How important is a chin?

It depends, the importance of it goes up as the weight classes go up because power goes up also as the guys get bigger. It is a guy's last line of defense, so when all else fails that is what a guy has to rely on. Against lesser guys someone might be good enough that their defense doesn't fail enough for it to come up, but at an elite level no matter how good someone is at defense they will fail at times (they might not fail much) and in those moments (few as the might be) the fight could totally change. I don't know how important it is to have a great chin that would vary depending on a guys defensive abilities, but you certainly want to be at least average.

It's the most important quality a fighter can have IMO. No matter how talented and how skilled you are, you are going to get hit and you are going to need to take a punch. Also, Hearns did not have a weak chin. It wasn't great, but he only got stopped by two of the greatest fighters ever and another hard hitting middleweight.

Just look at Froch...

Sometimes a great chin is a bad thing for a fighter. Ask Jesse Feliciano and Ricky Quiles.

It's what separates the elites from the non elites, no elites have a bad chin, apart from Khan but he makes up for it with blazing handspeed. It's why so many up and comers like Thurman look like monsters against these C class contenders they face, but once they step up against some solid B class and above competition they look normal. khan is not an elite fighter

Very important,this is a hurt business and you are going to get chin checked in boxing. Why do people say Hearns had a bad chin? because they've never seen him fight.

How important is it to be able to take a punch? Obviously, there have been successful fighters with weak chins, like Hearns and Wlad. hearns did not have a weak chin. that's just a myth. his chin wasn't as great as his power or boxing ability, but it wasn't weak. chin may very well be the most important natural attribute in a boxer.

Not as important as a good defense. It's definitely more important than a good defence. No matter how good your defence is, you can always get caught with something and if you're hiding a weak chin behind your defence, it can let you down. If you have a strong chin, you can get away with making defensive errors.

This is likely to happen http://makeagif.com/media/5-13-2014/gihsDq.gif Chin of Kirkland :boxing:

How important is it to be able to take a punch? Obviously, there have been successful fighters with weak chins, like Hearns and Wlad. Sometimes it makes all the difference, look at Khan/Garcia as a fine example, Khan dominating till BANG, he gets hooked and dropped, multiple times. A great chin, like that of Alis, can get you through a fight against a hard hitter even if your not at your best physically, see Ali/Shavers.

Very important, arguably the most essential thing you need in this sport.

Very important,this is a hurt business and you are going to get chin checked in boxing. Why do people say Hearns had a bad chin?

Not as important as a good defense.