The myth of David Haye's chin

I keep reading posters criticize his chin, yet I really don't think it's that bad. There are some alarming things, sure, but let's take a look at them.





- One thing his detractors love to say, is he was hurt by a super middleweight. The first thing I would reply with, is that was a pretty much perfect punch that Haye didn't see. Nevertheless, he got up and won the fight in four rounds. The key point though, is that Mock was a super middleweight but we can assume like most modern fighters, he rehydrates around 10-15 lbs? If that's true, Mock on fight night would be around, what, 180/185, considering the fight took place at a cruiser limit?

A further point would be, that the fight was over 7 years ago. A lot can change in between then and now. Haye was 23 and is now 30 years old, a fully grown man, which he wasn't at the time.

Looking at the ages of these fighters, the weights and al that, it reminds me of fight. Henry Cooper in 1963 weighed only 185lbs on fight night, which, we can assume, is around the same weight, give or take a few pounds, that Mock weighed when he knocked Haye down. Ali was 207 pounds which, we can also assume, would have been around Haye's weight at the time as this was before he struggled to make the cruiserweight limit.

I mentioned the 7 year gap and that's huge for a fighter, mentally and physically. In those 7 years after the Cooper fighter, Ali's chin undoubtedly changed. By that point later in his career, he had a granite chin and would go to war with the hard hitting, knockout artist Joe Frazier, lasting all 15 rounds.

I know haters will jump to the conclusion I am comparing the chins of these two, so before you all hurt your fingers by banging out "ALI IS WAY BETTER THAN HAYE, IDIOT!", just think about it. Is there a genuine comparison? Yes.

The scenarios are very similar between that fight and now.





- Another fight which is frequently mentioned is the Mormeck bout. We all know Haye was hurt in this fight and the reason why is almost certainly the fact he was severely weight drained. If you don't believe weight draining to the extent of what Haye was doing, which was upwards of 25lbs, then look at how it affected different fighters. Miguel Cotto would later go to war with Margarito, Mosley and Judah , yet when he was being knocked down frequently at 140lbs, there were suspicions that he had a poor chin. At 147lbs and upwards, he's shown a good chin despite occasionally being knocked down. Apart from Cotto, how about Diego Corrales? We know for the fight against Mayweather, he didn't train properly and because of other distractions in his life, was draining himself far too much. even though Mayweather was a decent puncher at the lower weights, Corrales was knocked down several times and showed a poor chin. later in his career, he would get knocked down, but he also proved that when he was badly weight drained, it completely affected his punch resistance. There are other fighters such as Nigel Benn and probably even Allan Green most recently. There is absolutely no question that when a fighters has to drain 20lbs or more, it hurts their punch resistance. There's a scientific reason why, if you wanted any more proof, and it's because the body can't restore enough protective fluid into the skull when severe draining has taken place.





- The other fight which should be mentioned is the Barrett bout. Haye went down, which was not a knockdown, and when he was down, he took a massive punch. For whatever reason, his detractors like to use this as a reason why he doesn't have a good chin, yet we know that in the history of boxing, fighters who have been hit clean when they are down, have often been knocked out. Whether you believe him or not is up for debate, but Dirrell was knocked out and the reason many people believe it, is because it has happened so frequently in the past. Thing of cases such as Montell Griffin being knocked out by Roy Jones. There are many examples here but we know that it happens. Haye wasn't knocked out and, honestly, I don't even think he looked hurt. He just composed himself, took 30 seconds or so and carried on with the fight. The idea that the Barrett bout supposedly proves he has a bad chin is ridiculous. The fact he took a clean power punch when he wasn't expecting it and wasn't badly hurt, is proof he has a good chin, if anything.



I don't think Haye's chin is granite or anything. However, there are genuine questions to be asked. It's certainly not a absolute fact that he has a poor chin. He has been hurt, yes, but there are a lot of "buts" you can follow those doubts up with.