I gave a 10 and honestly nobody should go below a 9. 85 pro bouts, never stopped and only dropped once in career. To an all time great puncher. In a fight which he got up and won.
Tunney was a hell of a fighter with a great chin. As a LHW I’d rate him 10/10, as a HW maybe more like an 8/10 or at best a 9/10, which is still very good. I wouldn’t go full 10/10 (Ali- or Chuvalo-like). He wasn't that proven as a heavyweight with only about 10 bouts + dazed against Tommy Gibbons and the "long count" incident. Monte Cox has him 9/10 for durability in his heavyweight rating chart.
I'd give him a 10. Tunney never lost by stoppage and has faced great champions. The knockdown he suffered against Dempsey in their rematch was heavy, he took heavy blows from one of the strongest heavyweight boxers of all time but he managed to get back up and win the fight.
Dropped twice, the other guy was Leo Houck. How many punchers did he face? How many heavyweights? How many of those heavyweights were punchers? 68 pro bouts,aside from Dempsey the two biggest hitters he faced were probably Gibbons and Carpentier,and both were at the end of the line. Chin largely unproven,I give him a 7.
Was the Houck knockdown legit? I’ve rarely heard it mentioned. One paper did say Tunney took a knee but was it a slip was it brief what was the count on it? A 7 seems too low for my taste but your entitled to your opinion I was judging his chin on his entire career not solely as a heavyweight.
All very relevant points, however I was rewatching the Dempsey knockdown earlier today and was surprised at how well and quickly Gene recovered from such a vicious combo by arguably the hardest hitting 190 pound man in history. Jack had just taken Sharkey's head off with a short hook earlier that year so the fact that Tunney took multiple shots in succession and still got up and recovered almost immediately does show me something.
8 or 9. Its a good chin but he didn't fight the neccessary opponents to prove its one of the greatest chins. With ATG HWs no ones really got truly awful chin otherwise they wouldn't be ATG HWs.
I mean the Irish and French could count as black depending on what part of Europe and America you ask.
I agree. I’d also add that I’m pretty sure Dempsey would’ve finished the job if not for the long count. Even Tunney basically admitted as much — he said he was confident he’d have beaten the count, but without those extra seconds, he wasn’t sure he could’ve survived Dempsey’s follow-up. That’s essentially him admitting he wouldn’t have made it without saying it outright.
Oh, you guys have time for threads like this but not paying your respects to the recently departed Primo Carnera...?