The chin and defensive skills of Joe Louis

Joe is probably my favorite heavyweight but I couldn't put his chin over maybe a 7.

 

Damn, am I your nemesis now?

I am flattered!

 

Bear in mind that 10 would presumably span everything from the worst chin in history to the best.

 

I'm a huge fan of Joe Louis and consider him #2 all time and one of the top three offensive heavyweights in boxing history. That having said, neither his chin nor defensive abilities rank very highly. Joe could be hit, as seen in his fights against Galento, Baer, Schmeling, etc. and could be hurt, even by fairly weak punchers like natural light heavyweight Billy Conn.

Defensively and chin-wise I'd give him a 6.5 and a 6 respectively.

 

Wouldn't 10 span from the very best to, well, the very very best?

 

I agree with you.
I've said often on this site Joe Louis is the greatest offensive heavyweight in history.
No heavyweight in history had the complete Arsenal Louis had of speed, power, technique, instinct, unpredictability, combination punching, countering speed.
Louis was at the very top if not the best at all levels of the offensive side of heavyweight boxing.
But those offensive skills hid some weaknesses. And there's no denying them because they're on film.
Theirs no rational way to deny how badly Louis was hurt by B.Conn a Lt.heavy, who would be considered a super middle in today's game, , yet he had Louis all but out on his feet, and reeling. Theirs no way to deny Louis had serious defensive issues, when watching him fight T.Galento who telegraphed almost every punch he used.
Yes Louis almost killed Galento, but Galento did put him on his ass twice. With punches he should've seen coming.
I love Louis. His offensive prowess alone would carry him over most heavyweights in history.
But he had defensive weaknesses. and a less than stellar ability to take punches.
Those weaknesses would be exploited by the very best heavyweights in history.

 

Ranking Joe Louis's Defense & Chin:
Chin - 6/10
Defense - 7/10

*Edit*
Chin - 7/10 (after consideration & re-examination)

 

This forum sinks lower every time Joe Louis’s name is brought up. Champion for the longest when it actually mattered.
JL the only HW whose skill set could’ve transferred to any weight...When he was floored against contenders in his day he lost seconds not minutes of a fight… what happened when he got up? How long was he a pro when he lost to Schemling? How long was he a pro when he started to slip? His chin was fine and I ask who at his weight had a better defence then Joe Louis ??? FFS. Joe was virtually the best boxer to ever live, in a fair match at his best he could’ve possibly beaten every single boxer to have ever been born.

 

I won’t deny those guys proved they can be hit harder - I said his chin was fine. I don’t do this stat baloney - your second paragraph? I don’t have the time to get into a debate piece by piece breaking down each guy which is the norm here but it’s wrong - simply. The only guy up for debate there is a former 160lber.

 

I didn't really think so.

Then up to the scratch line we come!

 

Joe had the best trainers & maybe the best the sport has seen. That factor alone helps a ton in pre-fight preperations. Very few of the greats did not benefit from top notch corners.

Sure would have liked to have seen Sonny Liston with an A#1 corner.