In his prime? The only people I've ever seen take Lennox's overhand, downward right is Tua and McCall. Is prime Mercer's chin beyond either one of theirs?
Considering he took several of Lewis's overhand rights, along with all his right uppercuts and left hooks too...I'd certainly say it was right up there with those guys. I think it's the 9th round, where Lewis just throws a total Rahman-crusher of a right hand. Whizzzz-splat! The sweat blasts off Ray's head, he barely budges, and he just continues coming forward.
His chin was as good as any. I'm currently compiling a video of Lewis' best landed punches and despite his fight with Mercer being close, he hit Mercer more and harder than basically any other opponent he fought. Even at age of 40 he was floored only once by Wladimir Klitschko which was more a butchery than a fight. The TKO loss against Briggs was a quit job after being repeatedly punched behind the head.
He took the very best that Lewis, Morrison, Witherspoon, and Cooper had to offer. I'd say that speaks for itself....
I remember him being cut and shaken up by Brian Scott around...2000 or so, I think. That's when I first started to worry that his durability was starting to slip.
Mercer's chin was bona fida granite. The fight that convinced me of this was the Morrison fight, where for the first three rounds Mercer absorbed Tommy's best power shots without budging. I think his chin ranks right up there with the best of them.
mercer is mean as a rattle snake .. i dont think his chin was as good as his will to be merciless .. lol .. guy was ****in insane with his chin lol .. in all honesty...if someone busted him in the face with a baseball bat it would not suprise me at all if he ****ed them up without budgeing
Mercer's chin was excellent for 12 years, but it is not an absolute bona-fide concrete chin because it did not last the whole of his career. The likes of Chuvalo and McCullough were damaged goods by the end of their career, but despite this, you still could not take them off their feet...Mercer cannot say that.
Chuvalo was only 32 years old when he got knocked out by Foreman. Several clean punches were enough to have him pretty much senseless even though he stayed on his feet.
Chuvalo never faced the row of punchers Mercer faced, or otherwise he'd have several more stoppage losses.
Mercer had an all time chin for sure. He took some early bombs from Morrison, and solid shots from Lewis. In the Wlad fight, he was hit with many hard shots including an early hook that turned his body sideways with outgoing down! After the fight Wlad said Mercer had the best chin of anyone he’s been in there with. The trouble with Mercer is I felt he took a break in his knockdown vs Holyfield, and had some " off " efforts in other fights. If Mercer’s will to win was a bit better, perhaps he could have achieved greater acclaim. He had the jab, the chin, a nice over hand right, and great finishing ability when his man was hurt.
Well, that was always Mercer's biggest problem. He could be very lacklustre in training sometimes and inconsistant in his performances. Sometimes he really didn't use his brains too well in there. Compare his fights against Morrison, Holyfield and Lewis to his efforts against Ferguson and Wilson, or the way he got totally befuddled by Holmes.