The Greatest Chin of All Time

Monzon was down four times over the course of his career. Great chin though, obviously. Just not a inhuman one.

Cobb was hit so hard by Shaver's that he was literally having his entire body spun like a top.

His chin seemed to give way due to drugs.

 

Duilio Loi didn't quite have the defensive skills of Graham, held various championships for most of his career which required him to defend against top contenders at the national, continental or world class level, yet was never dropped, the only world champion with over 100 wins to hold that distinction.

Even as a light heavyweight, Hearns had very respectable power. But when Tommy nailed Hagler with his Sunday Punch, it was his right fist which cracked.

Toney is getting an awful lot of credit for the lack of self discipline which caused him to continually move up in weight, while Hagler is penalized for the dedication which kept him fit and trim. Hagler may very well have proved to have a better chin than Toney if he had let himself balloon into the heavyweight division, then again, maybe not. But it's very presumptuous to assume either way without proof to the contrary.

Gene Fullmer gets left off these lists because of the way he lost to Robinson, but Sugar Ray may have simply caught lightning in a bottle, as he was never able to replicate that in 30 more rounds of action against Cyclone Gene.

While Chuvalo is a popular choice, he himself has protested that he also possessed a modicum of defensive skill, as has LaMotta. But the referee may have saved Jake from hitting the deck by stopping that final match with Robby, while Chuvalo definitely had his bell rung by Foreman. He has also candidly admitted to having his knees buckled by a DeJohn uppercut which he credits as being the hardest punch he was ever hit with.

Jerry Quarry is an interesting case. Ali had him helpless in their rematch, nearly flooring him with a jab at one point, yet he didn't even know Shavers had hit him until viewing the footage the day after. Lyle never hurt him, and he stood up to some massive bombs from Mac Foster, the last one a lethal right hand from Mac which actually triggered Jerry's fight winning counterattack.

Going into that bout, Mac had a reputation as a deadly left hooker, but he displayed a heavy jab against Jerry early, to go along with that vicious right. The Bellflower Belter dominated Spencer from start to finish, but had to come from behind to overtake a surprisingly impressive start by Mac. (Mac's jab did not look good in sparring for that showdown, but he surprised everybody with it once the bell rang, making it that much more challenging for Jerry to deal with that ten inch reach advantage Mac had.) A truly sensational win for Jerry, which everybody can now enjoy on youtube.

So far as I can determine, Tony Galento is the only heavyweight to get through his first 100 fights without hitting the deck, and he did it in an era of six ounce gloves. When Louis finally scored the only knockdown that would ever be recorded on Two-Ton, he got up to return the favor, the only time anybody came off the deck to floor Louis. (That's what really sets Galento apart from LaMotta against Nardico in my book.)

Cleroux's trilogy with Chuvalo must have been tremendously entertaining, and it's a shame he got upset by Joiner. It would have been interesting to discover how Cleroux would have stood up to the likes of Foreman and Frazier. Could he have lasted where Chuvalo didn't?

Harry Greb might deserve a mention. The only time he was stopped after his career got going, it was due to a broken arm, not something he got hit by. Also, he usually went the distance, like Loi, Graham, and Jack Britton, giving opponents more opportunities to land a haymaker.

LaPorte's chin has not been overlooked in the past on this forum. Azumah Nelson, JCC, Rocky Lockridge, Pedroza, Sanchez, Billy Costello, Tszyu, Molina, McGuigan and Wilfredo Gomez all failed to dent his chin.

Tiger Williams also deserves a mention. For most of the first nine rounds, he stood up to a continual barrage of monstrous bombs from Shavers without wilting, and nearly took Earnie out at the start of the final round before an exhausted Shavers mounted one more rally to end it. Nobody else ever managed to absorb so many of Earnie's bombs before falling, not Ali, Cobb or anyone. Shavers did not cautiously conserve his energy against Williams, nor did he punch himself out as he normally would, being in perhaps the best trained condition of his life. Tiger Williams was on the receiving end of the longest sustained bombardment of Earnie's career in this one, yet only succumbed when he left himself open while moving in for the kill.

 

Wasn't Greb stopped extremely early in his career, KO wise?

Almost positive he was.

 

I get your point, but don't 100% agree. Take a guy with bugger all defense that fights top level and elite fighters and punchers thru his career. He gets dropped here and there but never stopped, heck he might even get stopped once or so. This guy, fighter A, is taking OODLES more hammers than fighter B who takes a big shot here and there but is never thrashed around and also never dropped. Fight B you automatically rate the highest yet he has never taken anything even remotely like fighter A.

I think Chuvalo was stopped but never dropped. He was still stopped tho. Pryor at his peak was sometimes dropped totally due to balance and wildness, albeit legitimately....etc. I'm not convinced it is this cut and dried.

 

I think it applies most of the time. Not every time, of course.

Just the majority of the time.

 

george chuvalo was never off his feet as an amature,in sparring or in 97 pro fights.who else can boast that record?,the man had the best chin far as i'm concerned and i've seen them all from 1958 until now.he claims the 3 hardest punchers he ever faced were george foreman,mel turnbow and mike dejohn

 

Marciano...Hagler...& LaMotta...

 

marciano was floored twice.

 

Little doubt he's in contention. I think we have to split hairs and seperate chin and vulnerability to being stopped. Chuvalo was more vulnerable than Ali to being stopped IMO - but it's sure not all to do with chin obviously. George could sure take it.

 

even hagler was an official kd against him....from juan roldan although that was a flash one

 

Great chins instantly brings to mind...........Chuvalo,McCall,LaMotta,Marciano,Robinson,Hagler,Cobb

 

Yes, in his seventh professional outing as a 142 pound teenager, against 156 pound Joe Chip, brother of George, then the reigning Middleweight Champion. This is why I inserted the line, "after his career got going" when mentioning his name. Greb was scheduled to take on Hugh Madole that night, but George Chip's manager, Jimmy Dime, pressured the promoter and referee Tom Bodkin to put younger brother Joe with Greb on the undercard of the Bob Moha-Tom "Bearcat" Wright fight. Harry's manager, Reddy Mason should have known better, but agreed to the new last minute pairing.

Chip bloodied Greb's mouth in round one, then nailed him with a wild right in round two. After Bodkin stopped it, Harry told him, "One more hard punch might'a ruined me. I won't forget. Tanx pal." Greb said the next day that he would not be taking on anybody else that much bigger than himself anytime soon. After he matured into the middleweight division, Harry would get the best of both Chip brothers in the ring.

Joe Chip eventually made two bids to join brother George as a world champion at 160, but was repelled both times by Johnny Wilson.


Willie Pastrano is somebody else who deserves credit for his chin. He originally entered a boxing gym weighing over 250 pounds as a 15 year old shoeshine boy, wanting to shed his excess weight, and he apparently retained the chin of a 250 pounder after he lost more than half of that weight for his boxing debut as a featherweight. Jose Torres decked him with a bodyshot, and Harold Johnson stunned him very briefly late in Willie's title winning effort, but nobody seems to have been able to seriously dent his chin, including Archie Moore, and noted heavyweights Brian London, Rex Layne, Tom McNeeley and Johnny Arthur. If Liston had made his second defense against Pastrano, Willie might have created a bigger surprise than the one conjured up by the challenger who actually did dethrone Sonny in Miami Beach.

 

I'm with JohnThomas 1 here ... a fighter can go down and stil have an exceptional chin ...

Carlos Monzon had an exceptional chin. The bomb Valdez dropped him with in the second round of the rematch would have flattened almost anyone. Carlos sprang back up like nothing ....truly amazing ...

Chuvalo was inhuman. Watch the Foreman fight. I's almost too scary to see the shots he took ...

Anyone mention Joey Maxim ? Terrific chin ...

Here's a thought, Ray Robinson. Fought 25 years against the best fighters in the world deep into his forties and other than heat exhaustion, was never stopped ... that is an exceptional chin!

 

Willie was not too eager to remain in the heavyweight division with Sonny Liston on the scene, so that prompted him to move to lightheavy, but who knows? Hell Eddie Machen was clever enough to go the distance with Sonny, so maybe Willie could have as well. I'm not saying he would win, as the size disparity would have been greater than it was between Machen and Liston, but one thing, as Duodenum so accurately pointed out, Willie had a world class chin. No punch to the head ever decked him, just that Torres liver shot in his last fight. That would have helped Willie against the Bear.

 

You're so right sir, Carlos Monzon had a great chin. Just as important as his quick revovery from that Valdez knockdown is the observation that he fought what, 101 fights, lost only three, reversed them by the way, but was NEVER STOPPED! It's a tribute to his chin as well as to his subtle, but oh so underrated defensive ability that he can claim that distinction. How many fighters can claim that many fights with only 3 losses and no ko losses?