Boxing: 10 Historically Underrated Fighters

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5. Mike McCallum

When McCallum hit you, there was a strong chance you were going to be taken off your feet and likely put to sleep. His numbers were not gaudy when compared to other greats of the sport, but McCallum was as dangerous as anybody else in boxing. A ruthless puncher to the head, McCallum was also notorious for delivering crippling shots to the body, hence the moniker “The Body Snatcher.” McCallum dominated the junior middleweight and middleweight divisions from the late 1980s through the mid-1990s until age finally caught up to him. He toppled several key men in his career, like Herol Graham and Steve Collins, and knocked out such stars as Julian Jackson, Donald Curry and Milton McCrory. For as deadly and entertaining as he was in his prime, almost no fighter in the modern era is as overlooked as McCallum. It would have been one thing if he had been a safety-first boxer with no power; he was anything but that. Yes, the true boxing fans loved him, but McCallum never became a household name.

4. Paulie Ayala

True, Ayala hardly stopped any of his opponents because he had very little pop in his fists. Had he been born with raw knockout power, it is likely he would have gone down as one of the greatest little guys in the sport’s long history. Be that as it may, Ayala was hardly ever in a dull fight because of his unwillingness to lose and because his chin seemed to be made of pure granite. Ayala captured world titles at bantamweight and super bantamweight and engaged in two memorable wars with both Clarence “Bones” Adams and hall of famer Johnny Tapia. Ayala was Ring Magazine’s 1999 “Fighter of the Year,” and his first brawl with Tapia was heralded as the year’s best fight. Even at the tail end of his career when his skills were eroded, he valiantly went to war with Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, losing to both. Still, even with all he accomplished and his involvement in a number of exhilarating duels, Ayala barely ever registered a blip on anybody’s radar.

3. Lennox Lewis

Huge, hulking build? Check. Sheer destructive punching power in either hand? Check. Dominating wins over the likes of Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson, Vitali Klitschko, Hasim Rahman, David Tua and countless others? Check. Though Lewis is looked upon fondly now, it was a different story when he was the undisputed heavyweight champion. Why? No one knows. When Lewis dominated the sport’s most popular division, it always seemed like the boxing world was waiting for someone else to knock him out and take his title. Lewis was grossly underappreciated when he was the king. Perhaps it was because he was British, or because he did not take too many chances inside the ring, preferring instead to counter his opponents’ mistakes. For whatever reason, Lewis was unpopular with an overwhelming majority of people in the boxing community. When he beat Klitschko because of horrible cuts and then opted to retire, he was labeled a coward for not giving him a rematch. Lewis never returned to action, but over the years, some of those who criticized him reversed course and praised him for his extended run of excellence. Many now long for the days when he was king.

2. Larry Holmes

Among the greatest heavyweights of all-time, “The Easton Assassin” never got the credit or respect he deserved. Unfortunately for the brilliant Holmes, he ruled the heavyweight roost during the dark time between Muhammad Ali’s monarchy and Mike Tyson’s path of destruction. His jab ranks right at the top in boxing history, and he beat up virtually everybody he fought. He was also in some memorable wars. Holmes may have been disliked because he essentially ended Ali’s career in 1978. It did not help that he also said Rocky Marciano could not hold his jock strap when he approached the former great’s unbeaten heavyweight record. It also did not boost his public persona when he was blown out of the water by Tyson when they met, though by then Holmes was already on the decline. Still, when most people reminisce about the great heavyweights, they almost always mention the names Joe Louis, Ali, Marciano, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Tyson and maybe Jack Dempsey, Evander Holyfield and Gene Tunney. You almost never hear Holmes’ name, and that is quite sad. In his prime, Holmes might have beaten most of them.

1. Pernell Whitaker

When he was at his physical and mental zenith, “Sweet Pea” was unbeatable. In fact, the first person to legitimately defeat him was Felix Trinidad, but their fight came after Whitaker was released from a drug rehab center and a few years past his prime. Before then, Whitaker beat everybody, with many of his biggest wins coming against elite-level opposition. He whipped Julio Cesar Chavez, only to be robbed; and he boxed off a prime Oscar de la Hoya’s ears, but the judges apparently watched a different fight. Moreover, he perplexed and dominated the likes of James “Buddy” McGirt, Greg Haugen, Wilfredo Rivera, Rafael Pineda and Jorge Paez. Whitaker was the undisputed pound-for-pound king for a time and captured world titles at lightweight, junior welterweight and welterweight. Still, despite his brilliance, he barely drew flies to his most significant bouts. The reason: He was far and away the greatest defensive boxer in the history of the sport, until Floyd Mayweather Jr. came along. Whitaker would stand directly in front of his opponents, drop his gloves to his side and avoid virtually every punch thrown his way. He was like a magician, as he quickly disappeared and then reappeared, rattling the punch of his choice off his foe’s face. However, Whitaker never had concussive knockout power, and, as a result, most boxing writers during that time could not stand covering his fights and routinely resorted to criticizing his style. Fight fans do not care about slick defensive masterminds; they desire blood, guts and vicious knockouts. Whitaker could not deliver that kind of destruction, and it cost him dearly in the popularity department. He remains one of the greatest boxers to ever compete, but people did not come to that realization until he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and made a return to the sport as a trainer and analyst. What a shame.