Sanders' feats of chin: Taking 3 rounds of sheer punishment against Vitali Klitschko, who we know was a damaging volume puncher, whilst gassed. Took HUGE punches off Rahman, who could BANG, before breaking. Nate Tubbs KO2 Whilst green. Rahman TKO7 Whilst prime. Vitali TKO8 Osborn Machimana KO1 Whilst shot or past prime. Weaver's: Howard Smith KO3 Billy Ryan TKO2 Larry Frazier KO2 Duane Bobick TKO7 Larry Holmes TKO11 Micheal Dokes TKO1 Pinklon Thomas TKO8 James Smith TKO1 All whilst prime... He did also go the distance with Dokes and Smith in rematches however, as well as going 10 with Rudduck. Johnny Du Plooy KO2 Lennox Lewis KO6 Larry Holmes TKO6 All whilst past prime to completely shot
I don’t think Weaver was prime anymore by the time of the first Dokes meeting. He had been off for most of the previous two years nursing injuries and was now in his thirties. After both Dokes meetings he never did much of significance again accept beat Carl Williams who was overly prone to getting hurt with left hooks
You've missed some of (or at least one and probably the best) Weaver's notable feats of chin by not mentioning wins. His chin was excellent against Gerrie Coetzee as he shook off numerous right hand bombs on his way to a KO. Even against John Tate, a decent if not great puncher Weaver shook off plenty. Weaver didn't take boxing seriously early on and didn't barely train until Ken Norton gave him some motivation. The early career stoppages all came prior to him upping his mentality, fitness and dedication. He hit the gym about once a week and if he ran he didn't train and vice versa. He changed all this around 1976 and Weaver showed a decent chin from then on until Pinklon Thomas. The thing we have to take into account later is this - how much did the Tony Anthony dog shot affect Weaver? Weaver was dropped heavily at the end of the first round while walking back to his corner. Maybe it affected him maybe it didn't but it's certainly there. Weaver's next fight was for the title against Pink Thomas and i thought it was clear he'd become pretty fragile. Even Carl Williams shook him early in his next bout. i'm not saying Weaver has more than Sanders but just throwing out a bit of info on Weaver.
I am a big Weaver fan, but don't care for Sanders much, so that kind of clouds my judgment, but I think both had fair chins, but they certainly weren't amazing. I am tempted to lean toward Weaver tho. Nice pro Sanders list Crowcroft. I noticed you didn't mention that Weaver got of the floor against Mercado, a big puncher, to win by knockout. Of course, Tate and Coetzee hit on him round after round, and barely moved him. Weaver and Dokes II saw a lot of tough rounds, and Weaver fought with a headbutt late in the fight. Weaver also gave a good account of himself vs. Pinklon Thomas. He was floored in Round 1, cut on one eye in Round 2, and thumbed in the other. He came back to outjab the jabber and slug with Thomas toe-to-toe, it was no disgrace for him to lose in the eighth. Weaver also took many unanswered punches from Truth in round 2 before lashing out with that WICKED left. I must concede tho, that I would not really have a favorite in this fight.
Mike Weaver has the better chin here, he fought a prime Larry Holmes and withstood bombs by Gerrie Coetzee, before kayoing him in round 13, on Oct 25 1980, in a WBA Title defense. He also withstood a boxing lesson from defending WBA Champion, Big John Tate, kayoing John in round 15, to win the title.
