See, the problem with this sorta thread is that one dude's under-rated is another's "That motherfucker, his historical regard is exactly what it should've been" or indeed another's "Fuck that guy, I knew he'd be beaten with ease [by a southpaw/mover/big hitter/whatever]". You'd have to agree on a fighter's universally-accepted worth beforehand, & then consider whether or not they're better than their universally-accepted worth.
But you can't manage that, 'cos hardly any two peoples' opinions of a dude coincide.
Hence the spat on these very pages about Mark "Too Sharp" Johnson, who despite rave reviews from boxing journos at the turn of the century & his obvious skill & flash never got to fight anyone above lower-weight 90s alphabet calibre level until he met the younger Marquez, who had him, twice. His turning of the clock back versus Montiel was really good, but Montiel could always be outfoxed by the right combo of jab & move, so, yeah. You either think like Steve Farhood/Graham Houston circa 1998 & insist he's a colossus, or (more likely if you weren't there, natch) you look at who he actually beat & who beat him & go "Nah fuck that, don't see the fuss".
The gulf in opinion is, I believe, 'cos Johnson was somewhat over-rated when he was flyweight champ (amongst the four people who knew who he was, that is) & in retrospect, there's just not enough on his resume to flip that opinion.
Anyway.
Yuri Arbachakov was under-rated, & on his day would've made Johnson his bitch.
But you can't manage that, 'cos hardly any two peoples' opinions of a dude coincide.
Hence the spat on these very pages about Mark "Too Sharp" Johnson, who despite rave reviews from boxing journos at the turn of the century & his obvious skill & flash never got to fight anyone above lower-weight 90s alphabet calibre level until he met the younger Marquez, who had him, twice. His turning of the clock back versus Montiel was really good, but Montiel could always be outfoxed by the right combo of jab & move, so, yeah. You either think like Steve Farhood/Graham Houston circa 1998 & insist he's a colossus, or (more likely if you weren't there, natch) you look at who he actually beat & who beat him & go "Nah fuck that, don't see the fuss".
The gulf in opinion is, I believe, 'cos Johnson was somewhat over-rated when he was flyweight champ (amongst the four people who knew who he was, that is) & in retrospect, there's just not enough on his resume to flip that opinion.
Anyway.
Yuri Arbachakov was under-rated, & on his day would've made Johnson his bitch.
