hyped/highly rated fighters where you were like "da f@ck?"

[polecateddy]

Pele Reid is always a good one. He was getting mainstream newspaper articles written about him before Julius popped his bubble.

[knockout]

Pele had great combat credentials hence the hype, plus had a big win over Wayne Llewellyn who was seen as a bit of a prospect at the time.. plus he was with Ingle who was on a super hot streak at that time.

Unfortunately his kickboxing talent didn’t cross over (perhaps he was rushed, perhaps the “Ingle style”wasn’t right for him, perhaps he started boxing too late)

[Deserter]

Michael Grant.

[GreenLightning]

I think the overrating of old fighters can go both ways though, like a lot of people seem to think that Floyd Mayweather and James Toney invented the concept of rolling with punches and utterly jizz when someone does well but theres a reason Toneys style was described as 'old school', these were old concepts that were practiced by many old school fighters, so the idea that some people have also that old fighters were unsophisticated cavemen (I know James wasn't saying that ) and the techniques are so much better now is also a load of crap, we see some crude fighters who are knackerd within a few rounds still do very well in this sport


I mean Jesus, look at the state of Deontay Wilder

[Counter-puncher]

I always say Bute with anything like this. It’s the most convinced I’ve ever been that the underdog would win & not only win but destroy him when he fought Froch.

I just didn’t see what others saw. I couldn’t believe it when people were putting him at 9 & 10 in P4P lists when his best win was that farcical victory over Andrade when he showed how vulnerable he was.

All good points, I was definitely OTT on him but to be fair the total goat-fvcking of Andrade in the rematch kind of showed what some of us were getting a bit giddy over (for me anyway it was that combination of southpaw-good mover- *just got a really nice-*looking* style*, plus throw in that excellent left uppercut to the body and that was me done for might just be me but he just looked like a puuuuurrdy fighter, like how Kellerman totally lost his sh1t when he first saw Linares )

[steve689]

I remember being at Conrad Cummings' debut press conference and Barry McGuigan telling everyone how he beats Chris Eubank and BJS right now. Nice guy Conrad, but I always watched him with Barry's words in my head thinking "nah, my eyes aren't seeing this" lol.

[HyacinthusTurnipseed]

Ismail Sillakh. People seemed so high on him when he was an undefeated prospect - to me he seemed still amateurish and weak. It didn't surprise me when the first guy who could land some good punches on him completely knocked him out.

Felix Verjedo. Evokes the phrase "da f@ck?" for rather different reasons now of course, when he was a hyped up prospect he was clearly more sound than Sillakh, but still seemed ultimately insubstantial to me. I did think he'd get to a higher level before getting exposed though.

Does Joshua Kelly count?

[dookus]

Hosea Burton

Dominic Guinn (I suspect there are going to be a few more heavyweights mentioned!)

[polecateddy]

Pele had great combat credentials hence the hype, plus had a big win over Wayne Llewellyn who was seen as a bit of a prospect at the time.. plus he was with Ingle who was on a super hot streak at that time.

Unfortunately his kickboxing talent didn’t cross over (perhaps he was rushed, perhaps the “Ingle style”wasn’t right for him, perhaps he started boxing too late)

Yeah, he didn't have the reflexes for any sort of hands down style. He really wasn't that good at kickboxing either. I recall Ray Sefo toying with him. Still nearly beat Michael Sprott in a real thriller.

[JamesPhilips]

there was always something weird about that kid

I think it was more his dad that was the weirdo..... Romeo grew up and got the fvxk away from that freak.

i see hes being trained by mark tibbs and looking to come back

oh I didn’t know that…. How old is he now? I still think he’s mostly style over substance

[JamesPhilips]

you should take a look in there.........some very knowledgable guys, but certainly some who are hardcore cock gobblers of anyone from past generations/ haters of anything modern. it works in linear fashion too, so 30s > 40s> 50s> etc...

one of them was hating on usyk's resume, saying he never beaten guys like courtney butler, michael rush, terry mcgroom, jason robinson. you probably dont recognize these names, because they are fringe american cruisers of the early 2000s,, which came before 2015 and is therefore better

Lol I will. I find it bizarre and often comedic how mythical the abilities of old timers are considered by some. Boxing has changed and I believe mproved a lot in many ways - nutrition, training methods, weight management, supplements..... and ...... the elephant in the room, PEDs...?

One could argue that old age fighters were tougher and put forward a good argument for that, but the over rating of old timers can be cringe. Every single other sport has improved considerably over the years, to suggest boxing is the exception is retarded.

Discussions on heavyweights are where the real idiocy resides....I have heard and read boxing fans say stuff like "No way would Lennox Lewis be able to stand up to Marciano's power and onslaught. He'd just walk though Lewis" etc.....I mean FFS

You'll definitely like that section, when you read about how Povetkin wasn't in Jerry Quarry's class.

LOL I’ll check it out…. To be fair I really rate Quarry and not sure who would’ve won. But it could’ve been worse, someone could’ve said “Povetkin isn’t even in Chuck Wepner’s class”

[coghaugen11]

Jeff Lacy. He looked pretty naff to me

[Wales]

I think it was more his dad that was the weirdo..... Romeo grew up and got the fvxk away from that freak.

i see hes being trained by mark tibbs and looking to come back

oh I didn’t know that…. How old is he now? I still think he’s mostly style over substance

25 now think he was 20 in his last fight . He’s been through the mill with mental health issues. But I hear he’s back now and fighting again soon.

From the age of 12 his dad had him living in the woods, living off the land, and training 5am -7am 12-13:00 17:00-19:00 every day, 7 days a week.

All very odd

[Twinkle Toes]

David Price and Kevin Mitchell - Never saw the hype in either. Price in particular was lauded over on here.

[bennie]

There was an American heavyweight by the name of Mac Foster, who reeled off 24 straight wins after turning pro in 1966 - all of them early. Foster had also reputedly kayoed Sonny Liston in a sparring session and was expected to add Jerry Quarry to his list of victims when they met in June 1970 at Madison Square Garden, but Quarry slaughtered him in six rounds.

[Coco]

Pele had great combat credentials hence the hype, plus had a big win over Wayne Llewellyn who was seen as a bit of a prospect at the time.. plus he was with Ingle who was on a super hot streak at that time.

Unfortunately his kickboxing talent didn’t cross over (perhaps he was rushed, perhaps the “Ingle style”wasn’t right for him, perhaps he started boxing too late)

And knocked out Vitali

[JamesPhilips]

i see hes being trained by mark tibbs and looking to come back

oh I didn’t know that…. How old is he now? I still think he’s mostly style over substance

25 now think he was 20 in his last fight . He’s been through the mill with mental health issues. But I hear he’s back now and fighting again soon.

From the age of 12 his dad had him living in the woods, living off the land, and training 5am -7am 12-13:00 17:00-19:00 every day, 7 days a week.

All very odd

And allegedly on steroids / PEDs…… sounds like borderline child abuse really though I get keeping the boys away from trash food, trash TV and drugs / alcohol

[JamesPhilips]

Pele had great combat credentials hence the hype, plus had a big win over Wayne Llewellyn who was seen as a bit of a prospect at the time.. plus he was with Ingle who was on a super hot streak at that time.

Unfortunately his kickboxing talent didn’t cross over (perhaps he was rushed, perhaps the “Ingle style”wasn’t right for him, perhaps he started boxing too late)

And knocked out Vitali

To be fair this was semi contact so Pele shouldn’t have put full power in….and I don’t think Vitali had done full contact yet so his chin hadn’t developed yet… I THINK…… not sure. I mean look at his chin as a pro EG against Lennox ‘The Lion’ Lewis…..

Also Pele went to K1 after boxing. Not sure how he did but Ray Sefo battered him

[JamesPhilips]

Surprised no one has mentioned Audley Harrison yet (unless I missed it)…. I mean especially after losses to fat alcoholic Samil San and being absolutely FLATTENED by a Russian in the London ABAs

[coghaugen11]

Pele had great combat credentials hence the hype, plus had a big win over Wayne Llewellyn who was seen as a bit of a prospect at the time.. plus he was with Ingle who was on a super hot streak at that time.

Unfortunately his kickboxing talent didn’t cross over (perhaps he was rushed, perhaps the “Ingle style”wasn’t right for him, perhaps he started boxing too late)

And knocked out Vitali

For years people called me a bullshitter on that. Even got banned from a forum for claiming it.

[Old bones Ian]

David Price and Kevin Mitchell - Never saw the hype in either. Price in particular was lauded over on here.

Having watched his amateur career with bit of interest I knew he was a car crash waiting to happen, but still got caught up in the hype

[Old bones Ian]

Pele had great combat credentials hence the hype, plus had a big win over Wayne Llewellyn who was seen as a bit of a prospect at the time.. plus he was with Ingle who was on a super hot streak at that time.

Unfortunately his kickboxing talent didn’t cross over (perhaps he was rushed, perhaps the “Ingle style”wasn’t right for him, perhaps he started boxing too late)

And knocked out Vitali

For years people called me a bullshitter on that. Even got banned from a forum for claiming it.

I've never seen the Orlin Norris fight, was it filmed? Reid got done in a round

[REEVE]

What was the name of the kid ....always on allegedly....hyped to death...had about 6 fights and then went to jail

Mitchell smith

[orbtastic]

>>I've never seen the Orlin Norris fight, was it filmed? Reid got done in a round

Yeah it was on SKY. He was reeling round the ring like a drunk.

[Deserter]

Surprised no one has mentioned Audley Harrison yet (unless I missed it)…. I mean especially after losses to fat alcoholic Samil San and being absolutely FLATTENED by a Russian in the London ABAs

Good call. Definitely flattered to deceive.