Today's most over-rated British boxers by Oliver Fennell Nov 2nd 2007

In part two of his mini-series, Oliver Fennell looks at the most under-rated and over-rated boxers in Britain, both today and in history. Last week, he selected five under-rated boxers currently competing. Now, he looks at five active fighters whose recognition exceeds their achievements. 1- Ricky Hatton You might ask how I can possibly consider a boxer who's won four world titles across two divisions, is the number one in his weight class, and is gunning for pound-for-pound supremacy in his next fight, to be over-rated. Don't get me wrong – Hatton is indeed the top dog at light-welterweight and, should he score the upset over Floyd Mayweather next month, I will gladly retract this statement. But so far, Hatton's reputation is largely based on the one win over Kostya Tszyu, more than two years ago. I'm not among those who detract from Hatton's finest hour, as Tszyu, despite his age, was in great form. Ricky gets full credit from me for this, one of Britain's finest boxing victories. But he hasn't really built on it. Carlos Maussa, Luis Collazo and Juan Urango were all hand-picked and little-known, and even then Hatton almost came unstuck against one, and was impressive against none. The Jose Luis Castillo knockout in May went some way to redeeming Hatton, but unlike Tszyu, there was a feeling the Mexican might have been past his best even before the fight. I'd be delighted to be proven wrong when Hatton meets Mayweather, but for my money, he simply hasn't proven he belongs at the highest level. 2- Carl Froch Froch once notoriously proclaimed himself not just Britain's best boxer, but best sportsman, period. And while nobody else is going quite that far, he certainly has a lot of admirers, with some claiming he already has the beating of the likes of Joe Calzaghe and Mikkel Kessler. No doubt, Froch is a fine prospect, but hang on a minute – he has been a prospect for years and years. He made a great start to his career, bagging the Commonwealth super-middleweight title in only his 12th fight, but he hasn't really moved on from that achievement in the three and a half years and nine bouts since he won it. Froch has not yet beaten a genuinely world-class opponent. Despite the hype, Sergei Tatevosyan was not such a man and, for that matter, next challenger Robin Reid no longer is, either. Let's see Froch beat somebody in the top 10 before we start proclaiming him a world champ elect. 3- Jamie Moore Being in great fights does not necessarily make a fighter great. When a boxer beats somebody easily, fans usually look for negatives in the opponent. But when a boxer is involved in a crowd-pleasing war, there are very few critics. It might be distasteful to criticise those who emerge from blood-soaked epics, but that's not to say we shouldn't maintain a bit of perspective. I loved Jamie Moore v Matthew Macklin as much as anybody, but what has Macklin actually achieved? For Moore to go through life and death against a man who has yet to win even domestic honours suggests talk of a WBC title is more than a little fanciful. This is going to be an unpopular choice, with light-middleweight Moore being “the fighters' fighter”, but Macklin wasn't an exception. Jamie has also struggled with Michael Jones and Andrew Facey, boxers who fall some way short of the standard to which Moore – and his many admirers – are aspiring. 4- Matt Skelton Skelton's style is not pretty, but he's a good, honest pro. He has proved will can overcome skill and fitness can overcome talent. He was a late starter, not even turning pro until he was 34, and then without any amateur experience (although he is a former kickboxer). I'll give him his due – he's made a lot of what he's got and has earned British and Commonwealth titles on merit. But let's stop there. The man is 40 years old and has surely gone as far as he's likely to. His brawling style might be enough to overcome the domestic-level likes of Danny Williams and Michael Sprott, but even in the shallow international waters, he will surely be out of his depth. Skelton has a cult following, but their talk of success at European level or even beyond looks unrealistic. Boxers heading in this direction do not get dragged into soporific mauls with an intimidated Sprott or an overweight Williams. 5- Pele Reid Staying at heavyweight, the colourful Reid retains a place in the hearts of fans who watched him blaze an early trail in the mid-to-late 90s. He looked a very exciting prospect, mixing impressive athleticism with fight-ending one-shot power. But when he stepped up in class, it all went wrong – and has never gone right since. Julius Francis, Orlin Norris and the underwhelming Jacklord Jacobs all whipped him in a combined six rounds in consecutive fights. It looked for all the world like Pele was pursuing the wrong vocation, and he took time out. He returned in 2001 to get dropped by Mal Rice, stopped by Michael Sprott, and held to draws by Luke Simpkin and Derek McCafferty. These results in particular should tell us all we need to know. Another break followed, and then Reid resurfaced in 2006, after a four-year hiatus. Given the stagnant nature of the domestic division, Reid's comeback inevitably caused a stir. He has racked up three low-key wins, but even allowing for the reduced level of competition, talk of him contending for the British title is fanciful, and the continued support Reid enjoys is puzzling. He has NEVER claimed a title-class scalp. Has Fennell got it right, or are his opinions over-rated? Add your comments here. Next week: The five most under-rated fighters in British boxing history.

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Greenberg Nov 5th 2007, 06:09:00 by oliverfennell Looking at fan opinion, I think Greenberg is only over-rated by his management, a certain rival website, and possibly Boxing News. Everybody else is quite strongly anti-Roman, by the looks of things.   Hatton Over-rated? Nov 2nd 2007, 04:22:47 by webmaster Wow!! Some choices there!!! 1) Roman Greenberg 2) Roman Greenberg 3) ..... I think you have the wrong Hatton! :-)