chuvalo explains how he took a punch well

Chris, I think it's for the same reason LaMotta also enjoys good health at an advanced age. Both George and Jake have protested that they were far better defensive fighters than they're generally given credit for, utilizing subtle head movements, deflections and blocks to redirect and diminish the impact of their opponent's shots. Chuvalo was stunned by the first big hook Foreman nailed him with, but he retreated and largely diffused the follow up attack. (I agree with him that the match with Foreman should not have been stopped, but he was betrayed by the ringside histrionics of his wife and consequent overreaction of chief second Irving Ungermann.) LaMotta and Chuvalo did take a lot of shots that were scoring blows, but far fewer of these were as solid as is generally depicted. What Chuvalo describes in the way of attributes both physical and in terms of skill is similar to what can be applied to LaMotta.

As you know, I'm not too thrilled with the notion of young children with developing brains, growing skeletons and evolving coordination getting punched in the head. Chuvalo and LaMotta, on the other hand, made a relatively mature choice to get into boxing. It seems that starting out with greater physical maturity, strength and coordination tends to result in fewer incidences of compromised brain function later in life.

He's always been an intelligent man who made intelligent and mature decisions in his boxing career, and always had the capacity to exercise good judgment. This is in bitter contrast to Jerry Quarry and Wilfredo Benitez, who were pushed into the sport at a far too early age, and were never afforded the option of making any such decisions for themselves until the damage was already done. (I think Jerry certainly had the intrinsic intelligence to obtain an advanced education, but he probably sustained irreversible brain damage at a far earlier age than is commonly supposed.)

 

Bonavena cleanly dropped Chuvalo at least once (and twice IMO). The only two calls Ive ever seen Mercante blow. I really dont get this whole mythos around Chuvalo. He lost to the best fighters he faced (barring Quarry who was kicking his ass until that bizarre stoppage). You wanna know how he was able to take such big punches? Its the same way Tua was able to take huge punches. He essentially stopped trying to win and simply plodded forward giving the impression of aggression while not really trying to win. I feel bad for Chuvalo on a personal level but as a fighter he was pretty limited, one dimensional, and very beatable. When Buster Mathis and Jimmy Ellis can put a dominant beating on you well, that pretty much says it all.

 

I don't agree with your first part. Bonavena clearly pushed Chuvalo.

I don't completely agree that Chuvalo gave hope but I do have this sentiment lurking in the back of my head too. I feel he's not an overly aggressive fighter sometimes and by playing it safe it looks that he takes punches better. In essence, he's still arguably the Top 3 elite class in terms of chin, but I rarely seen him get hit with a shot he wasn't prepared for. Maybe this allusion is created because he's a slow plodder.

LaMotta took more chances to me it seemed so his chin seems better to me. Barely, though.

 

I've heard you talk about this hypothesis before, and there might be some truth to it. In a psychology class i've taken, there was a hypothesis that stated an adolescent is so emotionally instabile/wild because the brain is in the final stage of developing. However, i think there are several hypotheses on the cause of adolescent behavior and that is just one of them.


It may be due to another reason, much more simpler reason, though: if you start boxing at 18 instead of at 8 years old, you also take 10 years punishment less. Regardless of a developing brain, that's gotta count for something.


I also think one very under-estimated factor is the amount and intensity of sparring. Ali often allowed himself to get beaten up during sparring/exhibitions and i think that's one of the reasons for his physical deterioration. Jermain Taylor was often in ring wars and it showed way too quickly -(). At the same time, i'll bet you that a guy like Wladimir will still be in good health in his 50's. Jack Johnson never took a punch he didn't have to, and as far as i know, he was in excellent condition until he met his demise.

 

[DM]xcka4q_chuvalo-lamotta_sport[/DM]

 

Great little video, amazing how he's still in great health. All credit to the man

 

I don't think Chuvalo avoided taking punishment, he was just rather slow and plodding. I believe he did a lot of weight-lifting, which may have taken away from his speed, and he wasn't naturally talented anyway.

He's not exactly rolling with the punches here, it's just a display of his granite-like chin:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXuJERuAB1M[/ame]


His defense was better here but he still took awesome punishment, to seemingly no effect:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HC5sK-UCgY[/ame]


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0TaVoNEOzc[/ame]