A boxer's "chin"... does it just refer to their chin or is it an abstract term?

[Guest]

This is something I meant to ask the other day.

See, I'd always believed that when people talk about boxers having a "good chin", "good beard", etc., it refered to the point of the jaw that's most easy to score a knockout from. Pounds per square inch pressure, sweet science, etc.

Even some boxers seem to say this - Mario Viet before his second bout with Joe Calzaghe said that Joe couldn't know whether he had a good chin or not, as when Joe had KOed him a few years earlier he'd hit him on the cheek.

Yet there was a thread throwing open this whole concept the other day, suggesting that the term "chin" was just a metaphor for the entire head area. So that Roy Jones getting laid out by a Glen Johnson temple shot was a sign of him having a weak "chin". People also talk about Lennox Lewis showing he had a good chin against Vitali, yet he was hardly hit on that spot.

So... what gives? I'm throwing it open, as one of the posters saying this was actually a boxer. (Well, I say a boxer - I mean Knife Marconi).

Now, my instinct is "they're talking crap" and a chin is a chin is a chin, end of. But... whadda the rest of you say?

[The Fix]

i think its a term used if a fighter cant take a punch as good as others and is KO'd from the first big shot.

[Mr. Ryan]

Yet there was a thread throwing open this whole concept the other day, suggesting that the term "chin" was just a metaphor for the entire head area. So that Roy Jones getting laid out by a Glen Johnson temple shot was a sign of him having a weak "chin".

No, that was a few Mayweather/Judah/Jones fans doing their impersonation of Wladmir Klitschko teenie boppers talking about vaseline.
The term "a good chin" has to do with a boxer's ability to absorb a power shot no matter where they are hit on the head. The chin is used as a landmark because it is the most vulnerable spot on the head. A KO to the chin and a KO to the temple are all the same thing.

[hollister]

First, Lennox was only really hit solidly on the chin once, in the second round, when he was hurt. Lennox can take a punch well to any other part of the head, just not the chin. I think people use the term very loosely in reference to how well or badly a fighter takes a shot to the head in general. Some fighters take a fair shot to the chin, but not on the jaw, others can't take them to the forehead and the top of the head. But I think although incorrect, it's an abstract term that refers to a fighter's ability to take a punch to the head in general.

[jatt the ripper]

i always thought that having a good chin was meant that a fighter was able to take a shot to the chin. When people talk about having a 'glass jaw' there talking about how weak there jaw is and i think its probably the same in this case. I dont know though cuz i have heard commentators say he's got a good chin, when they were hit good on some other part of the head, not the chin.

[hollister]

I think they're both just slang references that came along at different times in boxing history that mean the same thing.

[jabsRstiff]

"Good chin/bad chin"......is a simple way to say whether a fighter takes a good punch or not.

[Guest]

First, Lennox was only really hit solidly on the chin once, in the second round, when he was hurt. Lennox can take a punch well to any other part of the head, just not the chin. I think people use the term very loosely in reference to how well or badly a fighter takes a shot to the head in general. Some fighters take a fair shot to the chin, but not on the jaw, others can't take them to the forehead and the top of the head. But I think although incorrect, it's an abstract term that refers to a fighter's ability to take a punch to the head in general.

See, I never even got that. I always thought the shot that hurt Lennox in the second was to the side of the head, not the chin at all.

And the UK commentators noted that Williams could stand up to shots from Klitschko all over his head, just not that one area. That's another one I meant to mention actually - because they talked about his "iron chin" for that.

[Upper Cut]

I'll go with the "The term "a good chin" has to do with a boxer's ability to absorb a power shot no matter where they are hit on the head."

[Mr. Ryan]

I'll go with the "The term "a good chin" has to do with a boxer's ability to absorb a power shot no matter where they are hit on the head."

That is the correct way to look at it.