Oliver McCall, George Chuvalo, or Tex Cobb. My pick is McCall he walked around the ring with his hands down taking flush shots from Lennox Lewis nuff said in my opinion. Pick your poison and please explain why.
Lewis wasn't really laying into him when he was doing that..I think McCall has the better chin but not because of lewis..he was Tysons sparring p[artner for a reason,they used to go full force in sparring,you need a chin to do that with Tyson,Cobb or Chuvalo would not last long at all with that type of puncher.
Watch Seldon vs McCall at the end. Seldon had McCall on ***** street. It was a very good fight, but Seldon wasn't a big puncher. As such McCall's chin is over rated in the ring. Chavalo was out quickly vs Foreman and Frazier. Cobb? He suffered a 1st round KO loss, and gets over rated from the Holmes fight. Cobb vs Shavers sounds like it was a good one, but Shavers did not land any bombs to test Cobb.
Yeah sometimes these things get over stated a little bit a bit like urban myths or Chinese whispers a few people say it and then everyone else follows suit and then everyone just believes it as read - in the Lewis fight Lewis to his credit didn't really lay anything on him when he was going into melt down - wouldn't have been right really - but he obviously had a very good chin - earlier in the fight when he was fighting genuinely Lewis lashed him with some heavy leather and he was taking his lumps then bump I think he was also fairly good at taking the sting out of incoming bombs by turning with them at the last minute - not sure who I'd pick but Chuvalo definitely had no business eating the bone crushers that Foreman was smashing him with that was brutal some of those were really full on full blooded his head was shaking with every one plus he was poor at getting out the way he was just tensing up and just taking them which is incredible
Chuvalo. Given his level of competition, he should get the nod. Then McCall and then Cobb. It's all about the competition - if you fight in the best HW era of all time and don't get stopped while fighting all the top guys, I don't see how that shouldn't be determinative, all things being equal. Cobb not only fought in the weakest era, he was also the only one knocked out clean, so he should clearly rank last.
But the best two heavyweight punchers Chuvalo faced both stopped him within four rounds. Of this list, probably McCall.
I just want to say I picked McCall by a here, I know Lennox didn't tee off on him but he did hit him with some flush bombs that he didn't wince at.
Seldon had some pop when he wanted to. he changed his style a bit after the McCall loss and getting trounced by Bowe. Tucker's face was busted up and Joe Hipp's face turned into hamburger. Seldon had power. McCall Cobb Chuvalo Marion Wilson Tyson Ali Tua Mercer Holyfield Tucker Holmes Vitali Thomas Off the top of my head. Feel free to add some.
I did a whole thread about this not to long ago. Even if the muth exceeds reality, Anyone in the top few HW chins of all time by definition has an incredible beard, right? I consider the punchers & great KO artists a guy faces, + give an edge to a guy who could absob more than another given the SAME amount of punichment absorbed. In other words, pure taking punishment resilience is furst amongst equals. Means more than another who more successfully minimizes the force & location of blows. Chuvalo was down from a shot that likely should not have been ruled a slip. When I read about Marion Wilson & saw who he fought,without a Ko, i wondered if HE could be #1. But I defer to someone who knows him better. good list Sangria. Why do you not have Mercer even higher? Wli likely deserves around that rating. Though skill & will were even stronger than pure natural punch absorbancy for him. If the only knock on McCall, given all he fought to nearly 50, sparred absorbing the full ferocity of Tyson for a whie....Is seeing ready to go in a single fight. Especially given his drug history, he is very hard to beat.
Toss up 50-50, Chavulo, and Cobb, simply because they faced a lot heavier hitters, better competition of eras, Cobb also played football so that dudes marbles have been squashed quite a bitatsch Lots of other heavyweights have had awesome chins, Ali, Holmes, Tua, Marciano, too many others to mention..
You have some great posts SS 66, let me ask you about something... Cobb had less fights, & how was his era better than the later, '90's Mccall prime? Also he fought his best hitters well past their best, like Shavers. Chuvalo fought many folks, but the biggest hitters: Williams at the end of '71 was way past literally & figuratively shot. Frazier got a stoppage due to a serious injury early, so even if we do not count that against him we do not know que pasa in another case. He stood up to Foreman's bombs very well, though we do not know if he could if it was allowed to continue. Bonavena seems to have had him down but it was ruled a slip. I do not know that he fought better bombers than McCall.
