Who has been the most overrated heavyweight of the 21st century so far?

Joshua and Fury in a neck and neck race

 

It depends on your criteria, but for me it's Fury. Let me explain... It's not that he's not good. He is \ was good. Very good in fact. But when I look at overrated, I am looking at hype vs achievement, and none, for me, really come close.
Fury, his fans and sections of the media were not only saying he was the best of his own generation, but the best OF ALL TIME. This seemed to peak around the time of the Whyte \ Chisora fights, when he was being described (by some) as a top 10 ATG with just a few title defences behind him (mostly against the same person) AND engaging in pointless fights (see Ngannou)... all the while avoiding his biggest challenge in Usyk.
I can't ever remember seeing a fighter so heavily hyped compared to his achievements - at least it's calmed down now. So for that reason I chose Fury.

 

Vitali Klitschko by far on this forum

I dont think Wilder is overrated anymore. I mean ya his fanbase goes crazy but I think if anything he has gotten underrated by the general public at this point

Actually Tyson Fury used to be because people actually thought he was the head to head king and possibly the best heavyweight ever but since NGannou and 2 Usyk fights that has gone away

 

The bodybuilder without a doubt.

 

I expected Wilder.

But I am surprised Fury and AJ didn't have more votes.

 

Deontay Wilder won the National Golden Gloves, the US Amateur Championships, the Olympic Trials, a Bronze Medal in the Olympics, won the WBC Heavyweight Championship, made 10 successful WBC heavyweight title defenses (including one against an undefeated Ring Heavyweight Champ), he was ranked no lower than the #3 contender in the Ring ratings every month for eight straight years, and he was outweighed by everyone he faced for 12 years.

He was among the most successful heavyweight champions in boxing history. (Top 10 all-time in terms of longest single reign, top five all-time the number of consecutive successful defenses.)

Wilder succeeded beyond all expectations.

The fact that he's leading this poll shows how some people remain blinded by hate and how UNDERRATED he still is by some here.

Dillian Whyte, who won nothing as an amateur, nothing as a pro, was caught multiple times for banned drugs, sat out two years for one of those PED offenses, didn't win a round in his only title shot, got knocked out, and demanded a rematch because he got "pushed down" ... yet he's still defended by many ... should certainly be on the list.

So should Alexander Povetkin, who won the gold medal at the Olympics fighting no one (lots of guys could win a gold in the Olympics if nobody showed up to fight), won no major title as a pro, failed every drug test he took in 2016, was also banned for a period, and is still talked about with reverence by some should be on the list.

Jared Anderson (I have no idea where this guy came from when he started headlining on ESPN) won nothing but was a main eventer and highly ranked.

Ivan Dychko is a guy who has been a pro for eight years and hasn't done anything, yet people still talk about how great he is.

Murat Gassiev (he's been a pro for 14 YEARS, never beat anyone at heavyweight, and even got humiliated and beaten by Wallin) is still being propped up.

And, maybe the worst, Czar Glazkov. Tyson Fury was STRIPPED of his title 11 days after he won it because he wouldn't fight Glazkov, who no one today could pick out of a lineup. Gazkov couldn't even beat Malik Scott. But he was held in such high regard by the IBF that they ripped World Heavyweight Champion status from Fury less than two weeks after he beat Wlad and planned to give their belt to Glazkov (but he couldn't even get past Charles Martin).

That's not even mentioning Seth Mitchell, David Price,, Tony Yoka, Jameel McCline (who received four separate title shots, one for each belt, and failed every time), Robert Helenius (who, at one time, was considered the heir apparent), Adam Kownacki, Mike Hunter (been a pro for 12 years in two divisions and never won anything) ... the list is endless.

Actually, every name on that list provided is far more accomplished and NOT overrated than many of the guys that could've been included, some of whom (Dychko and Gassiev and even Hunter) are still being propped up.

If you're a veteran name fighter who fans are still trying to prop up, and your "goal" at this point is simply to win a "regular" or "interim" belt to salvage your career and "finally" win "something" (anything) ... you're overrated.

 

Wilder close thread.

 

Why is Usyk not an option?

People are punishing Anderson for the Bakole loss way too much. Dubois taught fans an important lesson recently that many seem to have already forgotten.

 

I'm a bit unsure on my voting because I feel like everyone is relatively accurately rated these days, especially on these forums.

But I think in reality it has to be Wilder based on his record, his lone marquis win is an old Ortiz, which is pretty bad considering his reign as WBC champ.

That right hand is still crazy though, I don't doubt that it is one of, if not the, hardest hitting punch in boxing history.

 

Its not a poll on relative success, it's a poll on how good a fighter actually is/was versus what how good he is/was rated by the public consciousness.

So a very subjective measure by any means and doesn't really mean anything as a result.

If we look back in time people were saying Wilder could beat anyone ever etc etc, where as in reality he couldn't even beat a Fury coming off of his bender. So a big gap between hype and reality.

Those other names you listed have had nowhere near the hype and have never been highly rated by the public, most of them aren't even known, so even though they haven't achieved much, the gap between their rating and actual achievements is relatively small.

 

Vitali Klitschko. He's presented sometimes as a H2H god while he lost 2 out of his 4 biggest fights. His resume sucks out loud too. Wilder would be the obvious choice, but nobody except for his hardest fanboys rated him anywhere near Top 10 HW of all time.

 

Usyk should definitely be on this list, right now a lot of people are rating him very highly all time for wins over 3 flawed Englishmen, who if we read this thread, are very overrated themselves lol.

 

Agreed
He is being rated over Floyd, Manny, Duran, SRL, SRR and Ali for beating 3 overhyped brits and a couple of decent cruisers. How many hall of fame guys has he beaten?

I wouldn't choose him as the most overrated, but he should be an option, as he gets hit way too often by subpar opposition to be labelled the best ever imo

I do think he is fantastic by the way. ATG for sure, but not close to the best ever for me

 

Hes beaten 5 guys at HW lost 25 rounds in 8 fights and people think hes P4P the best HW they've ever seen because he beat someone 3-4 inches taller than him. "No ones ever overcome such disadvantages". Except the countless times they did. Its one thing to have not read up on the old timers but Usyks ATG peers David Haye and Holyfield beat Valuev and almost beat him at 46. David Haye even made this poll.

In history besides Sullivan theres really been nothing like it. Say what you want about Marciano he still had to go 49-0 and was actually small. Wilder still was 40-0 with all knockouts.

 

Mike Tyson was 5'10 with a 71 inch reach and at times was 20 plus pounds lighter, whilst always being the shorter fighter

Evander Holyfield was also quite small when he made the trip up
We are led to believe that these guys are giants. Joshua is about an inch taller than lewis at most, weighs similar and Bruno was roughly that weight also, among others.

If fury actually dieted down he would be lighter than Lewis, Bowe and Bruno