Why is Roy Jones Jr chin considered so terrible?

Even when a fighter is past their prime, they will usually retain some of their punch resistance, or at least it won't fall off dramatically.

We must also consider that a major factor in fighters losing their punch resistance is cumulative trauma.

Was Jones really in that many wars?

I am inclined to think that Jones's chin was never the best.

 

It does matter. Bobby Chacon in his prime could take on a baseball bat and be ok.
As he faded his ability to take punches deteriorated just like everything else.
When I myself used to box I had a very good chin and could take a very good punch.
Twenty years latter I'm just sparring to stay in shape and almost every single punch that was landed on me hurt because I had lost my ability to absorb punishment.
These posts where people think boxers can absorb the same kind of punishment at 35 years old that they did when they were 23 are just insane.
Ray Leonard got hurt by CAMACHO of all people and it wasn't because he had a "bad" chin it was because his body had deteriorated through age.
Also besides age your body will basically tell you hey that's enough I can't do it anymore if you take too much punishment that is why often times you will see young boxers all the sudden not be able to take shots they once did. And once it goes it is gone.

 

Are you including all the thousands of rounds Jones sparred throughout his career as part of that ?
Because honestly most of the damage done to boxers is actually in the GYM where they are sparring hundreds of rounds absorbing punches.
Imagine yourself as a boxer getting ready and you are a member of the KRONK boxing gym and you are getting ready for a fight. Imagine all the world class boxers you are sparring countless times AND taking punishment from.

 

You make a valid point there.

However there are many other fighters from that era and before, who did a lot of heavy sparring.

 

And if they chose to fight on what happened? Fighters they once would have crushed ended up not only beating them but stopping them.
Matthew Saad Muhammad had a very good chin and even better recovery abilities.
Yet when he was past his best he's getting knocked out by run of the mill boxers so if your chin remains the same throughout your life why is he getting all the sudden stopped?
Does Chavez have a bad chin because he got stopped late in his career? I mean WILLIE WISE was rocking him and Wise couldn't break an egg.
Or was it a long punishing career along with being older that played a huge part in that?
If someone walked up to a 65 year old Dempsey and punched him in the face does Dempsey take it like he did when he was a twenty year old? Because after all Dempsey was known as having a great chin so shouldn't he still have a great chin?
Was William Joppy a power puncher like a Julian Jackson because after all he did stop ROBERTO DURAN? Or was it a case of Duran being old and shot to pieces as being the reason why?
You reach your peak bone mass at around 30 years of age. After that you start LOSING bone desinty as the years go by.

 

I believe his chin was never great but he was so amazing for so long he rarely go hit .. that said all the steroid usage and moving up to heavyweight and moving back down did something to him for sure. He did seem to deteriorate dramatically from Ruiz to Tarver and then again from Tarver to Tarver and insane from Tarver to JOnsson where he went down like John Tate vs Berbick.

 

It's a doozey

 

The question of Jones’ chin makes for interesting debate.

My current view is that Roy didn’t have his chin as severely tested in his prime as he did when his skill set began to erode. It seems there wasn’t much direct wear tear exacted on his whiskers.

On the other hand, it’s not impossible that his resilience might have simply eroded as at the age of his first KO loss and of course at the older ages he was for subsequent KO losses.

I think part of the perception of a glass chin is not just that Jones eventually fell but how quickly and how hard he fell when he was more easily tagged - there was very much an eerie, total short circuit, John Tate like vibe to several of his KO losses. Absolute lights out.

It seems forgotten that Ruiz notably rocked Jones in the first round of their fight.

Sure. Ruiz was 220 lbs but the few punches that did wobble Roy were clubbing type punches, not so remarkable.

Sure, old Leonard fell to Camacho but that also occurred after yet another protracted break from boxing.

Prior to, Ray had already been dropped by the likes of Lalonde, Hearns and Norris - fights that he still saw through. Ray’s chin didn’t just go bust overnight - a gradual erosion was apparent, not least exacerbated by Ray’s periodic inactivity and his life style behind the scenes also.

 

The Griffin rematch is one of my favourite Jones’ fights for the reasons you outlined.

Roy fought without reserve or any concern re return fire, gunning for the KO from first bell - and if he was going to secure the KO - it was always going to be via the left hand which he launched almost exclusively.

A real feather in his cap, imo.

 

I see your point. If it's a slip of the back foot it's not that bad. If it's his back foot kicking out as a bad neurological reaction, it's bad.

I lean towards it's the neurological reaction still, after watching it back. I don't think it's a slip.

I see your argument though. I suppose everyone has to come to their own conclusion on it.

 

But even if his back foot did kick out, it was still a slip. It’s very easy to see. Like I said, look at the overhead camera angle. It slips very fast underneath him.

 

It's not the end of the world if he was hurt. Snipes had Holmes fall face first into the turnbuckle when he rose. Monzon was knocked silly by Briscoe. Toney was hurt bad by Johnson. McCallum was almost dropped by Curry. There's hundreds of examples. All these guys had excellent chins. They all came back to win. Being dropped and coming back to win isn't a bad thing. Many people didn't.

 

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Sure, the moment he got hit more, we could see what his chin was made of. For me this clear, but some here like to make excuses with some weird comparisons.

 

As much as I dislike Leonard, he had a helluva chin in his prime.

 

Definitely a terrific beard and all round great durability.

Similar to the new found respect afforded to Ali after the brutal FOTC, I think Leonard’s stocks in terms of demonstrated durability rose dramatically after he went hammer and tong against Duran over 15 rounds in The Brawl In Montreal.