Who are the biggest overachievers in boxing history?

[sweetsci]

I was most definitely not a fan of John Ruiz when he was active, but now I have to tip my hat to him for beating guys I would have never thought he'd beat. To come back strong after being blown out by Tua... a lot of guys wouldn't have been able to come back from that.

Did anyone mention Rocky Marciano?
edit - yep, someone did.

[BoxBuzz]

good call on Ruiz.....perhaps no one can beat him in this category. He'd hug out win after win there for a while.

[Kalan]

Obviously, Pacquiao was a better fighter, but Pacquiao had much more natural talent than Burns.
Burns was 5'7 and usually weighed about 175 pounds. He won the heavyweight championship. Think about that for a minute. When he did lose it, he lasted 14 rounds against Jack Johnson.

IIRC that fight was stopped by the police so he could have gone longer.

Jack Johnson wanted Burns to last... He wrote in his autobiography "I ladled out just enough punishment to keep Burns conscious." The police stopped the fight because it was obvious Johnson was torturing him to humiliate him. Burns had given him the run around for years and used the N word when talking to him and about him. Johnson also tortured Jeffries, but more to show his own dominance and fearlessness to the almost all-white crowd than to extract vengeance. He respected Jeffries and called him a great fighter.

[ClivePatrickLyons]

Obviously, Pacquiao was a better fighter, but Pacquiao had much more natural talent than Burns.
Burns was 5'7 and usually weighed about 175 pounds. He won the heavyweight championship. Think about that for a minute. When he did lose it, he lasted 14 rounds against Jack Johnson.

You should never compare Tommy Burns with Pacman and what they achieved in Boxing..........Because there is no comparision what do you want me to THINK about for a MINUTE that Burns weight was 175 pound's so what his title reign is bullsh.t how many Negro Heavyweight's would have schooled him [Burns] is something i'll never know but i'm almost certain I would need more then 10 finger's to count them Pacman didn't walk in the gym bouncing around throwing 7/8 punch combination's from every angle humanly possible he worked his ass off then some before he became the master boxer he is today any Flyweight that goes up all those weight division's and keeps winning as high as Jr Middle are HUGE OVERACHIEVER'S

[SaadOffTheDeck]

You're really struggling with the premise here. Pac is a laughable answer.

[ClivePatrickLyons]

You're really struggling with the premise here. Pac is a laughable answer.

That's you opinion :-Never will be achieved again fly/jr middle WORLD CHAMP does that mean he overachieved YOUR OPINION IS WHATS LAUGHABLE

[SaadOffTheDeck]

It's not an opinion, it's a definition you can't seem to grasp.

[Kalan]

The definition of overachiever is doing far more than anyone expected in his career... When you look at Pacquiao's 2 early KO losses -- things didn't look extremely positive for him at that point.. Even when Morales handed him his 3rd loss things didn't look that positive for him.. But what he did after those losses was pretty amazing.. He always turned it up until the losses to Bradley and Marquez..

The Rios, Bradley, and Algieri wins at a time when there was so many tough Welterweights available wasn't an overachievement... and making sure everyone in the world knew about his torn rotator cuff, after hiding the injury before the dreary Floyd fight wasn't awe inspiring... Then he fought Bradley instead of Crawford.. Now he's fighting Vargas, who lost to Bradley, instead of instead of fighting Thurman, Brook, or Spence who would have kicked his butt in.. When old fighters start going into cherry picking mode they should just retire.

[bwu]

Gypsy Joe Harris, Tami Mauriello, Dodie Boy Penalosa, Tony Galento and Gianfranco Rosi.

[foxdog1923]

I know one thing, Kalan. You surely love that Anthony Joshua guy.

He loves that TALKING SH1T guy, thats who he loves. He loves himself.

[Kalan]

You love beating up little kids like your son Foxdog... You're a chicken livered coward.

[Kalan]

I know one thing, Kalan. You surely love that Anthony Joshua guy.

Anthony Joshua is the IBF Heavyweight champion? - Who pays attention to the IBF? I thought the IBF was gone, convicted of 'illegal possession of New Jersey" - Do they still count? - Is this the same IBF or a different body with the same acronym?

I like to watch good boxers and punchers work... Fury is the undefeated Lineal Heavyweight Champion... He's good, but Joshua will knock him out... I'm not citing AJ for any other reasons then he won a World Title in fewer rounds than anyone -- and he's the best boxer-puncher in the division in only 17 fights.

[gilgamesh]

I'll say one thing, Judah tops every underachiever list but he's closer to an overachiever.

Speaking of Judah. The guy that beat him for the Welterweight Title, Carlos Baldomir comes to mind for me in this thread.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

I'll say one thing, Judah tops every underachiever list but he's closer to an overachiever.

Speaking of Judah. The guy that beat him for the Welterweight Title, Carlos Baldomir comes to mind for me in this thread.

Good call, the only inconsistent result in zab's career.

[IKSRTFO]

The definition of overachiever is doing far more than anyone expected in his career... When you look at Pacquiao's 2 early KO losses -- things didn't look extremely positive for him at that point.. Even when Morales handed him his 3rd loss things didn't look that positive for him.. But what he did after those losses was pretty amazing.. He always turned it up until the losses to Bradley and Marquez..

The Rios, Bradley, and Algieri wins at a time when there was so many tough Welterweights available wasn't an overachievement... and making sure everyone in the world knew about his torn rotator cuff, after hiding the injury before the dreary Floyd fight wasn't awe inspiring... Then he fought Bradley instead of Crawford.. Now he's fighting Vargas, who lost to Bradley, instead of instead of fighting Thurman, Brook, or Spence who would have kicked his butt in.. When old fighters start going into cherry picking mode they should just retire.

Beating Bradley is always impressive to me. No one else has stepped to the plate and beat him except Pacquiao.

[ClivePatrickLyons]

It's not an opinion, it's a definition you can't seem to grasp.

DEFINITION OF OVERACHIEVING............''To perform better or achieve more then expected especially by other's''....I never made this up
Nonito Donair is the only modern day FLYWEIGHT TO EVEN COME CLOSE TO WHAT PACMAN ACHIEVED WHEN TALKING ABOUT FLYWEIGHT'S MOVING UP IN WEIGHT HE WENT FROM FLYWEIGHT TO FEATHERWEIGHT before nature bit him on the ass HE HAD JUST 5 WEIGHT DIVISION'S TO GO
DO YOUR SELF A FAVOUR GET SOMEONE TO EXPLAIN TO YOU WHAT DEFINITION MEANS SO YOU CAN GRASP IT

[ClivePatrickLyons]

You're really struggling with the premise here. Pac is a laughable answer.

You need to look from the start not towards the end you won't find many people overachieving at the END

[Tom Moore]

Johnny Nelson- fought his own fear and a string of dog awful performances, and then went 7 years unbeaten. Even allowing for the level of opposition, that's a hell of a turnaround.