Good Chin: Something Physical or Mental?

[champion4ever]

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

[Silencers]

I think it's a combination of both.

[joseph5620]

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.

[Miburo]

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.

[WetSexyLlamaPR]

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.

[WetSexyLlamaPR]

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.

[Cuauhtémoc1520]

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.

[DrewWoodside]

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.

[hookoutofhell]

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.

[DiegoFuego]

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.