Fighters who were perhaps gifted but who were certainly not extraordinarily gifted who maximized their potential and made the most out of what they had? In no order: Larry Holmes Dimitry Bivol Bernard Hopkins Jerry Quarry Just a few names that come to mind.
I'm going to add Mike McCallum. He was far from crazy fast or powerful but he learnt his craft well to the point of being extremely hard to beat. His skill and timing were extremely on point.
Yes you are right. In some ways he was gifted. Its very unusual for a 5'11 man to carry 205 lbs of weight without carrying excess fat but Frazier was lean and very gifted in terms of his built. But yes, short reach, good but not great footspeed, mostly relied on left hook, decent but not great right hand etc. His dedication to his left hook, body punching, physical conditioning etc. made him great. But i agree he wasn't extraordinarily gifted. Great pick.
Muhammad Ali Rocky Marciano Joe Calzaghe Evander Holyfield Oscar De La Hoya Lennox Lewis Bernard Hopkins Floyd Mayweather Darius Michalczewski Joe Louis
Roy Jones Jnr - always in shape, immensely talented and very creative id say he did as much as he was ever capable of, he missed some fights we can debate he should’ve caught but really I think in terms of performance he got to his peak.
I personally wouldn't put the likes of Ali and RJJ in there. Yes, they maximized their potential but they were so extraordinarily gifted, its hard for me to put them on that list. This is more about fighters who were fairly gifted but maybe not exceptionally gifted. Ali and RJJ were forces of nature.
Ali achieved a lot, nothing more could be done... Perfect place, time, sports form, personality, it couldn't have been done better. He had a lot of luck and a lot of skills... He could have ended his career earlier, that's all... but he made the most of it. Roy Jones could have achieved more, could have fought better opponents, could have been more focused and could have made better decisions about his fights and the length of his career