Highest/Lowest Ring IQ's of all time

Ehhh, Garcia's ring IO is nothing special at all. Is he a DUMB fighter like Khan or Berto? No. But he's not an exceptionally smart one either.

I know it's not fair to compare Garcia to great thinkers Ward and Crawford, simply because he doesn't have the quickness they have. But still, there's no excuse for being TOTALLY confused by Mauricio Herrera. ANY high IQ fighter would figure out Herrera pretty quickly. Put Herrera in with Crawford and TC would have him figured out early. Danny's ring IQ is mediocre IMO. At BEST, it's "decent" but nothing more.

Back to DUMB fighters - Shawn Porter. Porter has a very low ring IQ.

 

Calzaghe and Lomachenko are smart smart fighters. They know how to put an opponent out of position and capitalize on that.

 

Well I can't disagree with that because I almost forgot the Herrera fight. Poor display from Garcia, no excuses.

Shawn Porter does have low ring IQ. Broner was there for the taking and he kept doing the same thing over and over again by getting TOO CLOSE, stuffing his own punches, and not effectively able to negate Broner's constant clinching. It was the most frustrating fight to watch.

Juanma Lopez comes to mind with regards to the lowest ring IQs I've ever seen. Not just that his hands were as slow as molasses, but there was no set up in his offense, no head movement, no attempt to even block/parry blows, no body punching, and no sense of distance. His shitty chin and stamina did the rest.

 

Jose Napoles. I should have included him with the all time great ring IQ's. Napoles analyzed guys for a few rounds, then took them apart with pin point combos. VERY much similar stylewise to Chocolatito actually.

 

VERY good shout out for JuanMa.

JuanMa might be the actual winner here. I'd venture to say he was even dumber than Khan, Berto, and Ortiz.

 

Herbie Hide, Nigel benn and Frank bruno were dumb dumbs

 

Keeping it going with the lows - Ike Quartey. VERY talented and with natural skills. NOT a great thinker though.

 

And if we're talking smart Brits, I'd say Watson had a good ring IQ. Definitely a much higher one than Benn and Eubank.

 

Good one with Quartey.

He should have been able to CONVINCINGLY beat Lopez. He was clearly unable to see that all Lopez was doing was countering his jab with a right hand. He should have landed more to the surfer's body and guaranteed himself no chance of Lopez having the energy to do anything late.

 

Eddie Mustafa Muhammad. Very high ring IQ. Just LAZY as a motherfucker.

 

Actually, I think I got Juanma beat with somebody.

Omar fuckin Sheika. Yup, I think he's the correct answer. I struggle to think of a fighter with a lower ring IQ than Sheika.

Jeff Lacy's up there though. Lacy was dumb a fuckin BRICK in the ring.

 

I liked Ugo's answer best.

 

Six Heads Lewis. RIP to him, but he was an incredibly dumb fighter.

 

I didn't even know he was dead. How did he die?

 

SOMEBODY is too lazy to wiki, I see.

Got hit by a car whilst riding his bike. An actual bike, not a motorcycle.

 

I wiki'd as soon as I asked the question.

Gary Mason died in a similar fashion.

 

Just when I thought I couldn't think of anyone dumber than Juanma and Omar Sheika.

I forgot about Michael Katsidis.

 

Clifford Etienne

 

Sly, for once in my life, I will admit, you have defeated me.

I don't think anybody can top Ettiene. Thread over.

 

Ben Tackie. Maybe not Ettiene dumb, but top 10 dumb.

 

For top fighters, Tim Bradley has to rank near the lowest. He's not Juanma, Berto, or Ortiz dumb though.

Tim has just never "got it". He's won fights on his talent, his decent skills, and his toughness, but tactically he's ALWAYS done the wrong shit. Of course, his fans would defend him and say his fighting pride gets the best of him. But really, he just doesn't have a very high ring IQ.

 

William Joppy has to be mentioned.

Had no power yet aways FOUGHT like he did. Dropped his hands all the time too.

 

You and Sly are both coming through with good ones. Yup. Joppy was dumb as a brick.

GOOD ring IQ - Orzubek Nazarov. I'm not sure how many people have seen his prime fights. But he was a very cerebral technician.

 

Edited..

 

High Ring IQ.....Juan Manuel Marquez. The way he adjusted to Pacquiao after that devastating first round of their first fight is the stuff of legends.

 

He did beat him convingly. People really overrate what Lopez was able to accomplish in that fight, probably so he could stay credible after getting dominated. He got his ass kicked, landed a good shot and couldn't capitalize at all. I don't think getting caught with a good punch in a fight you won 8 or 9 rounds makes you a dumb fighter.

Quartey broke down a good fighter in Espana, was able to hang with a much more talented guy in DLH, and outboxed a good boxer in Forrest way past his best. The only time he looked dumb was against Vargas after 2+ years off. He hurt Vargas late after getting outboxed and people generally agree that was a smart performance from Vargas but Ike was more competitive with Vargas than Lopez was with Ike.

 

Joppy was a smart, savvy, "scrappy" fighter. Wasn't technically all that good and only had decent athleticism but he could consistently beat mid level guys by setting a pace that where he was comfortable and they couldn't keep up with his decision making. He was fun to watch because he looked so comfortable and professional even though he wasn't really that good. His scrappiness just made for ass kickings against better more talented fighters but he was a competent pro.

I think you guys are mixing up ring IQ with overall ability, stamina and bad luck.

 

Joppy stood in front of one of the best punchers of our generation with his hands by his side. The Hell is savy or smart about that?

 

He was smart enough to realize he wasn't going dance and fancy dan his way to a decision, he was going to have to take risks, outwork Tito and get him flustered and frustrated.

If Joppy tried to catch Titos punches on his gloves he'd get knocked out with the rest of the combo or dropped with his own glove. Joppy kept his hands loose and relied on slipping and rolling with shots to keep his hands free to work and occupy his opponent. It's a bad style match up for a big puncher but that's the style that worked for him.

A pound for pounder like Crawford is what people romanticize but guys like Joppy and Haugen are good examples of savvy pros.