You know Gene Tunney gets vastly overrated when....

Good points Suzie. Tunney was a very good fighter and I rate him rather high but the fact is he never met a fighter like Liston and Gene didn't stay in the division long enough to cement a reputation as an ATG heavyweight. Beating Dempsey was noteworthy but Jack was tamed by that point and wasn't the killer he was before Hollywood beckoned. He then beat Heeney and retired. That's one defense of his title before riding off into the sunset (2 defenses if you count the Dempsey rematch but one one against a different opponent). Not much of a resume at HW and not enough to accurately judge how he would do against future champions. I'm sure he would be competitive. He was a hall of famer after all but I would've liked to have seen him against a big powerful HW with decent skills like Liston had before I judge his ability against other future champions.

 

And Liston is by far the most insanely overrated heavy ever. So what.

 

:love (no homo)

 

From what I have observed since I started posting here I would have to say that Tunney, George Foreman and Roy Jones are the three most overrated fighters on ESB. It literally boggles my mind some of the things people will say when discussing H2H matchups with these three. Adulation completely trumps reason.

Tunney has somehow morphed into the heavyweight version of Willie Pep and Foreman blasts out prime, top 10 heavies like Oscar Bonavena in his first year as a pro.

 

I do think Liston could beat up Cher, though.

 

I sometimes worry that he is given too much kudos head to head, in fantasy fights, based on a smal neumber of verry impresive performences.

 

Thanks.

 

All verry valid points.

 

It is not overrated to state that Tunney would give Liston a good fight.

 

I think Liston is mroe overrated than Tunney in h2h fantasy matchups... I mean really, you'd think he has the best HW skills around.. and the heart of a champion... Ooo wait.. None of which are true.. Puzzling

 

:deal

The speed and footwork of Tunney would be hard for Liston.....

 

ON the other side of the coin though:

He never lost against a heavyweight, so why is he no chance to do something never ever failed to do previously?


He looks very, very good on filme certainly better skilled than most of the guys you mentioned actually fought and he was probably better than guys who actually beat the guys you just mentioned!


He was ducked by the best black fighter of his time, Harry Wills.

He didnt fight big heavyweights, but he did take and recover from a perfectly timed and landed combination from the hardest hitting fighter of his time, and arguably the hardest hitting fighter of all time in Jack Dempsey.

Tunney is a chance against any fighter. It is arguable that he is undereated badly.

 

One might make this argument as far as Liston at heavy and Tunney at LH. But in HW h2h, where Sonny proved far more than Tunney, I can't see it.

 

Hiya Vic. It might indeed, but how speedy would he be and how long would his legs be able to keep from feeling like he's treading molasses after Sonny slams his 188 pound body with a few cannonball shots? Think those skinny ribs would survive Liston's 15-inch haymakers detonating shots off them for very long?

Just food for thought:smoke