Who had the hardest head in boxing?

[Barn]

Hagler had the equivalent of a WWI helmet head. Tests have shown this.

[Monkz]

A lot of great names so far.

I'd throw Vitali's name in there he seems to have a real hard head.

[nomadman]

Wanted to bump this old thread to point something out.....

Randy Cobb, George Chuvalo, Hagler, LaMotta, McCall, Tua, Toney, etc were named as having some really sturdy chins and / or hard heads.

And to this day, not one of them has any signs of pugilistic dementia or related brain damage diseases!

Wilfred Benitez was a guy known for has radar-like defense, and yet, look at him today. Ali, another slickster, and look at him now. Bobby Chacon & Wilford Scypion are suffering from the effects of some head shots. Lots more fighters who were never really "abused" in the ring are suffering from the effects of getting hit. But the ones who literally soaked up the punishment are all mentally fine.

Any thoughts on this?

That does intrigue me too. Cobb, and especially Chuvalo really seem to show no real damage from their time in the ring at all, it's unreal. The only thing I can think of is that they must have possessed some unique physiology that allowed their brains to remain relatively unrattled in their skulls, perhaps a more pliant neck or a natural shock absorbing process of some sort, I really don't know. Librado Andrade has a similar capacity for absorbing sickening shots, and although he was knocked down by Bute and Mack, I think he deserves a mention too.

Regarding defensive fighters, that's less of a mystery. Most of the best defensive fighters, Sweet Pea, Toney etc, learned their defence from constantly sparring and receiving low-level, though damaging, shots to the head on a near daily basis. All that damage adds up, and we're seeing the effects now. It might have helped them in the ring, but ultimately it doomed them.

As for Ali? That should be no mystery at all.

[nomadman]

** Agreed that Toney is cast iron, but Jones and Peter were not slips.

He was driven backwards faster than his chubby little legs can power him with solid shots. Jones was the best, a left hook as he caught Toney aping Jones' feints. Toney popped halfway across the ring and lucky not to be KOed by the turnbuckle like Hatton was. I've never seen a greater differential in class between prime HOFers. Jones A+++ and Toney F-.

Peter just a simple jab that scrambles Toney's legs. Rahman did the same thing, but the ropes saved Toney from the KD.

Toney is turning into a modern day 300lb Joe Grimm. Time to either read him the riot act or secure a lifetime supply of xxxxl Depends and bibs.

I agree with you, but I think what he meant was that they were the sorts of knockdowns that shouldn't count against him in discussions like this. They were legit knockdowns under the QB rules of course.

[Terry A]

As for Ali? That should be no mystery at all.

Good comments I.O.

And as for Ali, well, anybody who fought Joe Frazier 3 times, George Foreman, Earnie Shavers, Larry Holmes, Ken Norton 3 times, etc, etc, is NOT going to end up talking like Sean O'Grady! He was a bad example. I'll switch him with Jimmy Young. (May he R.I.P.)

[TBear]

Sad to say many of the hardest heads and great chins cost alot of fighters dearly. Many earned their rep by taking punches, some took too many.

[nomadman]

For me, at heavyweight, I don't think anyone can beat Oliver McCall. Never even rattled at any stage in his heavyweight career, let alone knocked down. Took some absolute bombs straight to the jaw from some big, big punchers. The ultimate decider for me was when he took several unanswered overhand rights from Lennox Lewis, whilst turned away and totally unprepared for the shots, and seemed to regard them as little more than a minor irritation. Now that's a chin!

I used to rank Tua's chin extremely highly, but on reflection he did get visibly affected by shots and tend to shell up, so they obviously had an effect on him. I now think he was just very good at tucking his chin into his fridge-like body whenever he received a shot strong enough to hurt him. Very good chin, but not superhuman like McCall's, Cobb's or Chuvalo's.

At Welterweight Ben Tackie had an excellent chin. Never dropped or hurt to my recollection*, and he fought prime Hatton and Tszyu. Ghanaians in general just seem to be built from teak. Look at Clottey as well, not quite as bulletproof as Tackie, but incredibly tough nontheless.

Anyone remember In Jin Chi? The Korean guy that fought Morales? Very good capacity for absorbing punishment if I recall, though I've not seen all his fights.

Andrade and Mayorga may have had their chins cracked but I'll never forget the insane punishment they took in some of their fights. Just check out highlights from the Kessler Andrade fight if you haven't seen it. It'll make your jaw drop, pardon the pun.


EDIT: Wiki says Tackie was knocked down once. Can anyone tell me who it was against?

[Barn]

Sad to say many of the hardest heads and great chins cost alot of fighters dearly. Many earned their rep by taking punches, some took too many.

That's a testemant to Hagler, he's perfectly fine.

[Terry A]

EDIT: Wiki says Tackie was knocked down once. Can anyone tell me who it was against?

Sharmba Mitchell

[nomadman]

Sharmba Mitchell

Cool, thanks. Will check out the fight now.