IN PART one of this three part series, professional fighter Dan Morley looked at some of boxing’s most notorious tough nuts. “The ability to take a punch can’t be taught. Fighters can be blessed with an iron chin or cursed with a glass chin,” he wrote. In this second installment, Dan looks at another batch of boxing’s boss men, blessed with an ability to soak up punishment and keep on pitching.
13) Vitali Klitschko – the Klitschko brother who inherited an iron chin
An athletic, skilful beast of a champion who enjoyed dissecting opponents with clinical power punches, from a 6’7” frame, made Vitali Klitschko frightening enough. Factor in a warrior’s spirit and a titanium chin, which saw Vitali never drop across his entire professional boxing career, then you have the full package.
Klitschko largely dominated an era that was scarce of worthy competition; nevertheless in the occasions he was tested, he passed the chin check with flying colours. Corrie Sanders and Samuel Peter had each given Wladimir hell, only to be dispatched by big brother Vitali.
The standout, however, is the brutal back and forth with Lennox Lewis, in which, as a late replacement, Klitschko stamped himself as a true top heavyweight. Lewis landed an uppercut with such a grotesque snap that it painfully reverberated around the arena.
Yet Klitschko held on, recovered and seemed to have a strong foothold in the fight at the time it was stopped due to a horrendous cut. It was one of two times the Ukrainian was stopped, the other due to a debilitating shoulder injury against Chris Byrd.
12) Oliver McCall – the man some say had the greatest heavyweight chin of all time
Having faced off with legendary names of heavyweight boxing such as Lennox Lewis (who he knocked out to win the title), Larry Holmes, Frank Bruno, Buster Douglas, Bruce Seldon and Tony Tucker, it’s quite remarkable to fathom how McCall was never dropped.
The one occasion he was stopped, in the Lewis rematch, was due to a breakdown in the fight, resulting in his corner pulling him out, rather than Lewis’ punches finishing the show.
As if his freakish resilience across his fighting career alone wasn’t enough, McCall was one of the very few sparring partners to give a prime Mike Tyson consistent trouble in sparring. While others were being blown away, or too fearful to help Mike prepare for fights, McCall was an ever-present figure in the ring against Tyson.
11) Carlos Monzon – Argentine king had one of the hardest jaws of them all
Monzon is renowned as the greatest middleweight champion of all time by many. Across 100 fights, he was never stopped and went unbeaten in his last 80 contests. The middleweight king for seven years, Monzon mercilessly marched his opponents down behind a menacing jab.
On the rare occasions opponents landed, the punches merely bounced off without effect before the Argentine would pounce for the finish. Bennie Briscoe was one of the very few to hurt Monzon on camera with a catastrophic right hand that sent the champion spinning into the corner post. Besides that, Monzon would recover from just two knockdowns in his entire career.
10) Carl Froch – the granite chin of Carl Froch stood up to inspection
‘The Cobra’ made up for a lack of finesse with brute strength, never-ending stamina and a concrete chin. Watching Froch absorb punishment past a low-held lead hand, shake off the shots and instantly lunge in with fearsome barrages, never gets old. He famously stated that it was impossible to knock him out before George Groves tested that theory with an onslaught of punishment that would’ve stopped lesser men.
In typical fashion Froch soaked it all up and came back strong to secure a stoppage, in a similar manner to the Jermaine Taylor fight, both instances being the only times Froch was dropped.
A murderers’ row of super-middleweight Champions chin-checked the Brit, including fearsome punchers like Mikkel Kessler, Artur Abraham, Jean Pascal, Jermaine Taylor, George Groves and Glen Johnson, with only Kessler and Andre Ward defeating him on points across 36 fights.
9) Randall ‘Tex’ Cobb – said to have the undisputed best chin ever
Despite being on the receiving end of a one-sided 15-round beating to the great Larry Holmes, Cobb demanded a rematch, insisting Holmes’ hands wouldn’t be able to take the beating his face would give them. Tex would also go the distance with Ken Norton, Leon Spinks and Michael Dokes whilst eating Earnie Shavers’ fists for breakfast before knocking out boxing’s hardest ever puncher.
Despite taking so many hard punches, Cobb remained extremely witty and sharp of mind, with his humour and tough looks landing him some major roles in Hollywood. In a truly freakish showing of vulnerability, Cobb would be stopped for the only time in one round against the light-punching Dee Collier.
8) Carmen Basilio – a wicked left hook and a beard to match
When you’re involved in five consecutive Fight Of The Year winners, you better have strong whiskers! The ‘Upstate Onion Farmer’ claimed that feat from 1955-1959 in a victory and defeat to Sugar Ray Robinson over 15 rounds, his sole stoppage defeat to Gene Fullmer and KO wins over Johnny Saxton and Tony De Marco. In standing up to Robinson, one of history’s hardest ever punchers, Basilio claimed the middleweight world title and lost it in an equally gruelling rematch via split decision.
The De Marco fight is quite possibly the most impressive showing of resistance to punishment you could ever see, rivalled only in the era by Archie Moore’s inhumane performance against Yvon Durrelle.
De Marco couldn’t miss Basilio, unleashing a furious, constant beating of heavy power punches that were finding a home. Against all odds, Basilio remained in there before digging out a 12th-round comeback KO. Basilio’s battles across the late 50s hold him highly as one of the toughest fighters ever.
Keep an eye out for Part Two coming soon…
