Chin vs Power

Having rewatched the fights between the four kings recently it left me intrigued as to how there seemed to be a big anomaly with regards to Hearns and Duran, most notably their abilities to take a punch. It seems like a weird thing to say when you rewatch the 2 round destruction of Duran at the hands of Hearns and many have been left with an enduring image of the panamanian out cold before he hit the canvas.

The pair of them have many opponents that they both faced with differing degrees of success but at the end of the day one thing stood out to me: Hagler, Leonard and Barkley all stopped Hearns but none of them ever looked like stopping Duran (No Mas aside where Duran famously quit).

After all that drivel about rather well known history i'll get to my point, the right hand that floored Duran would no doubt have floored Hearns as well but if Duran delivered an equivalent punch with his relative power and chin, I doubt he would have hit the floor.

So in short which boxers throughout history had the power to KO themselves and which boxers wouldn't, whether it be because of a poor chin, incredibly explosive power or a combination of the two.

To get it started i'll start with the example of the four kings

Could:

Hearns

Couldn't:

Duran
Leonard
Hagler

Lennox Lewis would indisputably fall into this category.

tyson fury wouldnt, hes even tried it so we have proof

I would expect a few Fury comments here.

I would say the likes of Foreman, Shavers, Patterson, Johansson, Dempsey, Tyson. Lewis, Wlad, Haye could off the top of my head for the heavies.

Ali, Frazier, Vitali, Louis, Holmes probably couldnt.

Not sure on guys like Marciano and Liston who had good power but also good chins.

Theres probably countless examples going down through the weights

I'm guessing malignaggi couldn't

Malignaggi couldn't knock himself out with a Bat. Rock solid chin and no punch whatsoever.

manos de piedra wrote:I would expect a few Fury comments here.

sorry, couldnt resist

Benn could
Watson,Eubank,Collins couldnt

Roy Jones very clearly could.

Could: Ketchel

Couldn't: Pepp

I would say Joe Louis could .
He could certainly knock himself down.He would get back up though and knock himself down again immediately

Calzaghe couldn't.

Graziano and Zale certainly could

LaMotta could. Great chin but powder puff puncher if his KO stats are anything to go by.

Assuming you mean couldn't

I think that the Raging Bulls KO percentage is quite misleading, was a bigger puncher than they suggested, not concussive but you would no about it if he hit you

Especially to the body

imperialghosty wrote:Assuming you mean couldn't

I think that the Raging Bulls KO percentage is quite misleading, was a bigger puncher than they suggested, not concussive but you would no about it if he hit you

Yep. I dont know. He had a low KO percentage and the frequency those guys fought, a quick KO would mean a another fight sooner and another payday.

La Motta for the times didn't fight that frequently and being of Italian was under the full attention of the Mafia who had heavy links with boxing at the time. He was a strange character as well, almost took pleasure in taking punishment, a victory for him was not being knocked out.

imperialghosty wrote:La Motta for the times didn't fight that frequently and being of Italian was under the full attention of the Mafia who had heavy links with boxing at the time. He was a strange character as well, almost took pleasure in taking punishment, a victory for him was not being knocked out.

He may havetaken pride in his ability to take a punch. But a boxer's instinct is to KO the opponent when the opportunity arises. It could well be that the mafia had their claws in him though.

Haye and Wlad could.

Tyson could

Enzo Macc could definitely take himself out.

Bruno? Or would he simply forget to clinch himself?

licence_007 wrote:Tyson could

I'm not so sure about that, Tyson had a great chin and was very rarely knocked down, I doubt he could do himself in one Flip punch.

John Bloody Wayne wrote:

licence_007 wrote:Tyson could

I'm not so sure about that, Tyson had a great chin and was very rarely knocked down, I doubt he could do himself in one Flip punch.

I was probably a bit more certain in my post than I should've been. I still think he has the power to kick his own ass though.

No Kumquat arguments here.

Hagler could probably force a stoppage on himself late on. Had an almighty chin, but substantual cumulative power as well. Reckon Archie Moore would be a distance fight, Shane Mosely, Marco Antonio Barrera, Aaron Pryor, Bernard Hopkins, Matthew Saad Muhammad ditto.

Can see Julio Cesar Chavez stopping himself, also Miguel Cotto, Carlos Zarate, Max Baer. Back to the fab four, Leonard would be content to pick up the decision on himself through showboating and flurries. Smart move on his part when you think about it. Bet Maidana would try and knock himself out.

Mayorga would give himself plenty of chances for a clean KO but it would end by ref stoppage.