Who is the smartest fighter to every box?

[GrandpaBernard]

Rocky Marciano - for walking away from the fight game while he was still in possession of all his faculties. Could have hung around for at least one defeat, but made his mark on the sport and went out on the top of his game.

If quitting while ahead is not smart, I don't know what is...

Rocky may not be the only fighter to retire undefeated (with at least 40 fights), but he's arguably the first and/or best known. If there are any others of note out there, kudos to them too.

quality post

[Cardinal Buck]

Good job comparing the allusiveness of Welterweights to a heavyweight.

And one that hung his chin in the air, kept his hands down, and purposely took punishment at that.

[Vadrigar.]

Muhammad Ali, Gene Tunney, Jack Johnson, Ray Leonard, Floyd Mayweather. I can't say who is the smartest because there are different areas of intelligence, so specify what you're looking for.

[Ray Corso]

THE smartest isn't just about NOT getting hit it IS about getting in position to hit & hurt your opponent! Getting hit is a part of the sport and it happens to all!!! Rolling with punches to minimize their power is a smart technique for everyone to learn but its NOT leaned by all because some can't master it!! A power puncher usually tries to avoid an opponents power because he's aware of the damage power can do. The speedy combination guys try to avoid that type of offense because they know its an easy way to score points. Most fighters defense is preticated on their own offensive styles, strange how that can happen!
The obvious greats would be;
Willie Pep
Joe Gans
Gene Tunney
Salvador Sanchez
Sugar Ray Robinson
Billy Conn
..................theres more but my mind is distracted on the fight right now!!
Being smart has more to do with getting in position to punch and also not be in harms way while your doing that. Pep was probably the best at that! Willie preached "hit and not get hit" "the will of the wisp"!
Blocking, parring, slipping and rolling is always better than "running"! Ray.

[Scott9945]

So one fight means your not smart he was angry and had a off night it's not like he got blown out.

Why was Hagler angry in the first three rounds? And if he was, that wasn't smart. Of course he didn't get blown out. He was the better fighter and blew it with a poor strategy. The "smartest fighter ever" doesn't make mistakes like that. Nobody is saying that Hagler wasn't smart.

[studentofthegam]

can you elaborate?

reflexes and speed does not equate to ring intelligence, by the way.

you can still have very high ring IQ and not be a defensive whiz or fast. Someone like Monzon for example.

Monzon isnt a bad pick IMO. And by the way, if I thought it was all speed and reflexes then Ali would be an easy pick. So lets not get testy. But if you were to take speed, reflexes and throw in timing accuracy and the ability to nullify the opponent strengths then we have a winner. Avoiding punishment is a huge factor in ring IQ also. So now you pick any one of the 3 that dont fit the description.

[studentofthegam]

Good job comparing the allusiveness of Welterweights to a heavyweight.

Lopez isnt a WW. Its a P4P type of discussion so every weight division is relevant. Right?

[studentofthegam]

He used his intelligence to win, not avoid punishment.

Otherwise he wouldn't have humiliated and knocked out George Foreman in his prime.

Ali fought one of the smartest fights ever against Foreman. No quarrel there, but there were a hand full of fights when he lost focus and got rocked. If it is unfair to disqualify a fighter for one "bad fight" then I cant say he's the smartest due to one good fight.

[MRBOOMER]

Why was Hagler angry in the first three rounds? And if he was, that wasn't smart. Of course he didn't get blown out. He was the better fighter and blew it with a poor strategy. The "smartest fighter ever" doesn't make mistakes like that. Nobody is saying that Hagler wasn't smart.

There was a lot of emotion in that fight for hagler.
Every fighter has something stupid so the answer to the question at hand is impossible to answer. Who would you pick as the smartest

[Sugarj]

Why was Hagler angry in the first three rounds? And if he was, that wasn't smart. Of course he didn't get blown out. He was the better fighter and blew it with a poor strategy. The "smartest fighter ever" doesn't make mistakes like that. Nobody is saying that Hagler wasn't smart.

I wouldn't have said that 1987 Hagler was better than Leonard, even though his strategy wasn't smart. He looked old and slow to me.

The Hagler from two years previous almost certainly was better than the guy who turned up for the Leonard fight.......