BoxRec

I would say Sugar Ray Robinson, when he got hit. Marvin Hagler, Tex Cobb, Jose Luis Castillo has a good chin also.

Jake LaMotta...hands down.

Carmen Basilio, George Chuvalo, Bat Nelson, Ad Wolgast.

barry wrote:Jake LaMotta...hands down.

Carmen Basilio, George Chuvalo, Bat Nelson, Ad Wolgast.

How can I be so stupid? he was absorbing the most accurate bombs i've ever seen in his bajillionth fight against Robinson....

1. LaMotta
2. Hagler
3. Basilio
4. Chuvalo
5. Eubank (I know it may be a bit out there but that guy had granite in his chin)

Couple more, Wayne McColough, Kid Gavilan

David Tua and Oliver McCall have to be up there as well.

Having been hit by Liston, Frazier,Foreman, Lyle and Shavers and beaten to a pulp by Holmes I'd say Ali could give some of the lighter guys and Chuvalo some competition. Maybe not top five but honorable mention status. Granted he was able to get out of the way of much of those but he took some pretty significant stuff. Some of the shots he was hit with and shrugged off would put 99.9% of the pugilistic population into dreamland.

Do you think a fighters ability to absorb a shot goes up significantly with increased weight? I know it must factor in but I'm not sure if the proportion is as significant as you might imagine. I havent studied this but I wonder which weight division has the most KO's proportionately. My guess is the HW's because your ability to absorb does not go up as quickly as your punching power when factored pound per pound.

Is this flawed logic? Like I said I have not crunched the numbers so it is just a guess based on what I imagine to be true.

Ali had a great chin . I dont think a fighter can do a whole lot to develop a good chin other than maybe develop a strong neck. I think its largely due to being born with it. However, conditioning is a huge factor . Gotta have good legs too. A guy might have a good chin but if he isnt in good shape, its nullified.

expug wrote:Ali had a great chin . I dont think a fighter can do a whole lot to develop a good chin other than maybe develop a strong neck. I think its largely due to being born with it. However, conditioning is a huge factor . Gotta have good legs too. A guy might have a good chin but if he isnt in good shape, its nullified.

Those small head movements make all the difference too. Guys like Ali, Leonard, Duran and Chavez could always move their head just before impact. As Leonard got older and his reflexes dulled a little he became more suscetible to knockdowns for this reason.

Some guys are born with cast iron in their jaw. These guys had both.

La Motta, Hagler, Ali, Holmes, Greb, Monzon, Chavez, Duran, Leonard, McClellan, McCallum, Eubank, McCall, Mercer all had great chins, there must be loads of others as well

...buzz...you are correct, sir...in your stating the greater weight/chin relationship. i've been told this by trainers and by a doctor who knew a great deal about boxing....hjis family managed ezzard charles. plus, there has been some writing on this over the years....all in agreement.

re: the chins.... a good list already..but let me add sandy saddller. knocked out once in his second fight by an experienced fighter....and never again in 162 fights...retired with the featherweight title because of an eye injury. gave away weight routinely.

...i don't want to roll back to the thread.....but if mickey walker isn't on it he should be,

billy graham...damn near forgotten today...fought the best in three divisions....lightweight to middle...and while he was clever in the number if fights he engaged in he had to have taken some shots on the chin....never stopped....and may have been knocked down once in his last fight with gavilan...but even this one has been disputed.

Salvador Sanchez had a granite chin. He fought some real bangers. Wilfredo Gomez, Patrick Ford, Little Red Lopez, Jaun Laporte, Azuma Nelson. I remember when he got hit his expression never changed, he would barley blink, and was almost never thrown off stride by a punch.

Gene Tunney has to be right up there. He was only floored only once in his entire career (namely, in his penultimate fight before he retired, a fight which he won). He fought (and beat) some great fighters like Greb and Dempsey.

However I must admit LaMotta stands out as having arguably the greatest chin..

lawllb wrote:Gene Tunney has to be right up there. He was only floored only once in his entire career (namely, in his penultimate fight before he retired, a fight which he won). He fought (and beat) some great fighters like Greb and Dempsey.

However I must admit LaMotta stands out as having arguably the greatest chin..

tunney never fought big punchers or top notch heavyweights outside of dempsey who was over the hill. tunneys chin is untested

ALI - you don't need a better chin than that.

Whatever abouy p4p best fighter, when it comes to chin it's gotta' be the heavies. They is the ones taking the shots from 16+ stone fighters who can hit like trucks. So An Ali, Chuvalo, Frazier, Mercer gotta rank up there...

Yes but punching is relative to weight. P4P the lighter guys take more punches and are the more likely to get long term brain damage.

Fair enough but look at it this way. The head of a heavyweight is no bigger than say Hagler's head or Duran's head. The brain is no bigger or smaller and it's not like a heavyweight's head is coated with extra protection. Yet it still has to take a much heavier shot than a middle or Lightweight. Even a Hagler teeing off on Ali is going to really hurt and could KO him, but it's not near as dangerous as a Shavers teeing off is it??.

Bottom line is the lighter guys are taking shots from fighters who are lighter (their weight) and who do not hit near as hard as a 16 stone Heavyweight. Also the opponent is very close to their weight, + - a few lbs. Whereas a heavyweight could be giving two stones or more away