Heavyweight Boxing’s Ten Greatest Ever Chins

[Senya13]

I wasn't disappointed either, when I heard that there was no difference about a fighter who was literally and figuratively shot. All you need is heavy hands, you don't need no ability to deliver a punch anymore. David Tua is just as good a puncher now as when he was in his prime. What has changed? He's older and heavier, it is not important, and excessive weight only makes his punches heavier.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Just glad to be here & learn. Frazier (the worst of it, but not all) doesn't belong. Nice to know.

[Robinson]

My top 10 HW chins:

1) George Chuvalo: Took the best for over 20 years and was never off his feet. Only time I ever saw him even shook was against Foreman and that was only momentarily. Amazing chin.

2) Muhammad Ali: Could be hurt but incredible recuperative abilities. Took some good clean shots from Liston, Folley, Frazier, Bonavena, Foreman, Lyle, Norton, Shavers and of those fighters was only put on his ass once by Smokin' Joe at the end of a 15 round classic. Amazing chin.

3) Oliver McCall: Like Chuvalo, can seemingly take flush bombs without flinching. Never been down or seriously hurt. The one caveat I have with McCall is the lack of quality comp. Lewis and Bruno are really the only world class punchers he's ever faced, and Bruno did hurt him a few times early in their fight, while Lennox's extra cautious nature ensured that he never really opened the heavy artillery on a cracked out McCall in their rematch. Great chin but perhaps a little over-rated by some.

4) Arturo Godoy: 124 fights against some of the top HWs of the 30s and 40s, and was only truly knocked out once by Louis in their rematch. Had an ugly style which was similar to a 1930s version of Ruiz but the man had a chin and head of granite, along with incredible stamina.

5) Max Baer: 79 fights, only knocked out by Louis and Nova in his very last fight. Took bombs from the likes of Carnera, Schmeling and Galento and laughed at his opponents. Took the kitchen sink from Louis before going down. Extremely durable and hard to hurt badly. His stats are all the more amazing considering his defense was pedestrian.

6) Evander Holyfield: Took big bombs from much bigger men including Bowe, Lewis, and Tyson without going down. Was hurt by the likes of Dokes, Bowe, Stewart and Foreman but like Ali had incredible recuperative powers. In his mid 40s still going the distance with the likes of 310 lb Valuev.

7) Ray Mercer: At his peak, could walk through hellfire and back seemingly without pain or consequence. Took frightening power shots from the likes of Morrison, Lewis, Witherspoon and Holyfield without flinching. Only put down at his peak by Evander off a perfect counter-punch. Incredible chin.

8) Tommy Farr: Never down or stopped at his peak. Only stopped 5 times in 127 fights, 3 of those when he was a teenager and the other two coming after his ill-fated comeback in the 1950s. Went the distance vs Louis, Nova, Baer and Foord. Incredibly tough and always in supreme condition.

9) Tex Cobb: At his peak, had a Chuvalo-like chin. Took some real crunchers vs Norton, Shavers, and Mercado and absorbed it all, and always with good humor in the post-fight interviews.

10) Jack Dempsey: Stopped only once in over 70 fights, often with much larger men. Incredibly tough and like Holyfield had incredible recuperative abilities.

Hon. mentions: George Foreman, Jim Jefferies, Oscar Bonavena, Rocky Marciano

I find it hard to disagree with this list. Though I would perhaps favour Marciano or Jeffries over
Baer.

[Senya13]

Frazier is a swarmer with that kind of power that makes you go "Ah, that hurts!" but you continue fighting. It tests your overall durability, not your chin in particular, it is gradually wearing you down. World-class punchers is when you say "Aww, where am I? Why am I sitting on the floor?" If really big punchers were landing cleanly as often as did Frazier, it'd take them 10 times less punches to knock an opponent out.

[dempseyfire]

Frazier is a swarmer with that kind of power that makes you go "Ah, that hurts!" but you continue fighting. It tests your overall durability, not your chin in particular, it is gradually wearing you down. World-class punchers is when you say "Aww, where am I? Why am I sitting on the floor?" If really big punchers were landing cleanly as often as did Frazier, it'd take them 10 times less punches to knock an opponent out.

Frazier's left hook when landed flush was a fight changing punch . . look at what it did to Ellis, Ali, Bugner, Quarry . . .guys with excellent chins. But pls explain how Damiani and Seldon hit harder than Joe Frazier.

[Ezzard]

Good list by Dempsey.

Nice to see Tommy farr on there. Of course Tommy had a world class defence that helped him take much less than Baer, McCall, Chuvalo… Still a very hard man to take down.

For those of you who know more about it than me… wasn’t Willard considered to be iron-jawed until he met Dempsey?

[raylawpc]

Good list by Dempsey.

Nice to see Tommy farr on there. Of course Tommy had a world class defence that helped him take much less than Baer, McCall, Chuvalo… Still a very hard man to take down.

For those of you who know more about it than me… wasn’t Willard considered to be iron-jawed until he met Dempsey?

Yes, and especially given the way he wore down Jack Johnson.

[Senya13]

Frazier's left hook when landed flush was a fight changing punch . . look at what it did to Ellis, Ali, Bugner, Quarry . . .guys with excellent chins.

I've also seen him land punch after punch, clean and flush, with opponents nowhere close to going down.

[CNorkusJr]

I submit the following photo since the topic is "taking it on the chin".

Charley Norkus takes one from Tommy "Hurricane " Jackson 1954
He stayed on his feet after this one.

[actjac]

Ibar Arrington. (27-7) Never knocked down or out. He only weighed under 200 lbs and went 10 rounds each with champions Marvin Camel, Gerrie Coetzee and Larry Holmes.

[Ambling Alp]

As for the Joe Frazier punching power is copncerned, here is my take:
Frazier threw a lot of punches but was not that accurrate of a puncher. Many of his punches either missed or were glancing blows. However, by the sheer amount of punches that he threw, sooner or later he usually landed a big shot (usually the left hook) flush. When he did, his opponent was usually in big trouble.

Frazier had a high ko percentage against pretty good competition. That alone should tell you that he could punch.
If you don't include Ali, only 5 guys went the distance with Frazier. One was against George Johnson when he was on the way up. Another was when he made the ill-advised comeback against Cummings.

So you are down to three guys, Bonavena, Foreman and Bugner. All were very hard guys to stop. He did hurt Bonavena and Bugner.
Everyone else he stopped, and that includes some guys who were very difficult to stop.

Frazier was not quite on the level of a Foreman or Shavers in terms of sheer power. However, he certainly had tremendous power. With the possible exception of Lennox Lewis, Frazier proved that he had more power than anyone Oliver McCall faced.