I believe people put WAY too much emphasis on an 0. Yes, its a very admirable feat that Rocky managed to go 49-0. Its admirable whether his opposition was lackluster or not.

But an "0" IMO is not something that should be used to give a fighter an edge over other great fighters. An 0 is great, but it should ultimately be the wins and the observable skill that is the basis in which we rank and judge fighters. I mean what if Valuev retired before the Chagaev fight at 46-0. Would people be calling him an all time great? No way, because his observable skill wasnt all that and he didn't beat any great fighters.

As a big fan of the Rock's it pains me to always be arguing against him, but I do believe he was very fortunate to have been faced with HUGE named while they were out of their prime and lackluster opposition.If he was fight 10-15 years before or 10-15 years later than what he was, IMO he would have NOT retired undefeated.