Hamed's Chin!

Alright lads,

Was watching Sky Sports earlier and they were doing a review of 2001 and they showed a clip of Hamed v Barrera and i couldn't believe how much punishment Hamed's chin took and yet he never went down! Granted he wobbled a few times but he kept coming, even smiling at once point.

I knew he was cocky but man that was some punishment!

Anyway, this leads me on to ask, who in the history of boxing had the strongest chin? And would the 'Prince' be up there?

King Beer wrote:Alright lads,

Was watching Sky Sports earlier and they were doing a review of 2001 and they showed a clip of Hamed v Barrera and i couldn't believe how much punishment Hamed's chin took and yet he never went down! Granted he wobbled a few times but he kept coming, even smiling at once point.

I knew he was cocky but man that was some punishment!

Anyway, this leads me on to ask, who in the history of boxing had the strongest chin? And would the 'Prince' be up there?

I reckon its a close call between McCall and Hagler.

Hamed's been down a few times, but mainly due to being off balance given his unorthodox style. Never been on the end of a heavy knockdown..

Not sure he would rank on any greatest chins lists though..

Hamed had a great chin, took big punches from big punchers. Kelley put him down a few time but that was down to being off balance.

Best chin has to be either La Motta or Chuvalo, although Hagler is definitely up for consideration

LaMotta has to be up there.

Haglers chin was like a bloody anvil. Think I read somewhere he had an MRI scan after he retired which showed he a thicker than average skull - bit like homer simpson, which probably explained a lot.

Eubank would also be up there, hard as nails.

Foreman and Ali could both take a fair whack and not be too affected.

Chuvalo, Mccall and Lamotta are the top for me though. Who was it that Bowe thumped twice in succession bare-knuckle at a press conference? I remember he barely flinched.

John Bloody Wayne wrote:Foreman and Ali could both take a fair whack and not be too affected.

Chuvalo, Mccall and Lamotta are the top for me though. Who was it that Bowe thumped twice in succession bare-knuckle at a press conference? I remember he barely flinched.

Larry Donald. I think Bowe KO'd him in 3 though.

That's the guy, it went the distance though.

John Bloody Wayne wrote:That's the guy, it went the distance though.

Just checked. It did go the distance. Apparently Donald went all gunshy during the bout.

Wonder why...?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5LxagKJ1PA

John Bloody Wayne wrote:Wonder why...?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5LxagKJ1PA

Whoa!! What an a**hole! Donald should've pulled out citing injury and dropped Bowe in the sheeit-that was televised assault, plain and simple!

BALTIMORA wrote:

John Bloody Wayne wrote:Wonder why...?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5LxagKJ1PA

Whoa!! What an a**hole! Donald should've pulled out citing injury and dropped Bowe in the sheeit-that was televised assault, plain and simple!

Gotta love Bowe and Rock Newman. What a tag team. More suited to WWF though.

Don't know enough to pick who had the best chin, but Eubank seemed to be blessed with an iron chin.

Lennox Lewis's chin is often questioned due to his two defeats, but in his other fights he seemed capable of taking some huge bombs. Not saying his chin is worthy of a top ten iron chin ranking, but definitely better than many give it credit for.

All good calls thus far, and I believe that we can add James J Jeffries to the list. Jeff went in with some fearful punchers but was never off his feet until coming back, six years after retiring unbeaten, to be upended by Johnson.

Counting ' no decisions ' Harry Greb fought 299 bouts and was stopped twice ; once with a broken arm and the other a legitimate kayo loss as a seven fight rookie. Considering Greb fought everyone who would fight him from middleweight up to heavy, with something like eighteen world champions among his opponents, I'd reckon that he belongs in this company.

Welterweight contender from the fifties, Billy Graham, fought a veritable who's who in amassing a record of over one hundred fights and was never off his feet.

Good call on Jeffries Windy, as you know I am a firm fan of Jeffries and for me he often gets overlooked, as you rightly say brilliant chin, there was a rumour he went over when sparring partner for Corbett in preparation for his fight with Fitz but these are nothing but rumours and even if true no shame in that as he was but a kid.

When you look at the criteria we assess greatness against in the heavies he had it all, top tier opposition (Corbett, Fitz and Sharkey) and as I have long argued he has almost the perfect style for his day. In an era when fights were over 20+ rounds a guy capable of carrying his power late on, taking almost limitless punishment and firing back and fighting at a ferocious pace, couple that with his natural athleticism you have often commented on and the fact that fights were often scored on who would win were the fight to go the distance and Jeffries is almost the perfect fighter for his era.

Jeffries deserves far more credit than he often receives and for me is arguably a top five heavyweight and over the rules and distance in place at the time he was fighting is a guy who gives absolutely anyone an argument

Absolutely bang on, jeff.

It's ' horses for courses ' isn't it ? In a modern ring jeff is hugely disadvantaged because, for all his wonderful attributes, he lacked a wee bit of finesse and heavyweights of the day weren't yet punching in combinations. The best of the quicker boxers would very likely pick him off for distance wins over twelve.

However, over twenty or twenty five Jeff comes into his element. Nobody, not even the best version of Ali, could keep a fight at distance for twenty five rounds under a blazing Sun. Sooner or later a fight under such circumstances MUST go to the trenches and here is where Jeffries' phenomenal endurance, stamina, strength and punch pay dividends.

Louis and Johnson, who both fought at a very measured pace and had the ring smarts to avoid Jeff's wallops, might turn the trick. Ali's incredible endurance an heart also might, ( though I'd make that one a pick 'em, ) bit I can't think of many who could give Jeff a good argument on his own turf.

Some might point to the fact that Corbett did well for twenty three rounds, but Corbett knew Jeff inside out and taught him everything he knew while Jeff was serving his apprenticeship as Gentleman Jim's sparring partner.

Nailed on top ten, and maybe top five, for me.

Off topic, for a second. I came across an account of your man Burley beating the heavyweight, J D Turner, and saved it to my hard drive. I imagine it was covered in your Otty book but, if not, let me know and I'll post it here for you.

Windy is covered but always welcome any Burley reference, also gives me a tenuous excuse to knock up another Burley thread when time allows.

rowley wrote:Windy is covered but always welcome any Burley reference, also gives me a tenuous excuse to knock up another Burley thread when time allows.

Okay, mate. I'll pop it up in a minute or two.

McCall and Hagler are tops for me also. Hagler is the best I've seen.

Worth a mention is Ray Leonard at WW, SRR, Julio Caesar Chavez, and Hamed opponent Wayne McCullough.

fearlessBamber wrote:McCall and Hagler are tops for me also. Hagler is the best I've seen.

Worth a mention is Ray Leonard at WW, SRR, Julio Caesar Chavez, and Hamed opponent Wayne McCullough.

Many forget that SRR was at his prime at Welter where he was literally untouchable.

Back to Hamed, didn't Tom "Boom Boom" Johnson briefly stiffen his legs? I recall Naz getting a thumped at the end of the round and the camera was so close to the action Naz's head disappeared off the other end of the screen.

He then proceded to strut round the ring like it was no big thing but ended up looking like 70's comedian Mick Miller doing his funny walk

Not sure, i'd have to check.

I did notice the comparisons between Hamed and 'Uzzy' who got KTFO in that video.

can't believe I've not seen anyone put Gatti up there, he has been down, but my oh my it took a lot! His chin was like The Terminators at times, watch how many times Micky Ward smacks it around!

McCall had phenomenal whiskers; as did Hagler.

Mosley and Hoppo both have and had excellent chins. Oscar De La Hoya also had an excellent chin; a fact about him that I think people sometimes forget.

vitaili surely deserves a mention, never been down (officially anyways) and has been in with some big punches

Sugar Ray Robinson is definitely worthy of a mention as well, only down a handful of times in a 200 fight career and only stopped once due to heat exhaustion against Maxim. Due to his near perfection often gets overlooked how damm tough he was as well.

From the here and now Pacquiao deserves a mention, once he stopped killing himself to make weight he seems almost invulnerable to punches. Barrera, Morales, Marquez, Cotto and Margarito all carry a bang.

Don't think Marco was ever a big hitter....As for Hamed's chin he went down at least five times in the span of his title reign.....So his chin wasn't all that!!

He went due to balance more than anything, against Kelley the punches weren't what caused him to touch down with a glove, should be remembered that he was never on his backside in that fight.

Still got decked....

That isn't get decked is it

If you take a count it's called a knockdown..

Still doesn't mean you have a weak chin because your glove touches the floor and is in no way 'getting decked', each to their own though kid

okay kid

There's a difference between going down and being shaken. Jermaine Taylor has looked quite clearly ready to go when he's been knocked down against Froch, whereas someone like Hamed was more likely to be dropped because he was off-balance.

Against Kelly, Hamed was shaken up. But he recovered quickly and used his bravado to hide the fact that he was hurt.

I've always felt that Naz went down against Kelley due to being off balance more than a poor chin or a great shot.

prettyboy1304 wrote:I've always felt that Naz went down against Kelley due to being off balance more than a poor chin or a great shot.

He was shook up. Look at the video again. One of the KD was due to him being off balance though. His forst career KD was also from a good punch.

First KD Naz was on the backfoot and Kelley clips his chin Naz does go down but gets right back up they all sort of look like that in that fight. Naz was a guy you could never tell with because of his style

prettyboy1304 wrote:First KD Naz was on the backfoot and Kelley clips his chin Naz does go down but gets right back up they all sort of look like that in that fight. Naz was a guy you could never tell with because of his style

I meant his first career KD against some guy from Dom Rep. Daniel Somethingoranother.

Late to the debate.. but

You CANNOT say he had a great chin

Part of receiving a punch is also being on balance.

He was a very 'good' top 20 P4P'r at the time, nothing more. Seriously, you sound stupid when you say "yeah but he was leaping out of the way".

Part of receiving a punch is also being on balance.
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Not really, receiving a punch is being punched whether you are balanced or not. Hamed had an unorthadox style & often threw punches from the 'wrong' stance. If he missed he was at risk from being countered & there would be a good chance of him going down, this happened a couple of times, he still got up. Not saying he had a cast iron chin ala Oliver Mccall but he didn't have a 'glass' jaw.

Just as a postscript really, King Beer,it is oft noticed that boxers respond with a smile-or a sickly leer in Lennox Lewis' case-when they get seriously tagged. So i go along with the suggestion that Hamed was hurt by Barrera...Kelley made him touch down three times-although he wasn't in trouble,but was never really elite himself...suspect Amir Khan may give us a few "Henman" moments as well..and to be honest, I'm kinda looking forward to 'em..

andygf wrote:Just as a postscript really, King Beer,it is oft noticed that boxers respond with a smile-or a sickly leer in Lennox Lewis' case-when they get seriously tagged. So i go along with the suggestion that Hamed was hurt by Barrera...Kelley made him touch down three times-although he wasn't in trouble,but was never really elite himself...suspect Amir Khan may give us a few "Henman" moments as well..and to be honest, I'm kinda looking forward to 'em..

I agree, andy.

I distinctly remember Hamed, at the end of the fight, looking out to the crowd, pointing to his chin, and shaking his head, as though to say " He hurt me but he couldn't put me away."

Partly on the basis of that fight, I'm in the camp with those who say that Naz had a decent set of whiskers.

Always felt he had a decent chin very rarely got caught square on was usually off balance due to his style. He was down a few times but usually got up right away.

I think he had a decent chin to be fair. A bit like Felix Trinidad really; he was often put down, put was very hard to put away. As mentioned above, it was a s much a style thing as anything.