ATG Middleweight Chin Tier list-The Top Forty

Yeah, I kinda feel like downgrading Nino to average on my personal tier list if Flowers resides there.

One more for Dillon at titanium.
Just for giggles, would point out that Fritzie Zivic apparently hurt Jake badly in one of their fights. SRR did have him in a bad way at the end, too. You could make a case for iron, if you really wanted to...

But I don't really want to. Titanium it is.

 

Lloyd Marshall badly hurt him too iirc.

 

https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/Lloyd_Marshall_vs._Jake_LaMotta

"Marshall won seven rounds- "LaMotta was rocked on several occasions, Marshall never was bothered, save for fatigue in the very last seconds "

 

Fred Apostoli broke Freddie Steele's breast bone, stopping him and causing a injury from which Freddie never recovered. Steele was stopped in two of his remaining 5 fights.

Prior to those final 6 career fights, Steele, my pick for most underrated MW of all time, was never stopped in 133 x fights, going 120-2-11, so he was fighting to win, not just to go the distance.

Whilst at least half of those fights were contested at or around WW, Steele fought some very good MWs too, including Apostoli in their first fight, Ken Overlin (ok, not a big puncher, but a borderline MW ATG all the same), Gus Lesnevich, Gorilla Jones, Vince Dundee, Baby Joe Gans, Babe Risko x 2, Sweden Berglund, Frank Bettaglia and Paul Pirrone, some of whom could really hit.

I'm not sure to what extent his brilliant offense was his best defence or how frequently his chin was severely tested, so probably don't have enough certainty to guess his chin as titanium, but 133 x fights, including versus the above opposition at MW, without being stopped, means I can't guess it below iron.

 

I don't think a fixed fight vs Fox, absorbing an hellacious beating before being stopped on his feet vs SRR or a corner stoppage, aged 32 in his 103rd fight, against a 177lbs Nardico, is enough to downgrade LaMotta's titanium credentials based on available film and the incredible depth of his other opposition without being stopped.

Titaniumum for me, though perhaps surprisingly given his reputation, I could see a better argument for iron than the likes of Greb, Dillon and Hagler.

 

I think Lamotta is going to be Titanium for me. I do think he was better defensively than what he typically gets credit for but the guy certainly ate some shots from some deadly punchers.

 

Jaime Munguia at middleweight had a beard similar to his beard at 168.

 

Jake The Titanium snake.

 

I won't hold stoppage defeats to a 39lbs and 47lbs heavier Jefferies against Fitz's punch resistance at MW or his stoppages aged 42 and older.

I don't know what to make of his stoppage loss to Dooley in what Boxrec lists as only his 7th fight (though he'd probably had a few more) either. That leaves his sole stoppage loss to Jim Hall, who Fitz came out on top against in a 6 x fight series.

Balanced against fights against the likes of Jim Corbett, Tom Sharkey x 2 Joe Choyinski, Peter Maher, Gus Ruhlin, Philadelphia Jack O'brien and Dan Creedon, without stoppage, many of who had considerable weight advantages against him, I'll guess his chin at MW as iron.

 

I won't hold stoppage defeats as a boy of 17 and 18 against Walker.

A cut stoppage aside, Walker was next stopped 13-years later vs the 188lbs Max Schmeling, when his team pulled him out after taking a beating.

His only other 2 stoppages were in his final ten fights of a 160+ fight career aged 33 and 34, when he was clearly past his prime.

Walker was a pressure fighter, who overwhelmed, rather than outboxed, his opponents. By the nature of his style, he got hit.

He fought the 29lbs heavier Jack Sharkey, 28-29lbs heavier Jonny Risko x 2, 42lbs heavier Bearcat Wright, 27lbs heavier Paulino Uzcundun, 23lbs heavier King Levinsky and ATG LHW Tommy Loughran, as well as many other bigger men, all without being stopped.

Mike McTigue (x 2), Harry Greb, Tiger Flowers, Paul Berlenbach, Bob Godwin, and Lou Brouillard were all closer to Mickey's size, but each scored a fair few stoppages, whilst none could stop Walker.

I can see arguments for iron, but given the quality and size of competition Walker faced without being stopped, apart from once on cuts, in the 13 years before Schmeling, means his chin is titanium for me.