Narratively, Dabura must be SSJ tier

[Power Level Guy]

So after working on the anime strength checker for the Buu Saga, it's become abundantly clear the core narratives in the Buu Saga.

So, it's all about Saiyan Supremacy essentially. Base Saiyan supremacy is fully showcased here at the Tournament when Super Saiyan isn't even needed to win the tournament despite Piccolo competing.

Piccolo forfeits against someone who is suggested to be entirely more powerful, yet none of the Saiyans ever think Super Saiyan is even needed for such foes.

Later we see Base Saiyans well over the god of the universe, so much so that people who can easily dispatch him are easily handled.

So at this point you must remember, the narrative is basically this. The emergence of Cell forced such progress on the Saiyans, no one in the entire universe, including the Demon Realm are much of a threat. Even the god of the universe and the so called Destroyer of the Past in Majin Buu, are not much to speak of.

So the only way that Majin Buu can be taken lightly is if Dabura is merely SSJ tier. If Dabura was already SSJ2 tier, then the threat of Majin Buu would cause real concern. Goku and Vegeta have to be able to realistically downplay the threat of Majin Buu. This is only possible with a SSJ tier Dabura.

Otherwise, the emergence of something way stronger than Dabura could actually threaten them. This is simply not the story.

The story is Gods, Wizards who make slaves of the strongest in the universe, the Demon King himself, Djinns, are all nothing to us after we experienced the threat of Cell. Which shows us how Cell should be viewed. Cell is not some mere plaything Dabura is suggested to be. Cell is entirely respectable and had a level that was legit up until Buu powers up.

 

[SSJ2]

So the only way that Majin Buu can be taken lightly is if Dabura is merely SSJ tier. If Dabura was already SSJ2 tier, then the threat of Majin Buu would cause real concern. Goku and Vegeta have to be able to realistically downplay the threat of Majin Buu. This is only possible with a SSJ tier Dabura.

Otherwise, the emergence of something way stronger than Dabura could actually threaten them. This is simply not the story.

This is an excellent angle to take. Boo initially was already downplayed by Vegeta, and yet he's immediately made out to seem far superior than Dabura. This puts Boo on the lower end of the SSJ2 spectrum initially and Gohan is still seeing him as a far greater threat than Dabura.