As much as they learnt the foundations of boxing they ran in a different course entirely. Example one would be someone like Ali who has obvious knowledge of the science supplied to him yet he applied it in a manner that was self taught uniquely his own running against the textbook. Example two would be Kid chocolate who was said to have taught himself by watching film. Others?
Don't know about 'great', but Koichi Wajima was a hell of a fighter who was said to be very much 'self taught', probably the most I know from a top fighter. Lots of great wars from this guy - very underrated at 154lbs, where he was champ. He was known for his 'frog punch' (which you can see in the highlight). He had an offbeat aggressive style. A lot of older fighters definitely learnt 'on the job' and developed unique styles as a result. Eduardo Lausse is one of my favourites to watch. A style of defence centred almost entirely around landing his monster left hook. Daniel Zaragoza was very much a blend of experience and wild roughhousing. A top ring general with some extremely wild tendencies, which he refined. Opponents like Joichiro Tatsuyoshi also developed unique styles due to his unique attributes (abnormally long arms for the weight and very explosive - very little amateur experience and fast tracked almost immediately to world level, relied on pure talent and physical training). Joe's notable move was slipping to the left and throwing a huge inverted uppercut. Jose Legra... Just watch him. This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected
And of course, the legendary Jung Koo Chang. The story goes that he only got back into Boxing after he was seen street fighting by a promoter / manager. Became a sparring partner for a world ranker and started beating him up. I don't know how true that is, but his abnormal talent and shifting styles certainly fit. This content is protected
I'm not sure he qualifies as great, but wasn't Battling Siki at least somewhat self taught? Although as with most things involving him, details are sketchy.
