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Which boxers are the smartest? The funniest? Most interesting? Dullest? Most cooperative and uncooperative? We asked several veteran boxing media members for their insights to these queries…
Thomas Hauser
Smartest: “There are a lot of intelligent guys in boxing. One that comes to mind immediately is Tokumbo Olajide. I think he’s an extremely articulate, thoughtful and intelligent young man.”
Funniest: “Ali would be number one.”
Most Interesting: “Ali and Roy Jones. Ali was Ali, it’s hard to find someone that was tied into so many different things. Was incredibly charismatic. Always had something interesting to say. And Roy is Roy. Like Ali, he had incredible natural gifts. His mind is all over the place.
Most Cooperative/Friendliest: “There are so many of them that it’s hard to pick one or two. One of the wonderful things about boxing, unlike other athletes, boxers are accessible. Almost all of them. I couldn’t single out a few. It would be a disservice to the others.”
Dullest: “No such thing [smiles].”
———————-
Steve Farhood
Smartest: “In the ring for boxing ability – Floyd Mayweather, Roberto Duran, Pernell Whitaker, James Toney. First names off the top of my head.”
Most Interesting: “There’s a lot of names there. Ali – he kept re-inventing himself. You never knew what you were going to get each time. Tyson – same reason. Thomas Hearns. Because from early in the fight you always knew he had the ability to take a guy out with one punch. You were always waiting, sitting on the edge of your seat, waiting for that to happen. It was hard to put yourself in his shoes because his intensity was almost scary.”
Funniest: “Tex Cobb, Don King.”
Most Cooperative/Friendliest: “Oh boy. Sugar Ray Leonard at his very peak. I could get him on the phone in one day. Try that with Michael Jordan, try that with Oscar De La Hoya. Even after he was a superstar and didn’t need the mainstream press anymore, he was still available. And that was appreciated. James Toney too.”
Most Uncooperative: “That’s easy. Pernell Whitaker. All I can tell you is my own experience, he was consistently rude, constantly uncooperative. Didn’t seem to understand that the media has a job to do too.”
Dullest: “I’ll give you a surprise answer. In a formal press conference setting – Oscar De La Hoya. He’s like Derek Jeter. He is so conscious of his image that he always says the right things – and the right thing usually is not the most interesting thing. Now if you sit down with Oscar one on one, he’s a different person. Much more interesting, much more open, much more revealing.”
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Tim Smith
Smartest: “Oscar De La Hoya. He has innate intelligence to recognize his surroundings and adapt. He made adaptations in the ring. Even though I don’t speak Spanish, Felix Trinidad is probably a smart guy. He had gone to college a few years. I think Mike Tyson is innately smart. He’s a student of boxing. Obviously, he’s lost $300,000,000. As far as boxing, he’s a historian, he’s pretty saavy.”
Funniest: “James Toney. I think underneath all the bluster and bravado and the mean-spiritedness, he’s a truly funny guy. Rid**** Bowe had sort of a natural humor that went along with him wanting to be showman.”
Most Interesting: “Mike Tyson is a complex personality with a lot of layers. I think Evander Holyfield is interesting. Sugar Ray Leonard – interesting – and smart guy too. Make him one of the smartest.”
Most Cooperative/Friendliest: “For the most part, all of them are. I’ve only run into a few guys who were surly and uncooperative as interview subjects. I find boxers to be the most cooperative athletes of any of the professional athletes in sports.”
Dullest: “Probably Lennox Lewis, you’re buddy. And I think that’s by design. I think Lennox has a lot of things to offer but he doesn’t give you any insight or clue into himself because maybe there’s a part of him he doesn’t want to open up. He just seems like he comes off professionally as dull. Some people call it professional but I call it dull [smiles].”
———————–
Thomas Gerbasi
Smartest: “Chris Byrd. Hopkins in his own way. Klitschkos. DaVarryl Williamson. Boxers today get stereotyped in a negative way and that’s not the case as you well know.”
Funniest: “Paulie (Malignaggi) always makes me laugh. Bernard Hopkins always comes up with something off the wall. Nate Campbell too.”
Most Interesting: “Any guys with a great story. And each of these guys has some kind of story. Like what Hopkins did to turn his life around. Paulie’s desire to be a champion. Klitschko and his brother – you can tell who’s the little brother, Vitali’s the mischevious one.”
Dullest: “There are guys that are just not confident in the spotlight. Demetrius Hopkins is painfully shy. Randall Bailey is another one – painfully shy.”
Most Cooperative/Friendliest: “Paulie is always friendly. Vernon Forest, RIP, saved me on more than one occasion when I needed a story. I called him up, he was always available. Sechew Powell and Andre Berto are always willing to talk.”
Most Uncooperative: “Mayweather. Not an easy guy to talk to.”
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George Kimball
Smartest: “Sugar Ray Leonard. I think he understood every facet of the game.”
Funniest: “I tell ya, Cooney was always ready with a quip. He should have been a stand up comic. And Buster Drayton is one of the funniest guys you will ever run into.”
Most Interesting: “Ali. Because of all the complexity of the man. First as a boxer, and then most especially because of his subsequent life.”
Dullest: “Dullest guys don’t exactly stick in your mind. I don’t know. They’re all interesting.”
Most Cooperative/Friendliest: “There’s a lot of guys that have been extremely cooperative. Hagler was always cooperative with me. You probably wouldn’t get that from the rest of the media who probably didn’t deal with him as extensively or on a day to day basis like I did. Thomas Hearns is another guy who is extremely friendly all the time.”
Most Uncooperative: “The guy who could really get a hair up his ass and be uncooperative if he wanted to be was Larry Holmes [smiles]. Like a lot of them, he often got disenchanted with the media and I think he always kind of blamed the media for the fact that he wasn’t as recognized and acclaimed as he probably should have been. It didn’t take much to rile him up. Like losing to
Michaell Spinks a couple of times – his reaction to that was obviously disappointed. But I think he really soured on the media as a result of it too. I think he felt we all should have been as outraged as he was.”
———————————
Aaron Braunstein
Smartest: “George Foreman. Brilliant. Everything about him is genius. Great self promoter, great fighter. Gerry Cooney broke both of his hands on his head. I love the fact that he won the
heavyweight title belt at 45 years of age.
Funniest: “Is Ali. The young Ali was so funny. A Renaissance Man, ahead of his time.”
Most Interesting: “Roberto Duran, Hands Of Stone. The fans want the blood, sweat and tears of the fighter, after a victory or a loss they want the emotion. Roberto Duran spoke perfect English but he was insecure about it and spoke Spanish on TV.”
Most Cooperative/Friendliest: “Is Evander Holyfield. Even when he was young as a light heavyweight till he became heavyweight champion. He’s always available.”
Most Uncooperative: “I never had anyone in my whole career – anyone uncooperative ever.”
Dullest: “I have to say Buster Douglas. He was just boring, like a one-trick pony.”
———————–
Marc Abrams
Smartest: “So many.”
Most Interesting: “Don King.”
Funniest: “Allan Green is pretty quick-witted. Peter Manfredo.
Dullest: “Cotto is pretty boring. Seems always like he’s in that zone, ready to fight.”
Most Cooperative: “Juan Diaz. Calvin Brock. Any fighter who calls you back.”
Most Uncooperative: “Can’t think of any.”
—————————–
Robert Cassidy
Smartest: “Mark Breland. Always thinks things through, even if you asked him a tough question. Very thoughtful. Vinny Pazienza impressed me.”
Most Interesting: “They’re all so interesting. I’ve always found Evander Holyfield interesting to speak with, just because there’s so much religion in him and boxing is such a contradiction. That irony.”
Funniest: “I’m gonna say Rid**** Bowe back when he was champ. He always seemed like a big kid when you talked with him, he was always joking around with you.”
Dullest: “I think Zab. He just says what you expect him to say, that stock. He should just be himself. I think he would come across better.”
Most Cooperative/Friendliest: “A lot of guys. I measure it by who returned my call – Vinny Paz, Oba Carr, Kevin Kelley, Buddy McGirt.”
Most Uncooperative: “Tyson. He’s like hands down.”
—————————–
Scoop Malinowski
Smartest: “Hopkins, Tarver, Lewis, Klitschkos, James Toney. Malignaggi. There are so many. Maybe not educated but extremely intelligent people.”
Funniest: “Golota. Before the Brewster fight I was at this final gym workout and we were talking about his early fights. He said he had to bite Pou’Ha because when he got hit by him, he blacked out so bad, he didn’t know his name. He bit him in order to survive, to buy time. And it worked. I said that move might have saved his career. Then after the KO loss to Brewster, in the car back, I broke the silence and asked him Why didn’t you bite Brewster. And in a split second, his reply was: “Where? In the shoe?” Extremely quick witted and funny, in his second language even.”
Most Interesting: “All the great champions. To be the best in boxing takes a special person and athlete. Like the singer/boxing fan Ben E. King said, ‘Everyone loves a gladiator.”
Dullest: “None. Even the journeyman with losing records are very interesting people. Tim Tomashek, Doel Carrasquillo, Marion Wilson – they are the modern era Rocky Balboas.
Thomas Hauser
Smartest: “There are a lot of intelligent guys in boxing. One that comes to mind immediately is Tokumbo Olajide. I think he’s an extremely articulate, thoughtful and intelligent young man.”
Funniest: “Ali would be number one.”
Most Interesting: “Ali and Roy Jones. Ali was Ali, it’s hard to find someone that was tied into so many different things. Was incredibly charismatic. Always had something interesting to say. And Roy is Roy. Like Ali, he had incredible natural gifts. His mind is all over the place.
Most Cooperative/Friendliest: “There are so many of them that it’s hard to pick one or two. One of the wonderful things about boxing, unlike other athletes, boxers are accessible. Almost all of them. I couldn’t single out a few. It would be a disservice to the others.”
Dullest: “No such thing [smiles].”
———————-
Steve Farhood
Smartest: “In the ring for boxing ability – Floyd Mayweather, Roberto Duran, Pernell Whitaker, James Toney. First names off the top of my head.”
Most Interesting: “There’s a lot of names there. Ali – he kept re-inventing himself. You never knew what you were going to get each time. Tyson – same reason. Thomas Hearns. Because from early in the fight you always knew he had the ability to take a guy out with one punch. You were always waiting, sitting on the edge of your seat, waiting for that to happen. It was hard to put yourself in his shoes because his intensity was almost scary.”
Funniest: “Tex Cobb, Don King.”
Most Cooperative/Friendliest: “Oh boy. Sugar Ray Leonard at his very peak. I could get him on the phone in one day. Try that with Michael Jordan, try that with Oscar De La Hoya. Even after he was a superstar and didn’t need the mainstream press anymore, he was still available. And that was appreciated. James Toney too.”
Most Uncooperative: “That’s easy. Pernell Whitaker. All I can tell you is my own experience, he was consistently rude, constantly uncooperative. Didn’t seem to understand that the media has a job to do too.”
Dullest: “I’ll give you a surprise answer. In a formal press conference setting – Oscar De La Hoya. He’s like Derek Jeter. He is so conscious of his image that he always says the right things – and the right thing usually is not the most interesting thing. Now if you sit down with Oscar one on one, he’s a different person. Much more interesting, much more open, much more revealing.”
—————————-
Tim Smith
Smartest: “Oscar De La Hoya. He has innate intelligence to recognize his surroundings and adapt. He made adaptations in the ring. Even though I don’t speak Spanish, Felix Trinidad is probably a smart guy. He had gone to college a few years. I think Mike Tyson is innately smart. He’s a student of boxing. Obviously, he’s lost $300,000,000. As far as boxing, he’s a historian, he’s pretty saavy.”
Funniest: “James Toney. I think underneath all the bluster and bravado and the mean-spiritedness, he’s a truly funny guy. Rid**** Bowe had sort of a natural humor that went along with him wanting to be showman.”
Most Interesting: “Mike Tyson is a complex personality with a lot of layers. I think Evander Holyfield is interesting. Sugar Ray Leonard – interesting – and smart guy too. Make him one of the smartest.”
Most Cooperative/Friendliest: “For the most part, all of them are. I’ve only run into a few guys who were surly and uncooperative as interview subjects. I find boxers to be the most cooperative athletes of any of the professional athletes in sports.”
Dullest: “Probably Lennox Lewis, you’re buddy. And I think that’s by design. I think Lennox has a lot of things to offer but he doesn’t give you any insight or clue into himself because maybe there’s a part of him he doesn’t want to open up. He just seems like he comes off professionally as dull. Some people call it professional but I call it dull [smiles].”
———————–
Thomas Gerbasi
Smartest: “Chris Byrd. Hopkins in his own way. Klitschkos. DaVarryl Williamson. Boxers today get stereotyped in a negative way and that’s not the case as you well know.”
Funniest: “Paulie (Malignaggi) always makes me laugh. Bernard Hopkins always comes up with something off the wall. Nate Campbell too.”
Most Interesting: “Any guys with a great story. And each of these guys has some kind of story. Like what Hopkins did to turn his life around. Paulie’s desire to be a champion. Klitschko and his brother – you can tell who’s the little brother, Vitali’s the mischevious one.”
Dullest: “There are guys that are just not confident in the spotlight. Demetrius Hopkins is painfully shy. Randall Bailey is another one – painfully shy.”
Most Cooperative/Friendliest: “Paulie is always friendly. Vernon Forest, RIP, saved me on more than one occasion when I needed a story. I called him up, he was always available. Sechew Powell and Andre Berto are always willing to talk.”
Most Uncooperative: “Mayweather. Not an easy guy to talk to.”
—————————
George Kimball
Smartest: “Sugar Ray Leonard. I think he understood every facet of the game.”
Funniest: “I tell ya, Cooney was always ready with a quip. He should have been a stand up comic. And Buster Drayton is one of the funniest guys you will ever run into.”
Most Interesting: “Ali. Because of all the complexity of the man. First as a boxer, and then most especially because of his subsequent life.”
Dullest: “Dullest guys don’t exactly stick in your mind. I don’t know. They’re all interesting.”
Most Cooperative/Friendliest: “There’s a lot of guys that have been extremely cooperative. Hagler was always cooperative with me. You probably wouldn’t get that from the rest of the media who probably didn’t deal with him as extensively or on a day to day basis like I did. Thomas Hearns is another guy who is extremely friendly all the time.”
Most Uncooperative: “The guy who could really get a hair up his ass and be uncooperative if he wanted to be was Larry Holmes [smiles]. Like a lot of them, he often got disenchanted with the media and I think he always kind of blamed the media for the fact that he wasn’t as recognized and acclaimed as he probably should have been. It didn’t take much to rile him up. Like losing to
Michaell Spinks a couple of times – his reaction to that was obviously disappointed. But I think he really soured on the media as a result of it too. I think he felt we all should have been as outraged as he was.”
———————————
Aaron Braunstein
Smartest: “George Foreman. Brilliant. Everything about him is genius. Great self promoter, great fighter. Gerry Cooney broke both of his hands on his head. I love the fact that he won the
heavyweight title belt at 45 years of age.
Funniest: “Is Ali. The young Ali was so funny. A Renaissance Man, ahead of his time.”
Most Interesting: “Roberto Duran, Hands Of Stone. The fans want the blood, sweat and tears of the fighter, after a victory or a loss they want the emotion. Roberto Duran spoke perfect English but he was insecure about it and spoke Spanish on TV.”
Most Cooperative/Friendliest: “Is Evander Holyfield. Even when he was young as a light heavyweight till he became heavyweight champion. He’s always available.”
Most Uncooperative: “I never had anyone in my whole career – anyone uncooperative ever.”
Dullest: “I have to say Buster Douglas. He was just boring, like a one-trick pony.”
———————–
Marc Abrams
Smartest: “So many.”
Most Interesting: “Don King.”
Funniest: “Allan Green is pretty quick-witted. Peter Manfredo.
Dullest: “Cotto is pretty boring. Seems always like he’s in that zone, ready to fight.”
Most Cooperative: “Juan Diaz. Calvin Brock. Any fighter who calls you back.”
Most Uncooperative: “Can’t think of any.”
—————————–
Robert Cassidy
Smartest: “Mark Breland. Always thinks things through, even if you asked him a tough question. Very thoughtful. Vinny Pazienza impressed me.”
Most Interesting: “They’re all so interesting. I’ve always found Evander Holyfield interesting to speak with, just because there’s so much religion in him and boxing is such a contradiction. That irony.”
Funniest: “I’m gonna say Rid**** Bowe back when he was champ. He always seemed like a big kid when you talked with him, he was always joking around with you.”
Dullest: “I think Zab. He just says what you expect him to say, that stock. He should just be himself. I think he would come across better.”
Most Cooperative/Friendliest: “A lot of guys. I measure it by who returned my call – Vinny Paz, Oba Carr, Kevin Kelley, Buddy McGirt.”
Most Uncooperative: “Tyson. He’s like hands down.”
—————————–
Scoop Malinowski
Smartest: “Hopkins, Tarver, Lewis, Klitschkos, James Toney. Malignaggi. There are so many. Maybe not educated but extremely intelligent people.”
Funniest: “Golota. Before the Brewster fight I was at this final gym workout and we were talking about his early fights. He said he had to bite Pou’Ha because when he got hit by him, he blacked out so bad, he didn’t know his name. He bit him in order to survive, to buy time. And it worked. I said that move might have saved his career. Then after the KO loss to Brewster, in the car back, I broke the silence and asked him Why didn’t you bite Brewster. And in a split second, his reply was: “Where? In the shoe?” Extremely quick witted and funny, in his second language even.”
Most Interesting: “All the great champions. To be the best in boxing takes a special person and athlete. Like the singer/boxing fan Ben E. King said, ‘Everyone loves a gladiator.”
Dullest: “None. Even the journeyman with losing records are very interesting people. Tim Tomashek, Doel Carrasquillo, Marion Wilson – they are the modern era Rocky Balboas.
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