The Smith made and broke him. He discovered he had world class power and a decent ticker to get off the floor, when Bonecrushed. But that was it, sure he made money, but boxing wise, that fight, was as good as it got for Razor.
He had an amazing capacity to get up off the floor. Tyson, Lewis, Bonecrusher and Morrison all decked him with some of the best punches they ever threw, yet he got up every time. In particularly, I'll never know how he beat the count after than left hook by Morrison in round 6 of their fight. His entire body folded up like a deck-chair.
The guy had managerial problems before Chuvalo entered the picture. His older brother Denton was a heavyweight boxer and Donovan seemed to follow his guidance. You just don't see top level performances for long durations of time by the guys that go thru a million trainers. Ruddock was similar in that aspect to Ibeabuchi who'd also gone thru a revolving door of guys with not all that many bouts.
Some great articles there Rubber Warrior, printed them out at work on Friday and have been reading them over the weekend, nice work.
Not to rain on anyone's parade but intellegence is part of any boxers available talents. It's as integral as speed, power, athleticsm, courage, discipline, drive, dedication, instinct etc. Razor was low in that facet.