Top fighters with low ring IQ

Love Donaire to death but I think you could maybe level that accusation at him a little bit towards the end of his career. Was such an explosive and fantastic fast-handed banger that he started forgetting to box a little or set things up. Became a bit of an easy target for jabs. I guess you could argue that might be as much a case of complacency as it is a lack of ring smarts, though.

Caught up with him against Rigondeaux, and it was painful watching him try to take on Walters the same way he'd been taking on the Bantamweights a few years before, even if he did hurt Walters early in the fight. Very brave fighting that way, but not very smart at that point.

But I still love me some Nonito.

 

Paul Williams and Arthur Abraham didn't seem like they thought things through too much

 

Mosley might have one of the lowest IQ to talent ratios in the sport.

Mosley
De La Hoya
Trinidad
Donaire

Jump out. I love Tito too.

 

I’m not sure Carlos Zarate was a thinking man’s fighter. Had a lot of physical advantages that he didn’t use intelligently, don’t remember him adapting in tougher fights ... but I’m open to being proven wrong.

 

Pops went in there to crack heads, no thought involve.

 

It was not Hagler in awe, it was the Petronellis.


They did a lot of good for Hagler as managers, and in a pretty bad business, were seemingly top blokes, but they messed up here.


Hagler did not have the greatest boxing IQ and thus relied on heavily on pre fight strategies. The Petronellis prepared Hagler for a prime Duran, not the 83 version, and it took them a dozen rounds to figure this out and change Hagler's tactics.

 

I think he was very intelligent and could figure his opponents well. It’s why you never saw him rush but almost always end a fight quickly and in a calm manner. I posted a thread on here and had posters ask questions for me to relay to him and what I got out of his answers was that he felt his understanding and technique was a bigger asset than his power. He did the basics well without being flashy or spectacular from a technical standpoint.

His toughest matches - Martinez, he boded his time and sort of lulled him out then executed. Dávila was a skilled guy who he took apart with patience. Gomez was obviously really great and arguably on his best night so he sort of overwhelmed Zarate in a fight Zarate was fighting sickness and got no help from the ref. Pintor, he boxed smart and built up a lead. Said he could feel that Pintor was strong so perhaps didn’t want to shoot his load since he was killing himself at the weight and getting older.

He was perhaps not Marquez in the IQ department but he was a very smart fighter IMO.

 

I think Tito was an expert at doing what he did and a master of mid range but over time he got less creative because what served him so well has always been enough. He’s definitely smarter than Mosley who I consider to have arguably the lowest IQ of any modern hall of famer.

 

I think Cotto was fine to be honest. If he got outclassed it was due to lesser ability but he seemed to have the right plan how to fight his opponent.

I think Gatti was equally smart as Mosley or more so.

 

Good post fella.

 

Donaire did regress a bit like those other guys but I've always thought his main problem was that he was a reactive counter puncher who needed the opponent to leave the gaps rather than creating them himself. And obviously slow of foot and less comfortable stalking movers.