Chin Degradation?!

its not their chin that goes, its their ability to dig in and REFUSE to accept pain or go down.. look at holyfield. He was dropped by a james toney combo that he wouldnt have even felt in his heyday..

 

I agree but I also believe it IS somewhat your chin that does go. Neck muscles and such help you take a punch and when you lose some of that muscle is can cause problems. Not to mention fighters roll with punches and as they get older their reaction times decreases and are unable to roll with the punches fast enough.

 

Fighters' abilities to recover from being hit, to take a punch and remain upright, like many aspects of our bodies, simply declines with age. Part of it undoubtedly has to do with getting hit more because of declining reflexes, but punch resistance itself also seems to decline, sometimes dramatically, in many fighters.

A prime Ray Mercer, for example, was only dropped once in the heart of his career, and yet, when he was 40 and taking on Wlad Klitschko, he got KOd. That would never have happened when Ray was at his best.

 

There old proverb goes something along the lines of "hit even the largest rock enough times, and it will break." It's accumulation.

Using Ray Mercer as an example again, he's taken many murderous shots in his career and he's worn down. Even in the less celebrated fights like against Cooper or Damiani, Ray always led with his head and soaked up tons of abuse.

More remarkable to me are the guys like McCall who still haven't been down.
I have to think even in Ollie's case, surely, one of these days it'll be one fight too many and even he will go down.

 

foreman's jaw seemed to get better though. or was it because he was getting so big and mighty that no one wanted to touch the legend foreman?

 

I think also, it is important to note that the tem "chin" doesn't actually just refer to a fighters chin (the bit under his lips)

Chin is a word used in reference to the fighter being able to take a shot without his reflexes/conscience being scrambled.

I personally think it has to do with physiological make up much more than anything psychological. true, it takes heart to get back up and take more of a beating but I think it is all to do with how a fighters brain/body/skull/nervous system is set up in the first place that determines whether an impact to the skull causes them to lose, or at least scramble, their consciousness.

 

Yeah, some elements are just down to good genetics. Being fortunate enough to be blessed with a rugged nervous system like that is just as much a natural asset as a long reach or big punch.

Well...George was a lot heavier and thick-set in his 'second career'.
That extra mass and lower centre of gravity made him more solid. He also worked a lot at his defence, becoming more of a defensive counter-puncher.

I did wonder why more guys didn't try whacking George to the body a few times, though. Off the top of my head only Holyfield and Briggs did, and both managed to visably hurt him doing so.

 

The old time fighters had monster chins and set a outrageous record for the present guys.The old time fighters were tough than most of the ones now

 

I think of Ray Mercer, getting KO'd by Shannon Briggs, as a person gets older they're just more susceptible to getting KO'd, a short circuit may occur sometimes in te brain.

 

Careful matchmaking had something to do with that. :yep

 

:good

Spot on Zak, they say the last thing to go in a fighter is the punch.... I would say the first thing that goes it the reflexes.... Shorty followed by the chin, but definitely depends on the fighter though, and what they have been through.

 

Have to agree with Lennox's *****, here. Foreman is a horrible example and was carefully placed during his second career.

 

How is fighting a Prime Holyfield careful matchmaking?

 

:good

Michael Moorer, Tommy Morrison and Holyfield?