ATG Fighters that got by on skill and IQ

I did not say he didn't have rhythm nor did I question his fluidity. That has nothing to do with physical appearance. I said he was very awkward and his movement, throwing punches from odd angles and feinting was part of that.

Still, his physical appearance was nothing impressive. Quite to the contrary, early years Ali looks scrawny, very thin and more like a long-distance runner than the future best ever HW boxer on the planet. I am not knocking Ali, I am pointing out the obvious.

 

Ehhhh…. Barrera yes. He got by mostly on technical skill, but Morales was a very underrated athlete. He actually had fast feet and pretty damn good power, maybe not great power, but pretty damn heavy. Also seemed to be made of a piece of iron as well. Morales is a superior athlete to Alexis Arguello hands down.

 

I don't know. If Marquez was athletic as Pacquiao then he would have beaten a prime Pac decisively. But Marquez's career is basically a footnote in the eyes of the general public, as it's habit to only know or consider his fights with Pacquiao, but the man had an entire career besides those fights, fights where he showed tremendous vulnerabilities against pure boxers. Marquez cannot take the lead. He cannot fight off the front foot effectively against top level opponents. Chris John is the perfect example. Marquez cannot fight off the front foot. He doesn't know how to. If he was athletic as Mayweather he still be smaller and would still not know how to take the lead. Mayweather can just sit back and refuse to initiate.

I've said before and I know I'm in the minority here, but technically speaking Barrera was the best fighter of the Featherweight fab 4. Just the least physically gifted.

 

Froch's fitness was off the charts. His conditioning breaks the scale.

 

cool, I was thinking about him hanging with guys like swift and maidana, late in his career man what a badass

 

Which CLEAN fighters were crafty and had high ring IQ? I don't consider dirtiness high IQ, it's just cheating.

 

Archie was way more than just a banger. His nickname, the Old Mongoose, which he loved, said it all about the cunning he used to lure opponents on to shots.
Archie Moore probably understood the game more than any Fighter I can think of.

 

It was Archie's ring IQ which enabled him to harness all those ingredients and find a way to win against just about any type of opponent.

 

Juan Manuel MARQUEZ
Paulie Malianaggi

 

i can't really agree.

this is him in his third fight, on his 19th birthday, plainly a strong guy and superb athlete, spectacularly so by the standards of his early opponents, guys born in the 1930s.

the *perception* of Ali was that he was a small heavyweight, but that was mostly a, wel, perception, which at the time suited him & journos.

Ali was very good at perceptions, e.g. in 'Zaire' most locals were very surprised when it turned out that Foreman was a black man, Ali had sold almost sold the fight as a civil rights thing! And, especially earlier in his career, the idea that Ali somehow wasn't as 'manly' as a 'real heavyweight' probably suited certain observers with racist agendas - and it probably suited Ali to be dismissed like that.

https://imgur.com/9C2TMrL

[struggling slightly to post an image]

 

Mike McCallum. I don't think he was off the charts physically with Speed, power or athleticism but he was a brilliant technician that broke guys down. One of my all time favorites.

 

terence crawford.

 

I think this premise is flawed because all ATG exhibit elite skills and ring IQ which why they are ATGs.