A genius is a title given to boxers who were born with exceptional amounts of talent in boxing that allows them to perform well beyond what their level of experience and training would ordinarily suggest. Mamoru Takamura and Wally are geniuses of such magnitude that they were already stronger than their regional champions when they were first discovered by their trainers. Geniuses typically have certain outstanding abilities that aren't simply the result of practice, such as Manabu Itagaki's reflexes, Ichirō Miyata's keen eyesight or Takamura's monstrous physical prowess. Bryan Hawk can also be considered a genius due to how even with little to no training he became the middleweight champion and was able to compete with Takamuras immense power.

Also, even though Takeshi Sendō is mostly considered a gifted boxer that gained his insane instinct from his street fighting experience, he also has undoubtable natural talents that leans him more toward the genius side, like his immense punching power, durability, and fight IQ. Examples of him doing this is using his fight IQ to counter Miyata's style, and in his fight with Alfredo González, Ippo noted that with every punch and new strategy Alfredo came up with, even with the insane change in his style, Sendō was still able to adapt on the fly and secure a win.

Even Ippo Makunouchi, as Ippo's body was born and made for infighting due to his hands where huge, flat, and mostly rough surface area despite being conditioned, as it is compared to a brick, also like Sendo, Ippo can adapt and improvised on the fly when he is calm and focused, along with Ippo is a quick learner as Ippo's talent quickly catch up to Miyata in just three months.

While geniuses possess amazing potential, they are not guaranteed to have success. For example, Ryūichi Hayami was considered a genius until his glass jaw caused his once-promising career to fade into obscurity.

Gifted

Sometimes this title is confused with boxers that are considered gifted. Gifted boxers are ones that constantly exercises/practices the qualities that make them effective fighters in most aspects of their life and were honed in an environment that nurtured their strengths by hard work at an early age without even noticing. Gifted boxers can also have something that is comparable to being a genius: insight gained from experience.^[1]

Ippo Makunouchi, despite his honed monstrous strength that is second to Takamura and born with a body made for infighting, he is a gifted boxer due to his insight gained from his experience of facing strong opponents^[2]. His constant work at the Makunouchi Fishing Boat ever since he was a boy, he unknowingly developed his stamina, body balance, as well giving him a strong body that can handle the extreme boxing training that lets him obtain techniques that takes a lot out of one's body like the Dempsey Roll, Gazelle Punch, Peek-a-Boo Style, Tekken or anything that requires power, even after retirement he is still capable of creating new techniques and greater strength as a trainer and second while wearing weights. Takeshi Sendō also fits this, as his amazing fighting instincts were gained and honed during his years as a street delinquent while getting into fights with others. Miyata is often considered a genius by the public, although in truth he has been practicing boxing since he was a small child. According to Ippo, his genius is therefore actually born from hard work.

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