At least an 8. He had a very, very good chin. He took monstrous shots from MOrrison that would have layed out most other heavyweights, but he was rocked and badly shaken up by HOlyfield in '91, at a time when HOlyfield was not really the puncher that he would become later on in his career. So, there are pluses and minuses to rating Big George's chin. He took some bombs from Frazier with no effect, yet he was dropped and nearly stopped by Lyle......No matter, Foreman had a very good chin overall.
I'm not sure if I'd bring up the Holyfield fight in this case. To me it seemed that no matter what Holyfield would throw at him, Foreman would keep coming forward. The only time he was even moved by Holyfield was when he was hit by an elbow. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz-LuXmm0us
Rewatch the 3rd round, where George was badly stung by a single left hook and then walloped by a series of shots by Holyfield that had Foreman stumbling and teetering at the bell. Rewatch the 9th round, where one single right cross from Holyfield literally froze George and caused him to drop his hands. He was badly hurt and Holyfield was on top of him when the bell rang.
The third round in my opinion shows what a chin he had: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_d7dXVBJpM 4:05 He was hurt the most in the 9th round after getting caught with a punch he didn't see coming but again stayed up after absorbing undefended punches: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG4Vaw_w8bc 8:15 Holyfield wasn't a big puncher but in my opinion his power was a little underrated. I've never seen anyone else take that kind of punishment from Holyfield without being stopped or knocked down. He did knock down Bowe, Tyson and Mercer after all.
Yeah, Foreman had a very good chin, and he showed it against Holyfield and others. I think HOlyfield's power improved as he got older; he lost some of his speed and explosiveness, but he gained punching power. The Holyfield who blasted Cooper with a million punches didn't hit as hard as the Holyfield who fought Bowe or Mercer, in my opinion. But Holyfield had very respectable pop in his hands, I agree.
Holyfield was an efective puncher. Whether it was power or technique he could hurt some much bigger guys.
10.... Nuff said..... SR.BILL P.S. Forget the "Ali, Lyle & Young" fights......................... Foreman was stopped by Ali outta exhaustion.............. Lyle dropped Foreman with brute power; Foreman got up........ And, again, Foreman was tired and drained by the humidity against Jim Young over in Rico in '77.............. Yes... Okay... Foreman was wobbled / rocked by dudes like "Cooney & Holy," but Foreman never went down there............ Foreman's chin is TOP-NOTCH!! SR.BILLARDO
When I think of a guy who has a "10" chin, I think of guys like Tex Cobb and George Chuvalo...I'm not sure if Foreman had a chin like those guys. I mean, Tex Cobb took several flush shots from Earnie Shavers - you don't get much tougher than that.
Cobb was KO'd in 1 round at the end of his career. Foreman fought till he was 48. He was dropped in round 12 v Young in 1977. NEVER DROPPED AGAIN OR STOPPED.
But Cobb did have a granite chin, there is no doubts about that. He was just shot to pieces at the end.