SMARTEST FIGHTERS IN HISTORY

[silkov]

Both Archie Moore and Kid Mccoy were amongst the smartest fighters of all time. Moore as previously said used to talk to his opponents long before Ali did. He also had a certain technique of punching which was always to aim at the opponents neck rather than the chin. The result of this would usually be that the opponent would try to move away from the punch (either duck or sway backwards etc) and this would normally result in the punch landing square on the chin or jaw. When he'd retired and was working as a trainer Moore later taught this technique to Earnie Shavers and George Foreman, both obviously known like Moore for their ko powers.
Kid Mccoy used to powder his face before certain fights and pretend he was ill to opponents. The most famous example of this was when he fought Tommy Ryan. He convinced Ryan that he was a sick man before the fight then knocked him out in 15 rounds. Mccoy also invented the corkscrewpunch.
The Dixie Kid, the welter champ of the early part of the century was one of the first boxers to box with his arms at his sides, and would counter and bewilder his opponents with amazing speed and reflexes. He also used to feign being hurt and groggy before opening up on an opponent.
The Gibbons brothers Mike and Tommy used to keep detailed notes and records of every fighter active at and around their weights.... the books detailed such things as tempremants and even certain obscure facts about a boxer like he had a mistress that he saw every Tuesday!.

[silkov]

Both Jake Lamotta and Gene Fullmer are examples of extremely clever sluggers. The reason both are in good health today is that they didn't take half the shots people thought they did.
Lamotta especially was a very clever fighter and used to use tricks such as pretending to be hurt and going to the ropes to lure an opponent in.
Perhaps this is why both gave Robinson some of his hardest fights.

[Sweet Scientist]

Muhammad Ali getting George Foreman to 'burn himself out' by taunting him & laying on the ropes was pretty smart...and probably Ali's only chance of winning without his old speed...either it was Ali being 'smart' or Foreman being 'stupid'...I guess it depends on if you see half a glass of water as being 'half full' of 'half empty'...how DO you see this one, Terap, old pal?

[silkov]

Terap a bit more info on Dixie Kid.... I ve read that he was one of the cleverist of ringmen, using a hands-by-his side stance and relied on great reflexes and speed to avoid opponents punches. He also was renowned as a great puncher too (63 wins by ko only 13 on points). His career apparently fell apart because he became a cocaine user. In later years he worked as a boxing trainer I ve been told.
Interestingly in the last two years of his fighting career the Dixie Kid fought almost exclusively in England, mainly in London and Liverpool.

[knockout artist]

Battling Siki was a nice dresser.

What a smart guy!

[sugarramos]

lennox lewis
sugar ray leonard
Muhammad ali
kid choclate
willie pep
gene tuney

[Give up]

Ali or Leonard Sugar

[Noxy]

Nicky Piper

[Kalan]

I wonder whether Jack Johnson was in fact one of the "smartest" boxers in history, but I was reading some 1910 newspaper sports pages the other day, and there was an account of the Jack Johnson-Stanley Ketchel title fight by a ringside spectator. This spectator mentioned that Ketchel kept away from Johnson throughout the fight. So Johnson allowed Ketchel to "knock him down," believing that this would make Ketchel charge in once Johnson got back up -- which Ketchel did. When Ketchel charged in "like a mad bull," Johnson finally was able to knock him out. (There was also some pre-fight argument between the Johnson and Ketchel camps over who would get the better dressing room. Johnson won the argument. Apparently this made Ketchel angry.)

This fight wasn't a legitimate matchup---but both Johnson and Ketchel knew it was good money---because both boxers were extremely famous. Most fans are naive as hell and believed Ketchel had a chance, so it was a pretty fair attraction. There were often agreements among boxers in those days to allow fights to go the distance. It was a time when boxers often fought fights a week or 2 apart. They fought many "No Decision" fights to limit the punishment and risk they would take with such a busy schedule of fights. Often ND agreements weren't noted on the promotional material. Such an agreement was necessary for this particular bout because Johnson enjoyed a prohibitive size and strength advantage over Ketchel.

While refraining from hard punches for almost the entire fight, Johnson toyed with Ketchel.. Ketchel had a very powerful punch for a Middleweight and had a devious plan.. He was out to double-cross Johnson, knock him out, and capture the most valuable prize in Sports.. He patiently waited for his chance.

Finally Ketchel got the massive opening he wanted and put everything into a smashing right hander that would have knocked out any Middleweight. The punch nailed Johnson perfectly and dropped him hard. Johnson was very slow to anger, but on the rare occasions when he got pissed he exploded like a volcano.. It was obvious Ketchel double-crossed him..

Johnson hit the canvas knowing Ketchel would charge him like a madman in an attempt to finish him off. Johnson feigned being hurt and waited for the futile charge. He met Ketchel with a crushing right uppercut that put the smaller man out cold. As Ketchel dropped lights out, an enraged Johnson missed his head with a massive followup shot. The momentum from that swing drove Johnson forward and he tripped over Ketchel's unconscious form. The crushing KO shot sheered off several of Ketchel's teeth. Johnson got up.. casually brushed the teeth off his glove.. and watched as Ketchel was counted out. When Johnson got back to his dressing room he discovered a couple more of Ketchel's teeth embedded in his glove.

[Keko]

With the psychological side of Muhammad Ali, in the fight Tunney or Pep, the management and career and how he looked Lewis, SRL, Jofre, Calzaghe.

[elmersalsa]

ESPN announcer Al Berstein said "If there's a smarter fighter than Roberto Duran that'll be unlikely"

[Kalan]

Some of the smartest boxers up until the present day: Vasyl Lomachenko, Gene Tunney, Jack Johnson, Salvador Sanchez, Vitali Klitschko, Anthony Joshua, Floyd Mayweather, Gennady Golovkin, Joe Gans, Keith Thurman, Chris Eubank Jr, Manny Pacquiao, Roberto Duran, Ray Leonard, Gary Russell, Jack Blackburn, Willie Pep, Ricardo Lopez, Eder Jofre, Tommy Loughran, Mike Gibbons, David Haye, Jim Corbett, Juan Manuel Marquez, Gustav Scholz, and Max Schmeling

You always have to look at the other side of the ledger for comparison -- to boxers who pulled some dumb moves or weren't too bright to begin with. Of course Sal Sanchez pulled one dumb move that ended his life at 23, but it wasn't in a boxing ring ... and on balance you have to say he was a brilliant boxer.

But some of the dumbest were: Nathan Cleverly, Amir Khan, Jack Sharkey, Adrien Broner, Paulie Malignaggi, Cory Spinks, Kubrat Pulev, Zab Judah, Gene Fullmer, Anthony Dirrell, John Molina, James Toney, Jake LaMotta, Charles Martin, Edison Miranda, Stanley Ketchel, Edwin Rodriguez, Nasim Hamed, Jermain Taylor, Sonny Liston, David Price, Leon Spinks, Curtis Stevens, Antonio Margarito, Robert Helenius, Mike Perez, and John Jackson