Good Chin: Something Physical or Mental?

I'd say it's more physical. Put it this way, no amount of mental toughness can stop your brain from rapidly moving around inside your skull from a hard blow which is what causes a loss of consciousness. It's usually the snapping of the neck which causes KO and you help prevent this with neckwork. Have you seen the size of Amir Khan's neck. Some fighters are just unlucky.

I'd say it's more physical. Put it this way, no amount of mental toughness can stop your brain from rapidly moving around inside your skull from a hard blow which is what causes a temporary loss of consciousness. It's usually the snapping of the neck which causes KO and you help prevent this with neckwork.

Looking at Sam Peter, the man has literally no neck. That's all physical and the man has a pretty questionable heart.

A good chin is both mental and physical. Some people faces are natural build to absorb a punch, James Toney for example. Its also mental thinking no matter what hits me I can handle it and not freakin out.

Sure Tito has been down several times but very very rarely actually hurt. Trinidad's balance was never very good and I believe that is what caused him to be dropped so regularly. Even in his stoppage loss to Hopkins it was more just an accumulation of punches that got to him. Tito has a very very good chin IMO. Good point.

Oliver McCall seemed to have very little faith in himself, yet he had the best chin I've ever seen. No way is it a mental thing.

initially i thought it would be 60% mental and 40% physical. but after reading some of the posts above i gotta say i think its 50/50, good post by tenogoshi above as well, a fighter with a strong physical chin but lacking the mental attitude is someone who can maybe improve (tyson had a strong chin but never really toughend up) and learn to toughen up and come back from adversity. but a fighter with a weak physical chin but fighting heart will never really improve (amir khan, hearns). in fact the more i think about it the harder it is to think of a fighter who had a strong chin and weak mentality but who grew tougher and mentally stronger. can anyone help me out with this one? i do think its mental aspects can ever be overestimated, look at fighters like hagler vs hearns, or for a more recent example ricky vs kostya. rocky that night simply refused to go down, simply refused to show any hurt, yet a few years later he was staggered and some would even say hurt by less powerful opponents like mayweather and lazcano. some fighters do have the physical gifts; look at tua the guy has a neck thicker than my thigh, a strong jawline, thick build and sturdy legs. however i still think the mental side is more important than the physical one.

Do you think fighters with good chins have it because something Physical or maybe is it something mental? your thoughs and opinions? If it could be fixed with mental then people would give Khan a better chance of soon joining elite.

Chin is something you are born with, plain and simple. You can have a macho attitude all day long but if you can't take the punch physically, it won't help you. It's no coincidence that fighters with great chins are the most macho, they are macho BECAUSE of their great chins. You can't teach chin, you can't train for it. I have heard people on here say there are exercises you can do to help it but that's absolutely not true. Has nothing to do with the muscle structure in the face or chin, I think it has to do more with the nerve endings and how sensitive they are to black out.

Both, but probably more physical than mental. Without the physical aspect I don't believe the mental will aid much. In contrast, a good physical chin can be bolstered by the right mental makeup. LaMotta is a good example of this combination. Yeah good observation. I agree.

Combination of both but I do think physical more so than heart. People like Tito and Thomas Hearns didn't have the best of chins but made up for it with heart and determination.

Both, but probably more physical than mental. Without the physical aspect I don't believe the mental will aid much. In contrast, a good physical chin can be bolstered by the right mental makeup. LaMotta is a good example of this combination.

Do you think fighters with good chins have it because something Physical or maybe is it something mental? your thoughs and opinions? Both. I have asked professional fighters about this and I have had mixed answers. Some say when a fighter gets older they do not take the punches as well. And some say that if a fighter goes in with the attitude that nothing will hurt them, they're hard to stop. Ray Leonard said he noticed while sparring for the Camacho fight that punches he used to shake off started hurting him.

I think it's a combination of both.

Tito's frequent trips to the canvas was not due to a lack of chin but balance in his legs.

Having a good chin is definitely a gift. So I would have to say it's physical.

i'd say 80% physical 20%mental if you get rocked and your tired, it doesn't matter how bad you want to go on. Case in point Judah-Kostya

in all honesty mate u need a ggod cinn to take a shot, however it depends on whether u have the heart or not... if you have both then good on you... respect...

You should be banned for being a twat. Idiot, as far as I know ricky is not from the states. I'm a philly boy, why do you think I root for the eagles idiot? I should be banned Ricky you are noob who has had to resort to using ALT's, because everyone is sick and tired of your BS and, because your an idiot! Yeah, because you cant pretend to root for the Eagles if your from Wales, TOOL!

What ever Ricky:haha: You should be banned for being a twat. Idiot, as far as I know ricky is not from the states. I'm a philly boy, why do you think I root for the eagles idiot?