Of the men general considered the Top Ten HW of all time

Great question. If Mike Tyson came to the fight in shape he would never get hit that much, but for this thread's sake I think Tyson, Holyfield, Marciano, Liston, Holmes, Foreman and Vitali have the best chins of the fighters you listed.

Tyson fought a few matches where he got hit by powerful shots for most of the fight. Douglas, Ruddock and Holyfield were the fights he got tagged often, and both fights with the most powerful of the bunch in Ruddock he survived.

Holyfield was tagged often in the first Bowe match where the pacing and work rate were on par with FOTC. My guess is he could survive Frazier's bombs for 15 but might not. Bowe probably hits harder than Frazier, though.

Holmes was in a few fire fights that suggests he might be able to survive.

Foreman, mmmmight survive.

Vitali I'm not so sure of.

 

All, none, or some.

 

Quite possibly none.

Holyfield maybe.

It’s more a question of whether they could get Frazier before he got them.

 

You feel Holyfield's chin and recuperative skills are the best of the lot?

 

I lean that way, yes.

You take the people he got hit by, then the fact that he kept his durability while well past his best.

 

CHIN is really not the issue. What fighters could take those punches and still fight to win. Not many and certainly NOT Tyson.

 

Why not Tyson? Out of all the guys listed, why name him? His chin is certainly top tier and one of the most battle tested in the division. In my opinion the best chin in the lot is between him and Holyfield. Foreman and Vitali are up there too. So are Holmes and Marciano. Liston maybe.

Tyson showed his chin in both Ruddock fights and was never floored by single bombs. Holyfield took a hellacious beating from Bowe and kept on coming. He also shook off shots from Foreman and Lennox.

 

I remember making a thread a while back comparing the chins of Holyfield and Tyson. One poster responded by saying Tyson had the better chin but Holyfield recuperated faster. Both men were battle tested by the division's power giants.

It would be fun examining the times they got hurt, from which fighter and at what stage of their careers. Bonecrusher, Thomas, Tucker, Bruno, Ruddock, Alex Stewart, Bert Cooper, Foreman, Bowe, Moorer, Lewis...these guys can blast!

 

On the FOTC nite...Frazier was at his best, and Ali, for that fight, the perfect target (tall, and not moving much, plus venerable to the left hook).

Some of the fighters on the List might have capitalized on Frazier's hook...which changes how hard Frazier might have been winging.

 

Tysons chin was granite. People fail to realise he often got stopped due to exhaustion rather than an inability to take the punishment. His ability to take punches and keep coming forward is absolutely ridiculous. You really need to give the man a severe beating in order to stop him, I really don't see a lot of names in that list to take punishment the way Tyson did and just keep coming forward. His chin is solid

 

What some of you are not understanding is, chin itself is not the only factor when assessing a situation like this. Endurance, defense, etc. All of these would be factors. But to answer the question, I feel only Joe Louis, 60s Ali, and Sonny Liston could've beaten this version of Frazier. The man was just a human tank that night.

 

I think Frazier's chin would fail long before Tyson's. It's not a one way street.

 

Never floored by single shots? I suggest you go watch the Lewis fight again....

 

Yes the good old exhaustion excuse....