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
I think that there are four or five distinct schools of intimidation, each of which deserves a seperate candidate.
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.
Foreman learned that stare from the great sonny liston they use to spar which I'm sure you know Liston must've taught foreman a few things their styles are similar as well but I prefer Liston over foreman as he had more skill and technique his reach was longer and he basically just was smarter and was more of a boxer/puncher then an all out slugger foreman foreman would be eating jabs all night and he would still be able to stand toe to toe with him. There would probably even be a thought in the back of his head thinking about the sparring days: Foreman might lose confidence. You're right i think Foreman, Tyson, or Liston were very intimidating, but Liston takes the cake imo he was the man at starring someone down i think he inspired Tyson and foreman to do so. Larry Holmes had a hell of a stare as well
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
Out of curiosity what might the schools of intimidation be, and who would you propose as candidates???
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.