What is it that gives someone a good chin?

[dman4093]

A mixture of things, seeing the punch coming, neck strength, leg strength and balance, learning to roll with the punch, and genetics.

[Half_Step]

chew gum like your doin 1000 reps of shoulders or wrists. strengthen that jaw

[BennyST]

I've always been interested in this because it's crazy to see people like muhammad ali take all kinds of bombs and stay on their feet, meanwhile you got people like Seth Mitchell who've been knocked out by shots that dont even seem that hard at all.

I know a good chin is something you're born with but I have trouble believing that that's all it comes down to.

It's not all it comes down to, but it's certainly the biggest factor and by far the most determining one. Conditioning plays more of a roll in quick recovery, and strengthening your neck, shoulders, traps etc can help to absorb a shot you see coming, but it won't help much.

Like it or not, it really comes to genetics first and foremost, and second most important thing is your will, grit and determination. That'll stop you going down, or it'll make you refuse to accept the hurt and conditioning will aid quick recovery from it.

Jeff Fenech had a great chin, right up until the moment he lost his will with that terrible Don King robbery saga. He started getting KTFO by anyone and everyone straight after it, whereas before that he'd gone through four divisions of big punchers and HOF greats undefeated and unhurt. He had good genetics, but in his case his will, determination, and simple refusal to ever be hurt was a big factor and of course he stopped training as hard too and thus wouldn't have been as sharp.

[#1Assassin]

it comes down to a number of things.

how thick your cranium is, how much fluid you have inside your skull, how strong your neck is along with certain muscles in your head like the jaw muscles and the ones over your temples.

your overall level of fitness plays a huge role in how fast you recover, as does your age and the amount of punishment you have taken over the course of your career.

then there are several technical factors, how relaxed you are, how low your chin is, how tightly closed your jaw is etc.


taking a good punch is a science, just like delivering one.

[Juof]

Short necks square faces. If you have an ass chin give up

[Larry the boss]

you are simply born with it

[Cuauhtémoc1520]

There are 3 things that people always have questions about in terms of this discussion.

Chin, speed and power.

IMO all 3 of those are things you have to be born with in order to be elite in those categories. You can improve speed and power with exercise and drills, but if we are talking about elite power and speed, it's given at birth.

There's a reason there's only one Floyd Mayweather, or Mike Tyson. Sometimes humans are born with extra special abilities that you cannot explain. Why was Julian Jackson and Ernie Shavers such hard hitters?

Why was Macho Camacho and Meldrick Taylor so incredibly fast? Was it some secret training we don't know about? Of course not, it was something they could just do.

I believe that chin is the same way. Sure having strong neck muscles and conditioning plays a part in it, but to be able to take a punch like Lamotta or Chavez Sr. is something you just have.

Why is Usane Bolt faster than every man on the planet? It's not because he trains harder because the opposite is true. He's admitted to not being that dedicated in the past yet he is faster than any human alive. It's because he was born with a gift that he realized early on. He said he was outrunning adults when he was 11 years old.

Mike Tyson said the same thing, he said he was 13 and was knocking grown men out and he realized he had amazing punching power.

[HedonisticFrog]

I think neck strength has more to do with it than you think, and some of that is obviously going to be genetics just like punching power. When I did bodybuilding and worked as a bouncer I was running through a crowd to break up a fight and someone threw a haymaker and cut my cheek open. It didn't knock me out though even though I literally ran into it, and my neck was very strong from shoulder shrugging 405lb among other things.

Just look at boxers that have great chins like Evander Holyfield and they always have thick necks.

[HedonisticFrog]

I think neck strength has more to do with it than you think, and some of that is obviously going to be genetics just like punching power. When I did bodybuilding and worked as a bouncer I was running through a crowd to break up a fight and someone threw a haymaker and cut my cheek open. It didn't knock me out though even though I literally ran into it, and my neck was very strong from shoulder shrugging 405lb among other things.

Just look at boxers that have great chins like Evander Holyfield and they always have thick necks.