Was Stanley Ketchel overrated?

He's good in terms of cleaning up, but not in longevity.

He was fairly small for a middle, which should probably be considered for P4P

 

You make a good point. Ketchel, from what I have read, was a tough, aggressive fighter that punched hard and didn't tire.

In my opinion, there are different ways of applying the "eye test." You can look at a guy, and he doesn't fight in a way that fits your conception of what a 'good 'fighter looks like. From that you decide that he can't fight and that anybody he beat must suck even more than he does.
Or you can look at a guy that went 56-4 and beat the best of his era and figure that he must have done something right. And you watch and he doesn't look 'good ' to you so you study what he did so as to learn what made him effective.
Looks can be deceptive and effectiveness trumps them every time.

 

We are all in a very unique and unusual situation here, because those of us commenting on this message board are all historians to one extent or another. By that I mean we study our arses off on this subject, so we are all confounded by a mental block when discussing someone of legendary status and for the most part we are hindered by this. Does the King look beautiful in his raiments or is the King wearing no clothes at all? Here is an example of someone with a clean slate.

In the early '80s I took my Dad to a bar that was showing classic fights. The old guy who had all these old reels would go around to bars and prisons and gyms and show these classics. So my Dad is loving this moment, once again seeing some great old films of Robinson, Basilio, Pep, et al. But then he pulled out the Ketchel v Papke film and we watched it intently. Now to clarify something about my Pops, he loved his boxing and was an excellent judge of horse flesh. He could tell you everything you wanted to know about every fighter he has seen from Bruce Woodcock and Freddie Mills to Bobby Chacon and Danny Lopez. He could also give a dissertation on who he thought was a good prospect to whom he thought would be a bust. But, my Dad was not a historian. He did not read up on boxing. He couldn't tell you Bob Fitzsimmons from George Dixon or anyone who came before he got into the sport in the late forties. So here is my Pop and I sitting in this bar, watching Ketchel v Papke. And after the film I turned to my Pops and asked him what he thought of the fight. It was refreshing, because Pops was unencumbered by the mythos and the legend and what he was 'supposed to say'. He looked at me, took the toothpick out of his mouth and scoffed, "Just a couple of old tear-aways!"

My Pops wasn't easily impressed and that was his reaction. That from someone who knew the sport but who had no idea who Stanley Ketchel was. I found it to be refreshing in its innocence. I've been holding back guys. I wanted to get that story off my chest for awhile. It's not meant to start a war.