How important is a chin?

[Dyna chb]

Very important.

Exception is when you're as "smart" as Wlad and can just bearhug opponents if you have a physical advantage and a paid off ref.

[Resilient]

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.

[Larry the boss]

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

[WilkinsOlajuwon]

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

[vironaprile8]

Just look at Froch...

[bojangles1987]

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.

[The Gambler1981]

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.