Top Ten Heavyweight Chins of all time

First topic message reminder :

As the title suggests, a list of the ten best hevyweight chins I could think of.

1. George Chuvalo
2. Evander Holyfield:
3. Ray Mercer
4. Vitali Klitschko
5. Muhammad Ali
6. Tex Cobb
7. George Foreman
8. Rocky Marciano
9. Jim Jeffries
10. Oscar Bonavena

Anyone I have missed out on that should be in there?

On a side note, I thought I would give an honourable mention to Marion Wilson (12-41). He was something of a punchbag on the heavyweight scene but while his record is hardly impressive, his chin sure is. He has only been stopped once (on a cut) in his career and thats having faced such established fighters as: McCall, Mercer, Witherspoon, Briggs, Peter, Rahman, Maskaev, Ibeabuchi, Golota, Donald, Botha. I dont think he won any of these fights, but it includes some big hitters in there so for someone of his limited ability to go the distance every time is pretty impressive. I was tempted to include him on the list but since Ive never seen him fight I though I would give him an honourable mention instead.

I agree training on Jack Daniels is disgrace, they should show the commitment to their training modern fighters like Hatton and Mayorga show

HumanWindmill wrote:

azania wrote:Training with Jack Daniel always helped.

He was a good trainer. Very spirited.

That I know. He's stood the test of time. And Jim Beam. All good Teachers who could cook a wonderful Grouse with Grant with a (chivas) Regal spread.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:"I'll pull out"...Pity I didn't a few months ago....My life wouldn't be a mess.

However do get a little peed off by the bias to oldtimers on here.....

Sorry If I've upset any sensitive souls..

Ha !

You'll be fine when the babe arrives, mate.

You certainly haven't upset me, by the way. Healthy debate and difference of opinion is great fun. I'm only backing off out of respect to Manos' original thread.

This might sound crazy but Trevor Berbick had a great chin......Apart from the Tyson debacle the guy was kniown for his sturdiness...

After all he traded on it.....

Also Witherspoon deserves a mention.......Think Smith caught him cold!

rowley wrote:I agree training on Jack Daniels is disgrace, they should show the commitment to their training modern fighters like Hatton and Mayorga show

And look where it got them in the end. Hatton washed up at 30 and Mayorga needing a wash. Look at the K Bros, Floyd, Mosely etc etc etc, all over 34 and still going strong.

azania wrote:

HumanWindmill wrote:

azania wrote:Training with Jack Daniel always helped.

He was a good trainer. Very spirited.

That I know. He's stood the test of time. And Jim Beam. All good Teachers who could cook a wonderful Grouse with Grant with a (chivas) Regal spread.

Hats off to you, mate, that made me chuckle.

Holmes had greaty recuperative powers and survival technique...

Didn't have a great chin though!!

http://www.eastsideboxing.com/williepep.html

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=3522638

Anyway - azania - you fly in the face of most of the rest of the boxing world with your opinions; including those who were there at the time.

Most would say that makes you wrong - but its just opinions after all.

My grandad fought Jack Daniel got scotched in the first and ended up hearing "Bells" for weeks..

Can we get back to the point of the article rather than the same old same old

Was strangely thinking of Berbick Truss, got destroyed by Tyson but no shame in it

azania wrote:

rowley wrote:I agree training on Jack Daniels is disgrace, they should show the commitment to their training modern fighters like Hatton and Mayorga show

And look where it got them in the end. Hatton washed up at 30 and Mayorga needing a wash. Look at the K Bros, Floyd, Mosely etc etc etc, all over 34 and still going strong.

All I have to say is Archie Moore :P

Never got chinned though against Tyson..he took all the chin shots..both knockdowns were top of the head shots...

If it matters.......Guy took some great bombs..

He lived on his chin...RIP!!!

Trev was one of Boxing's most crazy characters....Never a dull moment..

http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/images/w0303article1.jpg

Rowley could be right I wonder if today's generation "OVERTRAIN"..

Old timers had five times the amount of wars and carried on...........

Maybe fitness techniques are too taxing for longevity.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Rowley could be right I wonder if today's generation "OVERTRAIN"..

Old timers had five times the amount of wars and carried on...........

Maybe fitness techniques are too taxing for longevity.

Mac Foster was being interviewed by a British reporter. The reporter asked a lot of questions about the Ali fight, etc., etc. Then he said words to the effect :

"Mr. Foster, in an era before high-tech equipment and supplementation, how did you possibly maintain such sharp conditioning?"

Foster replied " I sparred with Sonny Liston."

Scott read the ESPN article:

In fact - i'll post the relevant bit:

Still, not everyone buys Hennessy's report.
Bert Sugar, on why he puts more credence in Pep's take on the fight



"I give Willie Pep the benefit of the doubt," said Bert Sugar,
suggesting that a legend can be as fragile as the language that
preserves it.



"Instead of saying Pep won a round without throwing a punch, say he won a round without landing one. There's a difference," Sugar said. "Besides, sports writers in those days wrote whatever the hell they wanted."


Fight coverage could be slipshod in 1946. For instance, the UPI report
of the bout had Graves knocking Pep down four times, but other reports
have Pep down twice. Meanwhile, The Associated Press' account of the
fight does not mention Graves knocking Pep down at all.

With such uneven coverage, can Hennessy's report be accepted as gospel?


Riley quickly dismissed Hennessy as a competent witness under the
circumstances.

"Joe Hennessy was a beautiful guy, but if you weren't clued in, you wouldn't realize Pep's punches were all feints," Riley said.



Hennessy, who died a few years ago, eventually was fired by the Pioneer Press for being, among other things, unreliable.

i dont think ali had such a good chin, he was just a master of not getting hit. that much. i think chavez has a good chin, wasn't haye the first person to stop him and think that mite be the fact that he's a little past it.

I dont mind theMarciano debate realy. Hes always tricky to place in any kind of list.

Thees no doubt he could absorb alot of punishement. His style practically demanded it. I think its only fair to lend credence to what many of his opponents said which was that his ability to keep going through punishment was enormous.

However it is questionable if his style would hold up with some of the real power hitters in later years. Especially ones where he was giving away enormous weight and size to.

Many fighters have good chins but due to their style of skills they may not actually be tested that often. Ali for instance was hard to hit clean. Whereas guys like Cobb, Chuvalo and Marciano were not hard to find and proved their chins almost every fight they were in.

imperialghosty wrote:

azania wrote:

rowley wrote:I agree training on Jack Daniels is disgrace, they should show the commitment to their training modern fighters like Hatton and Mayorga show

And look where it got them in the end. Hatton washed up at 30 and Mayorga needing a wash. Look at the K Bros, Floyd, Mosely etc etc etc, all over 34 and still going strong.

All I have to say is Archie Moore :P

A good clean living fighter. Bhop, SSM and many others. Chavez had just as many fights as Moore.

eddyfightfan wrote:i dont think ali had such a good chin, he was just a master of not getting hit. that much. i think chavez has a good chin, wasn't haye the first person to stop him and think that mite be the fact that he's a little past it.

Haye and Chavez?

Fair enough, but you need evidence of something happening, not to shoot down proof that it didn't happen. I've read an article by a guy who said none of the newspaper reported what would surely be remarkable? Can only find one because you have to pay for most but no mention http://blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/oldnews/archives/130. It's at least very debateable - neither of the boxers are really sure. Only one of the debatable stories he passes on though.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:My grandad fought Jack Daniel got scotched in the first and ended up hearing "Bells" for weeks..

Riddick Bowe had a very good chin. Never decked I believe..

----------------------------------

I'm sure Golota decked him twice during their second bout (not including the low blows).
He did have an excellent chin during his prime though.

azania wrote:Riddick Bowe had a very good chin. Never decked I believe.

Went down like a sack of merde when Holfield landed that hook in their third fight.

eddyfightfan wrote:i dont think ali had such a good chin, he was just a master of not getting hit. that much. i think chavez has a good chin, wasn't haye the first person to stop him and think that mite be the fact that he's a little past it.

What did you see some of the shot foreman hit him with. Then there was Holmes when Ali was well past it but took a beating never went down. How hard Ali was to hit is over exaggerated Frasier has said in the past he couldn't believe how hard he hit him and he never went down. Think you are confused about Haye decking Chavez.

Bob wrote:

azania wrote:Riddick Bowe had a very good chin. Never decked I believe.

Went down like a sack of merde

Mais oui, Monsieur Bob, c'est vrai.

I think he meant Ruiz, not Chavez. Ruiz to be fair did have a solid chin.

I have done my share of belittling David Tua but I can only remember him being on the canvas twice.His bout with Barret and in the last round against Rahman which luckily was judged to be after the bell otherwise he would have lost that fight instead of it being a draw.

In reply to azania about Bowe not being decked. I think it was the third in the trilogy with Holyfield that Evander put him down but then seemed to run out of steam and was later stopped himself.

manos de piedra wrote:I think he meant Ruiz, not Chavez. Ruiz to be fair did have a solid chin.

Ruiz did have a solid chin, he didn't when he fought Haye but he was well past it

oxring wrote:http://www.eastsideboxing.com/williepep.html

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=3522638

Anyway - azania - you fly in the face of most of the rest of the boxing world with your opinions; including those who were there at the time.

Most would say that makes you wrong - but its just opinions after all.

I'm well aware that I'm in a minority of 1 or 2. I'd probably say that the 1970s and 1980s were the best time for boxing. That's nostalgia. Guys in 10 years time would say that the 00's were great times for boxing. And so forth.

Bob wrote:

azania wrote:Riddick Bowe had a very good chin. Never decked I believe.

Went down like a sack of merde when Holfield landed that hook in their third fight.

Oooops, true.

manos de piedra wrote:I think he meant Ruiz, not Chavez. Ruiz to be fair did have a solid chin.

Didn't Ruiz get mullered by Tua in 16 seconds? Was completely sparked.

Theres a difference between nostalgia and the dismissing of half a century of boxing azania. Especially when the line drawn appears to imaginary and based on the vaguest of reasoning.

azania wrote:

manos de piedra wrote:I think he meant Ruiz, not Chavez. Ruiz to be fair did have a solid chin.

Didn't Ruiz get mullered by Tua in 16 seconds? Was completely sparked.

Don't think he went down though. George Chuvalo was never a world champion, think he lost a couple of world title fights. Had about 100 fights and apparently was never floored. Couldn't find a credible source to back this up just wiki. Anyone know any more?

Colonial Lion wrote:Theres a difference between nostalgia and the dismissing of half a century of boxing azania. Especially when the line drawn appears to imaginary and based on the vaguest of reasoning.

I've been down this route with windy previously and given many examples. Apologies but I seriously do not want to repeat myself. There's a thread on here somewhere with over 300 responses about this matter.

He definitely went down, but was after a fair few massive shots https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLuV0vCWs_A&feature=related

prettyboy1304 wrote:

azania wrote:

manos de piedra wrote:I think he meant Ruiz, not Chavez. Ruiz to be fair did have a solid chin.

Didn't Ruiz get mullered by Tua in 16 seconds? Was completely sparked.

Don't think he went down though. George Chuvalo was never a world champion, think he lost a couple of world title fights. Had about 100 fights and apparently was never floored. Couldn't find a credible source to back this up just wiki. Anyone know any more?

Ruiz never went down against Tua? Mate, I'm surprised he got up. He was completely and utterly sparked out. Lights on but no-one home out!!!

I saw on espn classic about HW boxers and chuvalo said he never once went down. Bert Sugar verified it.

Bruno had a decent chin. He just didn't know what to do when hit. Tyson hit him with some nasty shots in the 5th round and he still didn't go down. The punches that stopped him were also very hurtful and would have stopped most other heavies (except Rocky who could stop a tank shell with his teeth).

Ruiz was also decked by Haye, Golota, Holyfield & Toney.

Durable guy no doubt, but doesnt merit a place on the list.

Chuvalo was never decked. Frazier and Foreman were the only men to stop him. On both occasions, he was stopped on his feet.

azania wrote:

prettyboy1304 wrote:

azania wrote:

manos de piedra wrote:I think he meant Ruiz, not Chavez. Ruiz to be fair did have a solid chin.

Didn't Ruiz get mullered by Tua in 16 seconds? Was completely sparked.

Don't think he went down though. George Chuvalo was never a world champion, think he lost a couple of world title fights. Had about 100 fights and apparently was never floored. Couldn't find a credible source to back this up just wiki. Anyone know any more?

Ruiz never went down against Tua? Mate, I'm surprised he got up. He was completely and utterly sparked out. Lights on but no-one home out!!!

I saw on espn classic about HW boxers and chuvalo said he never once went down. Bert Sugar verified it.

I never knew Tua did that to Ruiz never seen just going to try and find it somewhere just now. Cheers about Chuvalo though m8 if Bert said it it's got to be true.

I would have to say there are strong cases for the likes of John L Sullivan, Harry Wills and Paulino Uzcuden. Especially if the likes of Vitali Klitschko are to be included so highly.

prettyboy1304 wrote:

azania wrote:

prettyboy1304 wrote:

azania wrote:

manos de piedra wrote:I think he meant Ruiz, not Chavez. Ruiz to be fair did have a solid chin.

Didn't Ruiz get mullered by Tua in 16 seconds? Was completely sparked.

Don't think he went down though. George Chuvalo was never a world champion, think he lost a couple of world title fights. Had about 100 fights and apparently was never floored. Couldn't find a credible source to back this up just wiki. Anyone know any more?

Ruiz never went down against Tua? Mate, I'm surprised he got up. He was completely and utterly sparked out. Lights on but no-one home out!!!

I saw on espn classic about HW boxers and chuvalo said he never once went down. Bert Sugar verified it.

I never knew Tua did that to Ruiz never seen just going to try and find it somewhere just now. Cheers about Chuvalo though m8 if Bert said it it's got to be true.

Tua was a huge puncher. Whoever he hit cleanly remained hit.

Not a career heavy but James Toney had a great chin and faced a few heavies never being dropped

the biggest puncher of them was probably sam peter

azania wrote:

prettyboy1304 wrote:

azania wrote:

prettyboy1304 wrote:

azania wrote:

manos de piedra wrote:I think he meant Ruiz, not Chavez. Ruiz to be fair did have a solid chin.

Didn't Ruiz get mullered by Tua in 16 seconds? Was completely sparked.

Don't think he went down though. George Chuvalo was never a world champion, think he lost a couple of world title fights. Had about 100 fights and apparently was never floored. Couldn't find a credible source to back this up just wiki. Anyone know any more?

Ruiz never went down against Tua? Mate, I'm surprised he got up. He was completely and utterly sparked out. Lights on but no-one home out!!!

I saw on espn classic about HW boxers and chuvalo said he never once went down. Bert Sugar verified it.

I never knew Tua did that to Ruiz never seen just going to try and find it somewhere just now. Cheers about Chuvalo though m8 if Bert said it it's got to be true.

Tua was a huge puncher. Whoever he hit cleanly remained hit.

I knew Tua was a big puncher just watched the Ruiz KO WOW

Don't think Ruiz's chin can be discreditted because of the KO by Tua. Need to steal Barry McGuigans line here but that would have KO'd a horse.

prettyboy1304 wrote:Don't think Ruiz's chin can be discreditted because of the KO by Tua. Need to steal Barry McGuigans line here but that would have KO'd a horse.

True.

One of the most brutal KO's i've ever seen to be honest, the hook he took when he was already out of it just makes it worse

Pretty certain that Chuvalo was never down in his career, could take a serious beating, also had Cooper running scared for years

Azania not sure what records you've been looking at but Chavez doesn't come close to the amount of fights Moore had, was hardly fighting complete chaff either.

McCall still the best of the past twenty years or so for me, perhaps along with Ray Mercer, who was only ever dropped once in his prime.

Bowe was floored heavily by Holyfield and Golota.

McCall would also top my list. He seemed impossible to hurt. Never saw him troubled in the slightest.

Otherwise Ali is top. I don't buy into the Chuvalo being top theory. Great chin no doubt, but Frazier and Foreman stopped him on his feet and he didn't seem immune to punches, the way McCall and even Mercer did.