A lot of fighters, obviously. But my number one is probably Leonard. For my money, the smartest fighter I ever saw. Others that come to mind Carlos Ortiz Pernell Whitaker. Who do y’all say?
Benny Leonard Driscoll McFarland Gans Moore Charles Ross Griffith Napoles RJJ Jofre Hopkins Loads. Ortiz, Monzon and the like sprung to mind first though.
Personally, I think that, if such things could really be quantified, it would end up being somebody like Greg Haugen or Ralph Dupas. A guy that had a very good career for no apparent reason- he wasn't fast, he didn't have exceptional power, endurance or chin. Just a well schooled guy that knew how to fight, he used his head. Or like Brian Mitchell.
Tyson had a high ring IQ. It never gets mentioned. He was excellent at spotting patterns in how guys were trying to neutralize him, and understanding the correct single shots or combos to use to exploit them. I previously mentioned how he realized he wasn't gonna catch Holmes with a right hand up top straight away, so he spent the first three rounds banging that right to Larry's body. Then in the 4th, Mike quickly sees that Holmes is lowering his left to block what he anticipates to be a body shot... BOOM! He explodes up top and drops Larry. That's ring IQ, and not many of these pure punchers today have it.
Easily. For all the dick riding Loma gets for being a supposed ring genius, I've always maintained that Crawford is a better thinker in the ring than Loma.
Hearns also needs mention. His transition from puncher to boxer in the 1st Leonard fight was brilliant. Yes he got stopped. But it wasn’t because of a dumb move. He was CAUGHT. Leonard landed a sick right hand that would have finished many that night.
To me at least, Loma has gotten by on his physical gifts and fundamentals more so than his IQ, though he isn’t a dumb fighter. But yeah, Crawford easily is the best thinker out there today. Shakur Stevenson shows good IQ for his age.
I don't see anything to indicate Crawford 'easily' having a better ring IQ than Usyk or Loma, but that's not really the point of the thread. I mean, other than those two, I don't really see anyone else near him either. Maybe Gonzalez, but that's it. I tend to think if I was to give you the five smartest fighters ever, it'd look like this: #05. Tony Canzoneri #04. Ray Leonard #03. Ezzard Charles #02. Floyd Mayweather #01. Roberto Duran HM: Carlos Ortiz, Sweet Pea
I'm not blown away by Loma's ring IQ. I think Crawford, Usyk, and Canelo are all more intelligent fighters than Loma.
Give me: Monzon, Hopkins, Lennox, Leonard and Mayweather. All had very high levels of talent to an earlier posters point. Guys who did decent with subpar athletic ability (think Randy Shields) may actually top the list.
