident that Gassiev was going to win, especially as Wallin had location and politics to contend with. The oddsmakers certainly didn't think Gassiev was faded, favouring him 73-27. Wallin deserves a lot of credit for doing what the vast majority said he could not, against an opponent who was supposedly a massive threat to anyone outside the HW top 2.

Dorticos stood right in front of Gassiev for 12 rounds. I imagine a bulked up Gassiev would also do well against someone like Arreola.

They want it both ways: if Gassiev had won they'd have said "I got it right, told you Wallin was no good/Gassiev's a beast" but after Wallin won, never got hurt and hurt Gassiev they say "I said Gassiev was injured and could be shot, Wallin gets no credit". It's petty and pathetic but there you go.

 

The Usyk fight is the only relevant fight for Fury right now in a historical context.

Bakole got schooled and stopped by Hunter, who was schooled and all but stopped by Usyk. Makhmudov would have probably lost to the Takam from the Chisora fight. Jalolov's done nothing as a pro and wants another Olympic gold. Hrgovic may have an eliminator with Wallin coming up. Zhang's done the most of those guys by a margin but if Fury beat him you'd probably moan that he's 41+, has a loss and drew with Jerry Forrest.

 

It wasn't there against blown-up LHW Lebedev or big cruiser Usyk either. Even slugger Dorticos got to the 12th standing in front of Gassiev all night. No shock that he couldn't put a dent in Wallin.

 

"Usyk being the only relevant fight is nothing but your opinion which most would disagree with"

Most regard the Usyk fight as being vastly more significant for Fury than any other possible fight, much as you may cry about it. Put Bakole and all the other no-names you mentioned together and still they don't come close to the first HW undisputed fight in 25 years.

"Zhang wasn't 41 years old when Fury came back in 2018."

Back then Zhang had either done nothing or was looking workmanlike against Rudenko and drawing with Forrest. Fury would have got zero credit for beating him back then, same as he didn't when he beat Wallin, who just beat a "killer" and top 4 cruiser of Usyk's era in former unified titlist Gassiev.

 

Joyce is also well up there, as was Okolie. At least Ruiz smashed Joshua to bits, took his 0 in a huge upset. Joyce just smashed Parker/Dubois before getting demolished x2 by Zhang. Okolie hugged Cieslak to death before getting humiliated by Billam-Smith.

 

Delusional. You hype similar fighters to Safin lol. Joyce couldn't even beat experienced long-armed mover Jennings by any clear margin and now he's completely finished. Okolie kills himself to make cruiser for little money so he can bully much smaller men with clinching and hide his glass jaw but Billam-Smith exposed him rotten.