How great would the following be with an iron chin?

They were big punches that brought Lewis down at any rate - more the problem was the fact that he allowed himself to be caught cold by said punches in the first place.

 

An iron chin is one thing but you’ve still got have the will and character to fight through punches that are still obviously going to hurt in some measure.

Louis might’ve ultimately knocked Max Baer clean out had the fight gone longer but Max obviously decided enough was enough and stayed down - no criticism of Baer, that’s just how it was.

For some, without the supplementary skill, having an iron chin can be a curse. Tex Cobb had an iron chin but he was still hurting pretty badly after copping a beating from Holmes over 15 rounds.

Amazing will and courage to keep coming out, knowing he what he was going to keep taking, round after round after round….

Ali had a great chin but not absolute iron like say a Chuvalo or Cobb.

Ali, later in his career, conditioned himself emotionally and physically take a lot of punishment - he also was born with and later developed further, great recuperative powers.

Bad policy as it was, Ali was a guy who became accustomed to and adept at still fighting even when he was almost literally out whilst still on his feet.

 

Roy Jones prime wouldn’t have gone much different considering he was hardly ever caught flush on his jawbone in his heyday.

But he most certainly would have had a more successful later career. He may well have been like 1970s Ali, especially if you throw in that great will to carry on and not give up despite the punishment he’s taking, to go along with that iron chin.

But as Puggyy touched on with some other fighters, that could have been more of a curse than a blessing because in Jones’ case like later Ali, his reflexes weren’t what they were, and he would most likely have been involved in some pretty brutal wars at an advanced age.