Did Ali and Holmes have True Granite Chins

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Very very good chins, depends on what you class as granite, but that word is maybe a push too far for me. It will always take big punches from big punchers to fell them though, and both have recuperative powers of the highest order, and were warriors.

 

Both I've would say. Tyson, for example, might have had a better chin than both, but when he got hurt he stayed hurt, and that's a crucial difference.

The punches that landed on Ali was seldom as bad as they looked since he was really adept at rolling with them. Guys like Frazier and Tyson, that always came forward, had harder to this and therefore the punches had a greater effect on them.

 

The thing with Larry is not so much that he had a granite chin, though it was a good one, but that he had outstanding recuperative powers. I can't think of anyone apart from Ruddock since then that had that kind of get-up-from-a-scary-punch ability.

 

i totally agree with damon ... another fighter who seems to get up from shocking punches would be chris byrd

 

Got doubts?

Ali took the punches of Liston, Williams(?), Patterson, Bonavena, Frazier, Mac Foster, Bob Foster (I am including his name here since certain people - read Frazier 'unreasonables' - tout him big in their attempts to show that Frazier took on big punchers), Norton, Foreman, Lyle and Shavers. When a shaky old man, he went the full distance with Trevor Berbick and into the eleventh round with Larry Holmes. He had his jaw broken in the second round of the first Norton fight. He not only survived the full course of the fight but gave a very good account of himself through the remainder of the fight against an all-time top 25 fighter. He let the most powerful puncher of all time, who was then in his prime, hit him and punch himself out.

Holmes fought Shavers, Norton, Evangelista, Weaver, Witherspoon, Smith, Tyson, Holyfield, Mercer and McCall. He beat most of them and except for Tyson, who was in his absolute prime, lasted the full course with the others. Come to think of it, he was decisioned only by Holyfield (when aged 42) and McCall (when aged 45) out of the rest. He tended to go down sometimes, but always got back up to put on a hell of a show.

 

Both had great chins, but Ali had a better chin than Holmes.

Don't bring up the Banks and Cooper fights when Ali was 20-21 and 201 pounds.

Ali in his prime had a granite chin. Only Frazier in the 15th round dropped him.

I don't count that Wepner knockdown as a true knockdown as Chuck stepped on Ali's foot. Ali was never hurt v Wepner.

Holmes was dropped by total unknowns before he fought Shavers.

A shot Ali took Shavers right hand over and over and never went down.

A PEAK Holmes got dropped by Shavers with one shot.

A prime Holmes was dropped by Snipes with one shot.

Holmes looked more in trouble in those fights than Ali ever did.

When Ali was dropped he got up in a few seconds each time

 

And Holmes had those bad amatuer ko losses to Wells. That never happened to Ali & anyway you slice it, it's still a ko by result.

 

Joker , Holmes deserves the same early career understanding that you give Ali ... both had great chins and great recooperative powers ... maybe Ali is slightly higher, maybe just a touch ...

 

Ali took punches from Liston, Foreman and Shavers without going down. Liston, Foreman and Shavers is a very reasonable top-3 hardest heavyweight punchers of all time list.

 

Liston barely touched him and Foreman didn't really many clean blows. Shavers did in fact land his big punch and had Ali out on his feet but didn't press for the KO. Keep in mind Ali was dropped by Banks, Cooper, Frazier, Wepner.

Ali definently has a great chin and deserves to be somewhere in the top ten for that category, but it was his guts and skill as much as his chin that usually saved him. The same goes for Holmes, his toughness/recuperative abilities saved him more than his chin, although his chin also deserves to be in the top 10, 12.

 

You might be right. So who do you give the nod for the greatest chin? Chuvalo, Mercer, old Foreman, Tyson?

 

:rofl:rofl:rofl

But as for Ali, yes. He had a GREAT chin.

 

no iron not granite ask zakman they are different