Heavyweight Champ With Lowest IQ

[billeau2]

Oh I was not making light of the man at all. Liston is my favorite HW boxer of all time, and that has as much to do with the man as the boxer. He truly lived a tragic life.

I hear you. Some people just confuse the two: One can have an IQ of 240 and technically be illiterate.

[BKM-]

- -Illiteracy because of the oppressive rural sharecropper conditions of Sonny's era where he like Archie Moore didn't even know their birth dates is not an indicator of ******ity.

But I never heard Sonny was illiterate before, but no matter, he comes across well in interviews after a rough childhood.

Compare to Deyonce who makes peanuts in America compared to Joshua who counts the world his oyster. Deyonce fighting many more years is barely out of his TBA diapers and is a deliberate thug lucky to have Haymon paying off people to keep him out of prison.

Fair play about Sonny. So what was Tyson's excuse for being illiterate in the 1980s?

[joseph5620]

Muhammad Ali had a reported and measured IQ of 78, which is... very low. Then again, it was a standardized US military conscription test, so it might mean very little in practice.

Out of the current big heavyweights, f. in., I'd say that Tyson Fury is the most intelligent of the three, whilst Deontay Wilder would be the least - but it's also kinda what makes him so effective at his preferred style of boxing, I think.

What exactly makes Fury more intelligent than Wilder or Joshua?

[QueensburyRules]

Fair play about Sonny. So what was Tyson's excuse for being illiterate in the 1980s?

- -Never heard of Tyson being illiterate, but he was def behind his peers while running loose in the sewers of NYC with no father supervision and absent addict mother.

Cus reformed him and brought him up to speed.

[Zonkmeister]

What exactly makes Fury more intelligent than Wilder or Joshua?

I'm basing it on his capability to "play" and "work" his opponents pre-fight - he's a pretty skilled manipulator; this requires a measure of intelligence.

[joseph5620]

I'm basing it on his capability to "play" and "work" his opponents pre-fight - he's a pretty skilled manipulator; this requires a measure of intelligence.

Muhammad Ali did it much better than Fury. But you listed him as being unintelligent. So you're contradicting yourself right there.

Fury has shown nothing that makes him more intelligent than Wilder or Joshua.

[QueensburyRules]

Muhammad Ali had a reported and measured IQ of 78, which is... very low. Then again, it was a standardized US military conscription test, so it might mean very little in practice.

- -IQ is but one measure of intelligence.

78 would be a serviceable # among the ******ed community who with minor oversight could hold down a basic job to fit in quietly within the community in contrast to many much higher IQs who are tormented with intractable emotional and judgemental problems.

In short, plenty with high IQs even when bolstered with academic credentials never pan out.

Frederick Douglas had to teach himself how to read and write as a young boy with little assistance from learned adults. Had he not been so ambitious and persistent in the face of horrific punishment if found out, next to none would have ever heard of him.

[Offic.Scorecard]

- -Ali failed his first draft intelligence test that earned him a 4F draft classification, ie those unfit for even basic duty.

Years later he was called in and failed again. All he ever did was spout a bunch of doggerel nonsense that he made up. Later as he matured he became wiser and realized he was being duped by the NOI, but he had to wait for Elijah's death before he could extract himself from their clutches lest he meet Malcolm's fate.

When Tyson visited England he dazzled their boxing experts with his erudite knowledge of boxing history and styles and had a very smooth verbal delivery and he just 21 yrs old.

Big George one of the most intelligent which is why he and Archie Moore really hit it off. Gene Tunney and Jack Dempsey and the Kbros too.

Lennox Lewis one of the most pretentious.

Currently the Mayweathers save Jeff couldn't spell cat if you spotted them the a and the t and half his stable no better.

Came here to say that Ali was witty and had charisma but his famous quotes may very well could been canned lines. Or maybe not, I don't know. But what I know is that he had an IQ of 78, so what you are saying doesn't suprise e. True about Lewis. The problem with Tyson was that he was uneducated and easily manipulated, but from what I've seen from him he was very good at learning, whether it was boxing or something else.

[Offic.Scorecard]

You’re hate is blinding you. The sport is hundreds of years old, with many HW champs battling poverty their entire lives. Many champs not even making it to highschool

Sonny Liston couldn’t read, and his wife had to teach him how to sign his name for when people asked for autographs.

But wilder is dumber because you don’t like his interviews?

My vote would go to wilder, too. You should realize that education doesn't equal intelligence. Believe it or not, I see Wilder as a good hearted guy, who unfortunately stopped surprising me with his lack of intelligence a long time ago.

[Offic.Scorecard]

It is true about Liston...And I often wish I could have been in front of the man and been there to say to tell him that he had nothing to be ashamed of. Yes he was illiterate but very smart.

It is kind of sad that we all make light but Sonny really felt lesser of a man because of this illiteracy. nobody should feel this way. Especially a fighter who was so smart about his methods.

Great post.