My take on Mihawk... hopefully this doesnt get taken down.
People believe he is equal to or stronger than the Yonko likes of Shanks and BM. For a few reasons, he was stated to duel younger Pre-Yonko Shanks when the latter had 2 arms but after he lost an arm, Mihawk lost interest in their duels. People think becuase of that Mihawk > Shanks. Oda, stated that even though Shanks lost an arm, he never lost strength, so Mihawk > 1 arm Shanks is NOT true. If anything Shanks > Mihawk, because Shanks became Yonko soon after.
1- Shanks became a Yonko through diplomacy, not through suddenly cultivating to Heavenly Realm and jumping up three tiers. However strong he has become after fighting Mihawk, there's no reason to believe Mihawk hasn't also become stronger.
2- Mihawk became WSS and Shanks didn't. WSS is a title directly related to strength, while Yonko isn't necessarily so, especially not the way Shanks became one.
3- We don't know the real reason Mihawk stopped dueling Shanks. The "I have no interest dueling a one-armed man" is not to be taken at head value as it was just what Mihawk told him to reject a duel because he had something else to talk to him about (Luffy's bounty).
4- We know that despite stopping dueling, according to Mihawk's vibre card, he's now "actively looking for someone stronger than Shanks to fight". You can argue anything you want about Mihawk's portrayal in the manga, but a man that's weaker than Shanks and, according to you, "scared" of dueling him, wouldn't be looking for stronger opponents now.
Another reason is hype. Mihawk has not been shown to be on the same level as the Yonko whenever he makes an appearance. Sengoku during the MF War still thought there was a chance that they would lose vs WB, even though the Navy HQ had 3 Admirals and Mihawk present. Mihawk was stalled by Jozu, Vista, Crocodile, and Mr. 1. Hard to believe that BM or Kaido in normal conditions (not drunk or hungry), would be bother by any of them.
People try to take too many feats from the Marineford battle. The purpose of MF was to hype everyone up. It was a d*ck measuring contest and that's why it was awesome.
The admirals were constantly portrayed as fighting on pretty equal standing with Whitebeard, while Kizaru for a while was also occupied with Marco until Marco was caught with kairouseki, and same for Aokiji and Jozu.
Crocodile had been defeated by haki-less and gear-less Luffy and had been rotting in prison ever since, logically growing somewhat weaker from lack of training and emprisonment. Yet he was portrayed as stopping Doflamingo, a guy who we know now had to be taken down by Law's most devastating internal attack and Gear 4 Luffy and Luffy still needed help from others so as to not die when his first G4 use ran out.
Mihawk did some casual slashes that have still not been replicated neither in size nor in perfect control by no other swordsman on the series and was 100% casual and uninterested throughout the whole war, showing only interest in Luffy yet still not trying against him.
It was all about protraying every important character as just that, important and surprisingly strong.
You make the point that BM in normal conditions wouldn't bother by any of these guys, but we saw her being pushed around by Jinbei and Robin when she was sober during Onigashima. Also with Franky and Brook and also with Marco, who she even ordered a subordinate to shoot, despite her being clearly stronger.
As for who you said "stalled" Mihawk, you aren't being fair.
- You mention Mr.1, but as only a shichibukai underling he didn't get this treatment and he was taken down in a single second by Mihawk. Everyone else, be it Mihawk, WB, YCs or admirals, were hyped as hell.
- You mention Jozu, possibly the most durable of YCs who stopped a nameless ranged attack that wasn't aimed at him.
- You mention Vista, of who we know nothing of where he stands exactly powerwise, but they just clashed swords for a short minute and then dispersed.
- You mention Crocodile, who stopped Mihawk's sword, something that is once again because of MF's portayal intentions only. Even if Mihawk was only YC level, if Crocodile wasn't being hyped as a shichibukai by Oda in the war, his hook would have been cut in half just as easily as Mihawk cut Mr.1. That is a fact going by what we know Crocodile's level really was.
Mihawk is extremely powerful but not Yonko powerful. Just because he is portrayed as Zolo's last opponent does not mean he is above other characters who have shown better feats than Mihawk.
With a sword? No one. The only reasons to downplay Mihawk are MF's portrayal issues and the fact that he's no Yonkou himself, but the thing is, he never wanted to be one. He doesn't even have a crew nor a jolly roger and probably didn't even want to be a pirate. He's likely to lose against a Yonko because of this, but we have nothing real to downplay him on a 1vs1 if we go by we actually know beyond MF.
