Was Hearns chin actually shaky?

I thought this was already well known. I mean his chin wasn't pure glass, but Hearns wasn't best known for taking mega shots to the face (i.e. the first Barkley fight). He also had some stamina problems at the end of his lighter weightclass campaigns. He wasn't perfect, but he was a physical freak of nature that could box beautifully (see amateur career) and later a brutal puncher with all that "tall guy leverage".

 

It's not really his chin it was his skinny legs that gave up and couldn't support him. Notice how usually the guys with great chins have tree trunk legs?

 

I'm not 100% convinced. It wasn't until post Hagler that Hearns started fighting above 154 on any sort of basis vs decent opposition.

Admittedly tho i was surprised by the severe punishment he took vs Hagler before caving. Seriously, what guys would have taken as much as Hearns did that night without falling earlier? As far as durability, in ways i think this was Hearns finest ever night.

I'm still not sure Hagler ruined his chin tho. Take the two SRL fights 9 years apart with one pre and post Hagler. Remarkably similar when judging Tommy via durability.

 

Looking back at the Hagler Hearns fight (again and again...) it amazes me the solid punches Hearns absorbs in the fight without going over, or even being staggered. He took some solid hooks, especially in the first round and his chin looked far from shaky.

His resistance was ruined after that fight, and it's amazing he even managed to keep on fighting after such a brutal KO. I firmly believe that that loss would have finished most fighters' careers. After it he was as fragile as glass, the Kinchen fight being a great example.

 

Often, but guys like Monzon, Panama, Sanchez et al show the other side of the coin.

 

You'd have a real problem with false positives there. Take a look at Arguello's legs. Or Morales's. Or Panama Al Brown who was a 5'11 bantamweight who was never stopped in 167 fights.

...Then you have Tommy Morrison.

 

I didn't say everyone who has tree trunk legs has a great chin but if you look at guys like Tua they can withstand punishment and happened to have tree trunk legs. Notice I said USUALLY. Hagler had a great chin and didn't have tree trunk legs.

 

Interesting, but I think that Tommy was hurt early by Hagler and never fully recovered his senses. His chin wasn't glass but it struck me as more ...dentable... after Hagler. I worried about him everytime I watched his fights after that.

Hearns' will compensated for his less than stellar chin. Against Leonard II, it was sheer force of will and pride. But he was on ***** street for a while in that fight. The last third of it was will. I'd never have called Hearns "durable". The Hagler and Leonard fights attested to his will, though. Semantics I know.

 

I hear you. I should have written "WE have a problem with false positives" because I do make assumptions based on build, neck length, jaw lines, etc.

Skinny George Plimpton recalled the following:

"Charlie Goldman, Rocky Marciano's gnomelike trainer, once said of fighters built along my lines, 'You know them fighters with long necks and them long, pointy chins, they cost you more for smelling salts than they do for food.'"

 

Hearns Defensive skill also became much more of an issue when he started fighting middleweights.He didn't control distance quite as comfortably as he was able to at 147\154 and couldn't get away with standing in range with his hands by his stomach so easily.Bigger fighters could sweep right hands over the low left with more regularity.

At that point he started to become more like your not particularly elusive, even if offensively skilled standup boxer types like Minter or Benvenuti.

 

These are very astute observations.

 

It was not concrete at 160 , that's for sure as Hagler and Barkley proved. Roldan also gave him very scary moments .. his chin and his stamina ere never his strongest points ...

 

His chin was average for a world class fighter as remember he went 14 rounds before Leonard got to him and dont say Leonard did not hit him till the 14th, he took 3 full rounds of punishment from Hagler etc....

I think he had a tendancy that I see in Amir Kahn aswell for guys with average chins when they get caught with a good one they can become a bit careless or reckless wanting revenge or looking to prove there heart, leading to them being easier to hit and hurt again, and often KO.

 

Amir Khan's got the worst chin I've ever seen.

 

Ever?