Who was the chinniest ATG?

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Looking at records, as great as this site is, is a nightmare when you're trying to talk to someone. Look at Saad's record, somebody would invariably point out how many times he was dropped and stopped without even realizing that his capacity for absorbing punishment was inhuman.

[Expug]

Saad is a perfect example of what I was trying to say.

[Rover]

I am merely tossing this out here because I am not sure if it warrants any merit but what do we make of Roy Jones Junior`s chin? Clearly it wasn`t tested in the early stages of his career but later on we have become accustomed to him getting starched.

Don't know if you can glean he had a bad chin in his prime. He was a champ for over a decade before he was first stopped.

Tis true but he was also rarely touched in his prime and when he finally does, a string of pretty vicious knockouts ensues.

Past his prime, though. He should've retired after Johnson.

[dempseyfire]

Well, the thread topic is "chinniest ATG" meaning what ATGs had the weakest chins. Of course, a weak chin among truly great fighters will usually be better than most, but slick skills and athleticism can also help mask weak whiskers. I think Wlad Klitschko's chin, for example, is probably worse than a number of HW journeyman tough guys, but he has the talent to not let himself get hit by many clean shots . . in fact in recent years he's gone whole fights without tasting any clean power-punches to the chin.

Hearns and Patterson were tough guys who had the conditioning, willpower, and know-how to come back from getting badly dazed. But they usually did not take flush power shots well from known punchers. You simply don't see those guys eating flush power shots like some guys can (and many of whom aren't great fighters) and not be affected. Another example . . . Hearns will always be ranked WAY ahead of Margarito as a fighter, deservedly, but Mr. Plaster Wraps surely took a much better punch.

[Rover]

I am merely tossing this out here because I am not sure if it warrants any merit but what do we make of Roy Jones Junior`s chin? Clearly it wasn`t tested in the early stages of his career but later on we have become accustomed to him getting starched.

I don't think his jump up to heavyweight and then back down to light heavyweight done him a lot of favours. That coupled with him getting on in years and losing his edge. He was 35 when he fight got stopped and he has continued to fight when he should have jacked it in. A younger and fresher Jones wouldn't have got KO'd by Tarver or Johnson.

I agree. Much has been made about his jump to heavyweight and I mostly agree with the assessments made. I also agree that Roy Jones Jr. would have beaten both Tarver and Johnson but did they expose the fact that he was chinny. I mean after all, had Jones Jr. retired after the Ruiz fight what would have been on our conclusion of his chin?

We couldn't have assessed much because he never really got hit on it.

[Rover]

I would be interested in reading some of the other posters here define what they consider "chinny"Saad laid out his definition. I explained my opinion when I posted earlier here. I don't think looking at a guys record tells the whole story. You have some fighters who fight in wars and take massive bombs throughut their carrers and then,the legs start to go and he hits the canvas a few times or gets stopped later in his career. I would say for sure Bobick and a guy like Bob Saterfield were chinny. Not ATGs though. Maybe there aren't any true all time greats with bad chins.

A prime fighter badly hurt by fighters who aren't huge punchers.
Examples: Norris v. Waters, Brown, Santana.

[Rover]

Well, the thread topic is "chinniest ATG" meaning what ATGs had the weakest chins. Of course, a weak chin among truly great fighters will usually be better than most, but slick skills and athleticism can also help mask weak whiskers. I think Wlad Klitschko's chin, for example, is probably worse than a number of HW journeyman tough guys, but he has the talent to not let himself get hit by many clean shots . . in fact in recent years he's gone whole fights without tasting any clean power-punches to the chin.

Hearns and Patterson were tough guys who had the conditioning, willpower, and know-how to come back from getting badly dazed. But they usually did not take flush power shots well from known punchers. You simply don't see those guys eating flush power shots like some guys can (and many of whom aren't great fighters) and not be affected. Another example . . . Hearns will always be ranked WAY ahead of Margarito as a fighter, deservedly, but Mr. Plaster Wraps surely took a much better punch.

The problem is that most of the questions about Hearns's chin arose at middle and above.
Below that, he was stopped by SRL; also had a flash KD v. Benitez.
It wouldn't have surprised me if SRL stopped Marg.

[dempseyfire]

Well, the thread topic is "chinniest ATG" meaning what ATGs had the weakest chins. Of course, a weak chin among truly great fighters will usually be better than most, but slick skills and athleticism can also help mask weak whiskers. I think Wlad Klitschko's chin, for example, is probably worse than a number of HW journeyman tough guys, but he has the talent to not let himself get hit by many clean shots . . in fact in recent years he's gone whole fights without tasting any clean power-punches to the chin.

Hearns and Patterson were tough guys who had the conditioning, willpower, and know-how to come back from getting badly dazed. But they usually did not take flush power shots well from known punchers. You simply don't see those guys eating flush power shots like some guys can (and many of whom aren't great fighters) and not be affected. Another example . . . Hearns will always be ranked WAY ahead of Margarito as a fighter, deservedly, but Mr. Plaster Wraps surely took a much better punch.

The problem is that most of the questions about Hearns's chin arose at middle and above.
Below that, he was stopped by SRL; also had a flash KD v. Benitez.
It wouldn't have surprised me if SRL stopped Marg.

His tenures at 147 and 154 were fairly brief, and the only times at that weight class he was hit many clean shots by a known puncher was vs Leonard (that I can recall), although I do think was hurt a few other times at welter. Are you suggesting a drained Hearns had MORE punch resistance at 147??

[Rover]

Well, the thread topic is "chinniest ATG" meaning what ATGs had the weakest chins. Of course, a weak chin among truly great fighters will usually be better than most, but slick skills and athleticism can also help mask weak whiskers. I think Wlad Klitschko's chin, for example, is probably worse than a number of HW journeyman tough guys, but he has the talent to not let himself get hit by many clean shots . . in fact in recent years he's gone whole fights without tasting any clean power-punches to the chin.

Hearns and Patterson were tough guys who had the conditioning, willpower, and know-how to come back from getting badly dazed. But they usually did not take flush power shots well from known punchers. You simply don't see those guys eating flush power shots like some guys can (and many of whom aren't great fighters) and not be affected. Another example . . . Hearns will always be ranked WAY ahead of Margarito as a fighter, deservedly, but Mr. Plaster Wraps surely took a much better punch.

The problem is that most of the questions about Hearns's chin arose at middle and above.
Below that, he was stopped by SRL; also had a flash KD v. Benitez.
It wouldn't have surprised me if SRL stopped Marg.

His tenures at 147 and 154 were fairly brief, and the only times at that weight class he was hit many clean shots by a known puncher was vs Leonard (that I can recall), although I do think was hurt a few other times at welter. Are you suggesting a drained Hearns had MORE punch resistance at 147??

I have no idea. I'm just saying that Hearns was stopped once below middle--by one of the greatest welters ever. Marg was also stopped at welter by Mosley. Marg never moved up in weight like Hearns did, so we never got to see how he took the bombs of big punching middleweights, though he got badly rocked by Daniel Santos at jr. middle early in that fight. He also went the distance with Pac at jr. middle, a weight where Pac has never shown KO power.

[Sportofkings]

Patterson, but the fact that he was a blown light-heavyweight fighting in the marquee division didn't help. Still getting dropped by a debutant in Rademacher was the stamp of a fragile chin.

[oliverfennell]

I was going to say either Floyd Patterson or Lennox Lewis - but in their defence they did fight in the Heaviest punching division.

Lewis was only dropped three times (twice officially). That's hardly a worrying statistic when fighting top-level heavyweights for more than a decade.

[Rover]

I was going to say either Floyd Patterson or Lennox Lewis - but in their defence they did fight in the Heaviest punching division.

Lewis was only dropped three times (twice officially). That's hardly a worrying statistic when fighting top-level heavyweights for more than a decade.

[Jaclem]

rover's comment got lost here.....can an atg have a bad chin? no...because having at least an adequate chin is part of making a fighter an atg.tippy larkin is often mentioned as one of the greatest boxers ever, but he can't be called an all time great as a fully rounded fighter because he couldn't take a punch...so the premise the question invites is self-contradictory.

p.s. joe louis did not have a weak chin. not even close. please do not come on here and list the times he was knocked down and by whom. irrelevant.