Why do people call Wlad "weak-chinned" when he's proven otherwise?

It really boggles the mind. Mob mentality, that is. People believing something only because other people believe it or share the opinion, wrong or otherwise. Flat-Earth and all that. Wlad gets kd'd 3 times by one of the hardest punchers the sport has seen in the past three decades at least, and people call him chinny. I got news for you...Sander's could have ko'd a rhino with that left hand. His kd to Brewster was, as is obvious to anyone who's seen the fight, due more in part to some serious exhaustion (and the theories behind THAT are a subject for another thread at another time). In fact, if you recall the fight, in that exhausted state, Wlad took several hard Brewster shots without going down. It wasn't any punch that put him down. Other than that people like to refer to Sam Peter being credited with 3kds against Wlad. Notice I said "credited". Anyone actually listen to the commentators of that fight? One of them was George Foreman, (a man that knows a thing or two about boxing, I think you'll agree) and even HE was saying that Peter, aside from blatantly punching to the back of the head, was wrestling and pushing Wlad to the canvas. This is George Foreman saying this. Wanna try telling me he's wrong? And also, speaking of that fight, if you remember, Wlad took a HUGE left hook, Peter's money shot, at the end of the 3rd (or maybe the 5th) round and shook it off. Weak chinned boxers don't shrug off a Sam Peter left hook. No matter who you are. So all you people who like to say that Wlad has a weak chin, do yourself a favor. Re-watch some of those fights, and think for yourself. THEN watch a few more of Wlad's fights, and realize that in every fight he's in, he does, invariably take some pretty good shots to the chin and they have no effect. Gran Torino out

Comments (20)

nomadman

The weakness of Wlad's chin is exaggerated, it's not good or bad imo, the way Steward has worked on Klitschko's balance now means even if you manage to hit him cleanly he's far less likely to go down, as balance and stamina were the main reason for a lot of those knockdowns. Let's admire Vitali's chin though - the guy's a beast! Let's admire Lennox's chin while we're at it. He took some bombs himself. (that's another fighter who was accused of having a glass jaw during his reign, though his chin is clearly better than Wlad's)

14y ago

nomadman

Yea it is, it is his biggest weakness as a fighter. Name a bigger weakness he has~ I can't, because I already know it's his biggest weakness. But that doesn't make it a gaping insurmountable flaw, merely the most obvious point a fighter would do well to target if he wishes to improve his margins of success. My main thrust in this argument is to combat the idea that Wlad's chin is absolute garbage, nothing more. People, too many people, talk as if the merest tap on his jawline will send him slumping to the ground in an unconscious heap, and that simply doesn't square with reality at all. There are enough fights on video to show that Wlad's tolerance for punishment is more than adequate to cope with the majority of what his opponents bring; had it been any less and he wouldn't be champion today, no matter his skills or any perceived weakness of the division. I wasn't talking about the Haye fight at all I was talking in general. If you want to talk that fight the margin for error Wlad has has everything to do with how he fights and the physical advantages that add to that~. Of course the way you fight and the way your opponent fights widens or narrows that window of defeat, but my main point was that I think Wlad can afford to take a heavy hit or two, whereas Haye cannot. Which is why the below comment... If it comes to battle of who has the better chin Wlad already fucked up~ ...strikes me as somewhat odd.

14y ago

Jimbo16031992

14y ago

The_Gambler1981

Of course it's a weakness, but it's not an enormous Achilles heel like so many like to think. Wlad has a window for error here that Haye doesn't possess. Yea it is, it is his biggest weakness as a fighter. Name a bigger weakness he has~ I wasn't talking about the Haye fight at all I was talking in general. If you want to talk that fight the margin for error Wlad has has everything to do with how he fights and the physical advantages that add to that~. If it comes to battle of who has the better chin Wlad already fucked up~

14y ago

Squirrel

Are we talking about the same George Foreman that thought Trinidad was beating Hopkins?

14y ago

BigStereotype

lol at George Foreman's word is gospel. According to him, Iran Barkley KO'd James Toney. He's an entertaining commentator and a great champion but that doesn't make him particularly insightful.

14y ago

sunny31

Im sure we'll see how strong Wlad's chin is when he fight Haye. Exactly...I can't see haye not landing big at some point in the fight, unless wlad takes him out real early. I just think haye is wrong for wlad and he'l be taken out, his chin is poor in my opinion. He is just very good at protecting it nowadays, but ultimately when you face top fighters even the best defensive fighters have to be able to take stick, because haye is too fast you can't avoid all his punches he doesn't just throw straight, he comes in at crazy angles, unpredictable punches, wide hooks, it's extremely difficult for a straight up guy like wlad to deal with that kind of attack, he is a thinker and a technician, I believe his chin will fail him. Wlad needs to take him out before he gets taken out himself.

14y ago

fitefanSHO

Images of Wlad floppin around against Sanders and Brewster are hard to forget, it seemed like all you had to do was jab the man in his face and he'd flop to the canvas, so...that's why.

14y ago

vacon04

He has an average chin, but unless you're iron chinned ( even then ) you're going to get knocked down or possibly out when fighting in the heavyweight division. Completely true, the HW division is just brutal, you need to have Vitali's chin to survive those hard punches. Even with a better than average chin these guys can get knocked down.

14y ago

GranTorino

I don't think anyone in their right mind will ever argue that he has a great chin. Point of this thread is to argue that he hasn't got a totally terrible one. Correct. That's exactly why I started this thread.

14y ago

cklmaced

14y ago

nomadman

his chin is why i think haye has just as much or a chance as wlad does Are you saying that their chins and their punching power are the same then?

14y ago

LarryX

his chin is why i think haye has just as much or a chance as wlad does

14y ago

nomadman

his chin is average at best I don't think he's got the worst chin of any heavyweight champ ever but anybody trying to argue that he has a great chin or even what would be called a good chin is simply biased. If any heavyweight gets a solid connection on wlads chin he will be hurt, a decent puncher and he will likely go down as has been shown time and again what 11 times? thats like one knockdown for every 5 fights ... compare that to vitali who actually has a great chin ... even some of the biggest hitters in the game could get a sweet connection there and Vitali would likely take it. I don't think anyone in their right mind will ever argue that he has a great chin. Point of this thread is to argue that he hasn't got a totally terrible one.

14y ago

Daddy_T

14y ago

Jim_Jeffries

That's the first time I've seen the knockdown from that angle, and it does look like a pretty nasty clash of heads. At the same time, Wlad's legs looked like they were already buckling from the force of the left a second before, so it's hard to say exactly how big of an effect they had on the outcome. I suspect Sanders would have still gone on to win. He was seriously hurting and putting Wlad down with single punches shortly after that KD, and looked like he wasn't to be denied that night. No doubt the straight left had some effect (though it seemed to be more of an arm punch as Sanders was fairly squared up,) but it was the head butt and a shove from Corrie's right arm that put him down. But you're right, Wlad was worthless after that and even though he beat the count after every knockdown, he was never in the fight.

14y ago

SplitSecond

If you can't see a hard, deliberate head butt to Wlad's temple, then you should probably get your eyes checked. http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/5116/kltsnd.gif sweet jesus.....

14y ago

nomadman

If you can't see a hard, deliberate head butt to Wlad's temple, then you should probably get your eyes checked. http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/5116/kltsnd.gif Not the world's greatest chin, obviously, but most of the times Wlad's been knocked down have been because of stamina, balance (both of which he has improved) and rabbit punches and he's always beaten the count. That's the first time I've seen the knockdown from that angle, and it does look like a pretty nasty clash of heads. At the same time, Wlad's legs looked like they were already buckling from the force of the left a second before, so it's hard to say exactly how big of an effect they had on the outcome. I suspect Sanders would have still gone on to win. He was seriously hurting and putting Wlad down with single punches shortly after that KD, and looked like he wasn't to be denied that night.

14y ago

Jim_Jeffries

14y ago

nomadman

I don't really think he has a "weak chin"... I do believe that he doesn't has the best chin in boxing but some guys end up making comparisons between his chin and his brother's chin. Yeah he's been KD and KOd, but that not necessarily means that he has a weak chin. I would rather say that his chin is just "average", especially in a division where most guys hit really hard so you can't really say his chin is weak, but that some punches from those guys are just really powerful. Wlad knows that he doesn't has the best chin ever, but at the same time he knows that he's not going down from the first punch to his face. Knowing that made him the boxer that he's now, he completely adapted his style to avoid taking major punches and just taking the hits that he can stand. This post more or less sums up my thoughts on the matter.

14y ago