BoxRec

Completely hypothetical Poll.... but if you were a pro boxer and HAD to pick one weakness - that you would have to live with throughout your career (and would always be there), what would it be?

For me he ultimate dilemma was always - have a great chin, but can't punch out of a paper bag.... Or be a destroyer but can't take a shit and get chinned often.....

For the sake of the poll I'd have to go for dreadful stamina

reggaereggae wrote:For the sake of the poll I'd have to go for dreadful stamina

If I had to pick out the ones you named it would be slow as a cart horse, cause good timing beAts speed every day anyway

Feather duster puncher. If you are lucky enough to have a great engine, chin, speed and reflexes, then you don't need power - you can beat everyone on points.

dookus wrote:Feather duster puncher. If you are lucky enough to have a great engine, chin, speed and reflexes, then you don't need power - you can beat everyone on points.

Good point. But I would feel less macho not being able to stop anyone!

I went for chinny. I figured having everything else, including power would make me more exciting to watch, which would convert to more £££. Plus more people would be willing to sign for fights with you, knowing that they'd always have a chance to knock you out.

Amir hasn't done too bad in spite of it, though I suppose if he had a great chin then he would still be a world champion.

Having a glass chin would be the absolute worst attribute to have as a pro boxer imo.

I went for slow, it's nowhere near a big disadvantage compared to the other options. As pointed out earlier, timing is much more important than speed anyway.

Women.

I went for glass chin. Better to get iced than endure sustained beatings (in the long term). I would build up a sufficient army of nuthuggers with my unbelievable blend of speed, power and skill to argue my greatness on Internet forums and to make wild excuses for my ko defeats.

Dreadful stamina. It would always be over early.

If I hadn't Hearns'd them in the first three I'd pull out with a shaving rash type injury...

reggaereggae wrote:For me he ultimate dilemma was always - have a great chin, but can't punch out of a paper bag.... Or be a destroyer but can't take a poo and get chinned often.....

I'd rather have a rock solid chin, and be a paper puncher.

If you haven't got a chin, you probably won't win any meaningful fights. Whereas, you don't have to be the hardest puncher to outwork your opponent. A china chin is a harder problem to work your way around in a fight.

Michael bennt wrote:

reggaereggae wrote:For the sake of the poll I'd have to go for dreadful stamina

If I had to pick out the ones you named it would be slow as a cart horse, cause good timing beAts speed every day anyway

Bingo - !

Timing beats speed every time.

Good defence, and slow with good timing, you can beat almost anyone.

I have gone for slow as a cart horse,it didn't do George Foreman any harm,i could cope with losing on points,a ko would destroy me

I have to go with luck of speed. Timing, power and intelligence will get you KOs at any level. No KO no win for me.

It's got to be lack of a punch.

You can still be an ATG without power, just ask Willie Pep, Pernell Whittaker & to a lesser extent, Muhammad Ali.

Syntax Error wrote:It's got to be lack of a punch.

You can still be an ATG without power, just ask Willie Pep, Pernell Whittaker & to a lesser extent, Muhammad Ali.

You can, but it's much harder to do unless you're an elite fighter.

dookus wrote:Feather duster puncher. If you are lucky enough to have a great engine, chin, speed and reflexes, then you don't need power - you can beat everyone on points.

I second this

Tarkus wrote:I have to go with luck of speed. Timing, power and intelligence will get you KOs at any level. No KO no win for me.

I disagree - while timing beats speed the majority of the time, a very large speed deficit can sometimes outweigh all a fighter's other advantages. A good example would be Froch's fights against Dirrell (which he would have lost had Dirrell not totally thrown the fight away) and Ward (where the speed difference between the two was the main reason Froch couldn't land anything until the later rounds).

I've went for dreadful stamina, since that's actually the case anyway

There's only one answer here. A great fighter can have poor punching power. He can't have any of the other weaknesses.

Benelio wrote:I went for chinny. I figured having everything else, including power would make me more exciting to watch, which would convert to more £££. Plus more people would be willing to sign for fights with you, knowing that they'd always have a chance to knock you out.

Amir hasn't done too bad in spite of it, though I suppose if he had a great chin then he would still be a world champion.

It worked for RJJ for most of his career. So good shout!

Nearly pissed myself laughing at this thread

Nobody in boxing wants to have a glass chin, but many fighters have went on to have good success with one. Herbie Hide is a great example, he was a two time heavyweight champion of the world and defending his title for the third time before getting cleaned out with a miss.

Still, for the same reason others have noted, slow as a cart horse would be my pick.