I ask this because the chin/jaw is the only thing a fighter has no control over.
You can work on your speed,power,tactics but you can't toughen up your jaw.

Bruno would have become champ he may have beaten lennox lewis and may have beaten a prime tyson, he certainly would have beaten pinklon thomas and tim witherspoon. unfortunately his chin was an OFF switch, one clean shot and he fel asleep.

Hearns was a great anyway but if he had even an average chin i would say he would have been the best fighter p4p of all time


Who else??

julian jackson......

Julian Jackson, Bob Satterfield, Wlad Klitschko, Michael Moorer (maybe not great but a much better champion at least), Earnie Shavers, Tommy Hearns, many others.

Shavers,Norton,Floyd Patterson

Not great,but greater...

-Shannon Briggs
-Tommy Morrison
-Hasim Rahman

Naseem Hamed, His mouth ruined his career.

There many that come to mind. Tippy Larkin who I knew very well and I gave him his Eulogy when he passed away comes to mind. He was also a very good friend of my wife and I.

When I asked Ike Williams, who was the best pure boxer he ever fought, he said without a doubt, it was Tippy Larkin. I said, you KO'ed him in 4 rounds. He said, yea, BUT i the 1st 3, he gave me a boxing lesson.

He lost a 10 rounder to Jackie Kid Berg when he injuryed his right hand in the 1st round. All the other Decision losses were early in his career.

He came close to shutting out Billy Graham in 1947. Here's the scoring and what they said:
Scoring in rounds: 7-2-1, 8-2, 9-1
Larkin appeared to lose the 1st round, but then clearly outboxed Graham the rest of the way. New York Times

All the rest of his losses were by knockouts!

I can't believe you all haven't mentioned the obvious one, Lennox Lewis! He would have been top three for sure if he had a great chin.

There many that come to mind. Tippy Larkin who I knew very well and I gave him his Eulogy when he passed away comes to mind. He was also a very good friend of my wife and I.

When I asked Ike Williams, who was the best pure boxer he ever fought, he said without a doubt, it was Tippy Larkin. I said, you KO'ed him in 4 rounds. He said, yea, BUT i the 1st 3, he gave me a boxing lesson.

He lost a 10 rounder to Jackie Kid Berg when he injuryed his right hand in the 1st round. All the other Decision losses were early in his career.

He came close to shutting out Billy Graham in 1947. Here's the scoring and what they said:
Scoring in rounds: 7-2-1, 8-2, 9-1
Larkin appeared to lose the 1st round, but then clearly outboxed Graham the rest of the way. New York Times

All the rest of his losses were by knockouts!Thanks for the insight Henry. I'll have to re-examine Tippy a little closer since he didn't immediately spring to mind. I met Jackie Kid Berg at Aaron Pryor's training camp. That was in 1984 and Jackie was obviously a very old man at the time.

I had high hopes for heavyweight John Tate who looked very promising KO'ing Duane Bobick and Kallie Knoetze. I was concerned about his chin after the 1976 Olympics when Teofilo Stevenson KO'd him, but when his chin held up against Coetzee, I though he would go on to eventually overtake Larry Holmes.

I think any known fighter would be a bit greater if they didn't have glass jaws. shavers is the obvious choice mind.

These are all good picks.

The guy who comes to my mind is Mark Breland.

I also think Terry Norris had his career derailed by a weak chin.

Floyd patterson
Bruno big problem was also his rubbish stamina

Naseem Hamed, His mouth ruined his career.

his mouth made him who he was,his career was never ruined,he had a fantastic career

the saddest fight cause of a weak chin is bruno vs.lennox. bruno was winning all the way up to the 6th round(i think) when lennox caught him good and tkoed him

Guys like Julian Jackson & earnie Shavers.....I don't think they had weak chins, as much as I think they were overly committed (good for the fans!) to taking guys out. This left them vulnerable to the biggest of punches...
The weakest-chinned guy I know of, was Carl "The Truth" Williams. He was a very big guy (for the 80's), who had a lot of skills. But, he collapsed when he was reached.

the saddest fight cause of a weak chin is bruno vs.lennox. bruno was winning all the way up to the 6th round(i think) when lennox caught him good and tkoed him

Yeah, I was watching that fight yesterday. Bruno won every round except the sixth, and in the beginning of the seventh it looked as if Bruno was putting the finishing touches, but how Lewis landed that hook I don't know. It was a great comeback, though.

Floyd patterson
Bruno big problem was also his rubbish stamina

i never saw evidence of his 'stamina problem'. iT was more opf a rumour brought on by his bodybuilder physique. he was a very good boxer with alot of power and better speed than he was given credit for.