Would you class Damiani as an underachiever?

A recent interview is quite good. Damiani talks about his win over Stevenson and states he was probably underestimated. He also advises the hook against Du Plooy was his finest punch. Disappointingly he briefly mentions the Mercer fight but he discusses missing out on Tyson and Holyfield fights and would have like to have fought Tyson most. Apparently a offer was made but there were strings attached stating it was a 'choking contract', maybe from Don King or other less visible indivudals. He also seems level headed about that potential fight,

https://boxepunch.com/en/boxing-his...o-damiani-our-last-champion-among-the-giants/

Was he an underachiever or overachiever is a more appropriate question for me. He seems content with his career apart from missing out on fighting Holy & Tyson. Depending on when he fought Tyson would also depend on how far into the fight he could go but viewing the Mercer fight would he have stood up to punishment when seriously hurt or bailed out in difficult circumstances. Not sure he would. Holyfield fight would have been interesting but I think he would have been outworked.

And like a previous poster stated, he never looked like he enjoyed training. Who knows if he had sweated the pounds and trained well but maybe he was one of them fighters who never would be body beautiful.

 

Yes and no. On one hand he had a nice blend of boxing skills and punching power which I suspect may have taken him a step further had he gotten bigger fights sooner. But on the other, he wasn’t a great athletic specimen yet was one of the few Euro fighters of his time who made world ratings and medaled in the Olympics. At the end of the day he probably landed right where he should have been

 

I was very interested in him as a young boxing fan. Interesting fighter didn't look much but was a good fighter. I always hoped for a show down with Mason or Bruno.