Nathan Cleverly will step up for a European title shot on Saturday, when he takes on Italian veteran Antonio Brancalion. The 22-year-old Cleverly is without question a very talented boxer and the world is the light-heavyweight’s oyster. Yet if things don’t work out inside the ring the Welshman has a sturdy education to fall back on.
Cleverly is studying Maths at Cardiff University making him a rare breed indeed, a highly educated boxer. However, it is not as unusual as you may think. If you are heading in to a ring with a potentially lethal man who is looking to inflict maximum damage on you, a bit of nous always helps.
Bobby Czyz is a fine example of this. A former world champion at cruiserweight, light-heavyweight and a minor belt holder at heavyweight; Czyz was also a member of Mensa and wore a shirt displaying that fact on his ring walk before the Evander Holyfield clash.
While many boxers just use their brains to cushion blows to the head, Czyz used his to become crafty and skilled pugilist. Inside the ring he won 44 of his 52 fights and the “Matinee Idol” retired to become a commentator in America.
Over in the heavyweight division we currently have two doctors as champions. I am of course talking about Dr Wladimir Klitschko and Dr Vitali Klitschko, or “Dr Ironfist” as he would rather be known. The last thing you would want if you had a chesty cough would be a visit to Dr Ironfist. They aren’t actually doctors of medicine but they hold PhDs in sports science.
They have both brains and brawn, Vitali Klitschko in fact hung in for 31 one moves in an exhibition chess match against the legendary Garry Kasparov in 2001. Both boxers move about the ring in a calculated manor and Wladimir has admitted to heavily analysing his opponents before a fight.
In the 1920’s a promising fighter by the name of Armand Emanuel rose to prominence. Known as “The Boxing Barrister” Emanuel unbelievably juggled a career in the ring and in the courts working as a practising lawyer. Emanuel claimed he earned more money fighting than arguing and judging by his record of 39 wins in 49 appearances it’s unlikely he was a defence lawyer.
Of course one of the most intelligent boxers of all time has to be the champ himself, Muhammad Ali. His trademark patter is well documented and he must have beaten half his opponents before he even stepped in the ring with them. The poor opposition who actually had the guts to step up and face him got the pleasure of being made to look fools outside the ring and then even bigger fools inside when Ali took them to school. His cutting remarks and self proclaiming witticisms were not just funny but clever in the way they would chop an opponent down to size, playing head games akin to what Sir Alex Ferguson does now at Man Utd.
There is definitely a place for the intelligent man in boxing, after all it is known as the sweet science and brains are as vital as muscles once you pass through those ropes. Fighters like the brilliantly named Sweet Pea Whitaker and Winky Wright are fine exponents of intelligent fighting. Both were defensive masters who outclassed their opponents in the ring by thinking two steps in front of them.
Of course there is a difference between intelligence outside the ring and intelligence inside the ring. You step in to a ring with a degree in quantum physics and no fighting intellect and you will be punch drunk before you know it.
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