the best chin

nacho libre

Which boxers had the best punch resistance in the heavyweight division over the last, say, 50 years? If you had to pick three heavyweights who would they be.

I would go for Vitali Klitschko
Holyfield
Ali

Vitali took some massive shots from Lennox Lewis yet still managed to stay upright, for that alone i put him at number 1. I mean those shots would have knocked out almost any other heavyweight.
The other two in their prime could take a ridiculous amount of punishment from much bigger and powerful men, yet still somehow keep going, even if they got knocked down. I think Holyfield was only knocked down once in his career and it was against Bowe.

Oilver Mc Call deserves a mention too.

willmunny1990

in no order Froch, Hagler come to mind.

walshb

It's the HW division, no? If so then in no particular order, only the champions

This is for single/several shots absorption. Tyson rates very high here.That 20 inch neck being very useful.

Tyson
Vitali
Foreman
McCall
Mercer
Ali

normanoffside

Apart from all the above- Larry Holmes had a cracking chin in his prime- he took some serious digs from the likes of Shavers and Norton.
Notable mention to Shannon Briggs, despite getting sparked earlier in his career he showed real grit against Lewis and later VK.

megadodge

I've no problem with any of the names above. All have great chins (though Holmes might be more a case of fantastic powers of recovery).

However, one man stands out way ahead of the pack and that just has to be Oliver McCall. It's not even close.

Not alone has the man never been floored, despite facing some of the hardest punchers in history, but he has never even been wobbled/stunned/shook. Nothing.

He even continued boxing until he was 49 years of age without so much as a rumour of him being hurt. The man is a complete freak.

He was brought in as Mike Tyson's chief sparring partner during Tyson's world title reign, simply because he could go as many rounds as was required. Tyson just couldn't hurt him, unlike virtually all his other sparring partners.

I certainly am not disrespecting all the other greats mentioned already, but no man in boxing history had a chin as good as Oliver McCall.

walshb

Holmes and Ali had good chins, but more to do with powers of recovery.

walshb

Regarding McCall. He certainly seems to be revered by the boxing public as regards his chin, but he doesn't "seem" to have the clips to back it up. A lot of it is based off accounts. Not saying his chin isn't iron, just that I'd like to see a reel of the shots he took flush..

So if anyone has the time to put together some clear video go for it.

Oh, and his head shape is probably the one shape that would lead you to believe he was iron chinned. Like a cavity block.

Vitali too has that shape-appearance.

megadodge

walshb wrote: »

Regarding McCall. He certainly seems to be revered by the boxing public as regards his chin, but he doesn't "seem" to have the clips to back it up. A lot of it is based off accounts. Not saying his chin isn't iron, just that I'd like to see a reel of the shots he took flush..

So if anyone has the time to put together some clear video go for it.

If you think about it, there's no clip of him ever being even wobbled. Or maybe there is, but I've never seen it or heard of it, which considering his opposition tells you all you need to know.

And if you're saying he never got hit flush then you're saying he had a fantastic defense, as his record is full of top, top quality operators. I've never heard of anyone claiming him to be a defensive wizard, so logically that indicates an unreal chin.

Never even wobbled. Not even once.

snowflaker

Wayne McCollough

walshb

This is a HW thread...Wayne a little small..

Regarding Oliver's defence. It was quite good. He had an excellent knack of blocking shots and riding shots, taking the sting out of them.

snowflaker

my bad

walshb

Can't believe that I almost forgot my man, Toney. Right up there. Not even a HW who moved up and took some whoppers off far bigger men..

nacho libre

walshb wrote: »

Can't believe that I almost forgot my man, Toney. Right up there. Not even a HW who moved up and took some whoppers off far bigger men..

Except when he was put on the seat of his pants by Roy;) Although he was trying to showboat and got clipped, so he was not really wobbled. He could take a punch to be fair. Megadodge is right about McCall he was never wobbled as far as I can tell. Holyfield was not far off him in terms of being able to withstand heavy punches against much bigger men. In his first fight with Bowe he withstood some very punishing shots.

megadodge

walshb wrote: »

Can't believe that I almost forgot my man, Toney. Right up there. Not even a HW who moved up and took some whoppers off far bigger men..

I can't believe it took you so long to mention him!

But for once I'll have to agree with you on him. Toney had a top grade chin and the fact that he was a much smaller man naturally who seemed impervious to heavy's punches was very impressive.

Burial.

David Tua for me. The Lewis fight being exhibit A but also his war with Ibeabuchi being a great example.

walshb

Burial. wrote: »

David Tua for me. The Lewis fight being exhibit A but also his war with Ibeabuchi being a great example.

Savon starched him as an amateur.

But yes, as a pro his chin was solid, and he was known for it.

weemcd

The first name that popped into my head when I thought of this thread was Toney.

I always thought Holyfield could take a shot. Outside of HW, Froch always took a good shot.

Blanco100

Wayne McCullough had a great chin, if anything a shot the landed flush on him seemed to spur him into an instant response

walshb

Blanco100 wrote: »

Wayne McCullough had a great chin, if anything a shot the landed flush on him seemed to spur him into an instant response

But he wasn't a particularly big HW, and he was a little feather fisted...

PeterTheNinth

I'm still amazed that both Dillian Whyte and Derrick Chisora stayed standing for twelve round. Particularly Chisora.

walshb

Not a champion, but George Chucalo of all probably demonstrated the best ever chin. He continually and very cleanly took flush shots to the chin. I don't believe that he was ever dropped, and very rarely even wobbled.

nacho libre

walshb wrote: »

Not a champion, but George Chucalo of all probably demonstrated the best ever chin. He continually and very cleanly took flush shots to the chin. I don't the know he was ever dropped, and very rarely even wobbled.

You could be right. His face looked remarkably unblemished considering the beatings he took. He had even tougher battles outside of the ring, but overcame them without a trace of bitterness.