Who was the biggest hype job in heavyweight history?

Jim Lampley sucks. Always has, always will.

 

Gerry seemed to be a decent fellow, but he was about as big a hypejob we will ever see in this lifetime.

 

In other level courage tshabalala Andrés Duncan dokinwari

 

If Voltaire was around at the time, he'd probably say something about Michael Grant to the effect that if the next great American heavyweight did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him. Grant ticked a lot of boxes and looked the part, but he had hardly any amateur experience and didn't really demonstrate anything as a pro that warranted hype beyond that of a good prospect. With only a few brief interludes, Americans had dominated the division since its inception, so it was natural to expect a successor to Holyfield/Tyson to be homegrown.

If Grant had come along earlier or later, he wouldn't have had the same profile or exposure. After over a decade of European dominance, there is a greater acceptance that the US doesn't have to provide the leading heavyweights, and they are probably judged more realistically on their abilities. Wilder had a bit of hype, but even from an early stage of his career he was criticised and scrutinised much more despite having a stronger foundation for success.

In an earlier era, Grant is probably just one of many good prospects, and gets exposed without the same fanfare. This is pretty much the definition a hype job; the attention and exposure they get is out of proportion to what they actually do in the ring.

While Bobick and Harrison fell short of the standards some expected of them, we're talking about amateur standouts who you would expect to develop better than they did as pros.

Cooney is a different category from Grant. There were more reasons to believe he was the real deal as he mowed through the opposition, but the cover of Time Magazine is a different level of hype....

 

I remember Courage getting taken out by Brian Scott, and not believing what I was seeing. There have been more hyped prospects, but few have come unstuck so badly against journeymen opposition.

 

Bobby Helenuis was rated highly one time, to take over.

 

Duane Bobick came immediately to my mind. In watching him pile up victories against wannabes I saw the slowness, the lack of 'sandman' power, the suspect whiskers, etc. Cooney as well (much more talented), but Gerry dug his own grave by taking two years off after his loss to Larry when he should have been right back in the ring six months later!
My $0.02

 

I think hype jobs are still good fighters. Talent is at the root of all hypejobs.

I confess I am as guilty as anyone of enjoying seeing egg on the faces of fans of hyped up boxers getting found out but I actually usually have sympathy for the fighter himself. It’s still wasted talent at the end of the day.

It’s the fans of hypejobs who I like to see found out. Not so much the kid getting beat.

Even the greatest fighter needs to be seasoned. Hyping prevents seasoning.

Unfortunately it is the early fanfare itself that prevents a fighter reaching his potential. You can get any potentially great fighter too much hype early on and he will be destined to fail.

If a kid is too much of a hot property too early then his backers literally cannot afford not to protect him. They are forced into a situation where the right opponents will demand a higher fee to fight the prospect, price themselves out of any real ambition and therefore not pass on any meaningful experience into the required grooming process. Casual fans delight in the quick knockouts and swarm the box office.

This can manifest itself as the over protecting a fighter but often it’s a case of the opponents not doing their job, and of course once a fighter becomes a huge draw decent opponents with no name can be bypassed anyway.

This lack of not enough competitive fights, the overprotection itself, the coddling, Will prevent even the greatest of talents from developing into a properly seasoned fighter.

I believe it is the nature of overexposure that causes a fighter to look like a fraud rather than the fighter himself being a sham. There is always talent at the root of all hypejobs.

 

Andrew Golota

 

All the current Heavyweight Champions.

 

The reason you heard more about Grant is that he legitimately earned a top ranking and title shot.

The hype train Price would've had if he'd actually acheived that much would've been unreal.

 

I looked up Grant out of curiosity - he's still fighting sporadically, as recently as last year.

 

It could be Anthony Joshua.

 

Mac Foster up until he met Jerry Quarry. I think Foster was undefeated with all his wins by KO.

 

Peter McNeely deserves mention. The guy was 100% hype and 0% substance.