The most intimidating man in boxing ever?

its a toss up between iron mike and sonny liston, both of them invoke fear and intimidation like no other. george foreman was another one too

 

i'm throwing jack dempsey and harry greb into the mix. dempsey there's more reports of but there's no way people weren't terrified of greb. same with duran and that serial killer stare of his

 

Joe Louis' Grim Reaper Dead Cold Stare.

 

I think that there are four or five distinct schools of intimidation, each of which deserves a seperate candidate.

 

Henry Maske

 

Foreman, immediately after Frazier and Norton. He annihilated the only two men to beat Muhammad Ali in two rounds a piece and looked like a monster doing it. His confidence was at an all-time high, he was in his absolute peak. He was 40-0 with 37 knockouts. He had a scowl that made grown men piddle themselves. When he did push-ups he wasn't pushing himself up, he was pushing the floor down. I'm not making this stuff up.

 

1. Foreman
2. Tyson
3. Liston

 

Thomas Hearns p4p. He looks like a demon, imagine being a welter looking up at him, knowing what hes capable of.

Marvin Hagler was stone cold too. He has that 'dont disrespect me' look

 

Frankie Carbo.

 

Out of curiosity what might the schools of intimidation be, and who would you propose as candidates???

 

Roberto Duran circa Ray Lampkin era.

 

emotionless - monzon/hagler

emotional - duran/ali

aura - tyson/liston

physical appearance - valuev/hearns

 

The Sonny Liston school
This is the most direct and simple form of intimidation. Mean angry and Surly. A fighter of this type will look at you as if he is saying" I want to tear into you right now and only the bell is holding me back". Examples include Liston, Foreman, Tyson, Benn.

The Joe Louis school
This is a colder more mechanical stare, with an almost psychopathic quality. It says "Im not scared or angry but destroying you is a task that I will carry out as casualy and without empathy like swatting a fly". Examples include Dempsey, Louis, Monzon, Hearns, Klitschko senior

The Jack Johnson school
Involves a smile tinged with sarcasm and insincerity. It says "I don't rerally think verry much of you and an opponent but I will be polite untill I toy with you. Why would I even waste my time intimidating you if the result is going to be the same anyway". This aproach intimidates by being condescending towards the opponent.

The Max Schmeling school
Intimidating your oponent with overstated politeness. Makes you look totaly at ease with your opponent as a threat. Does not present him with the manner of interaction that he intuitively expects. Sets a thousand questions and doubts whirling through his head.

The Muhamad Ali school
Showing outright disrespect for your oponent to put him in a heirachy mentaly and break his confidence. This can involve all kinds of games and tricks, basicaly anything to throw the opponent off focus. Proponents include Jim Corbett, Ali (obviously), Haye in more recent years.

Hybrids
Many fighters are hybrids between more than one of these schools. Jim Corbett and Joe Louis both had intimidating staredowns but they suplemented them with other tactics, Corbett showed open disrespect for his opponents while Louis often played the overstated politeness.