I generally don't buy much into it either. Bruno stared at Tyson and Tyson broke eye contact and looked away. Then he beat Bruno up. De La Hoya often didn't look in his opponent's eye. The results of his fights in his favor were usually pretty good. Wlad stared down Sanders and Sanders barely made eye contact with Wlad. Then the timekeeper rang the bell and Sanders rang Wlad's.
All-time, Tyson, Liston, Foreman and Hearns. Currently, I'd say Joan Guzman. Guzman vs. Barrios had one of the best staredowns in recent memory.
Michael Dokes vs Razor Ruddock. Ruddock wasn't exactly a shrinking violet either but Dokes just looked absolutely murderous. You'd run a mile. End result, Dokes out cold in 4. Yeah, staredowns really do mean little. But Dokes did have a good one.