Seventy Years since Jake “The Raging Bull” LaMotta’s pro-debut – has anyone boasted a better chin since?
May 28th, 2011
By Jack Dutton:
A look back at the toughest chins in boxing history.
Jake LaMotta. Raised on the streets of the Bronx, New York. Murderer, rapist, thief. A fighter shrouded in controversy decades before the likes of Mike Tyson hit the screen. But his work inside the squared circle was nothing less than awe-inspiring. In a total of 103 fights, the ‘Raging Bull’ tasted the canvas only once, in his last few months of professional fighting, at the hands of Danny Nardico. Even then he was back on his feet within a few seconds. His corner, repulsed but not surprised at the punishment he was taking, refused to let him continue into the 8th round. Not many could have taken the damage the Bronx Bull received from the hard-hitting Sugar Ray Robinson in their epic six-fight rivalry, without ever going down. In more than a hundred bouts against the best of his era, he resisted ever being counted out. A claim not many can stand by. But who else possesses a cement chin worthy of mention? Here are a select few fighters who can boast a resilience similar to that of the ‘Raging Bull’.
The great 1920s middleweight champ, Harry Greb, often referred to as the “The human windmill” certainly earns a mention. Boasting one of the most impressive records in boxing history, he was stopped only twice in 240 fights and astoundingly managed to last the two years of his career despite being completely blind in his right eye. A truly inspiring champion.
Argentina’s renowned middleweight champion, Carlos Monzon, lost a mere three fights out of 100 (all of them decisions) and is one the few fighters to have never been stopped in his entire boxing career. A remarkable feat from a remarkable champion who withstood punishment from stone handed sluggers such as Rodrigo Valdes and Gratien Tonna and still emerged victorious.
Rocky Marciano, despite revisionist doubt at the average age rating of the opponents he faced, still showed a determined ability to take punishment and keep slugging back, which few have matched. Some of the classiest knockout artists in the sport, Jersey Joe Walcott, Archie Moore and Ezzard Charles all tried yet none succeeded in besting the only undefeated heavyweight in boxing history.
The ability displayed by Marvellous Marvin Hagler, in making some of the biggest hitters the non-heavyweight divisions have ever seen seem weak handed, was a truly remarkable achievement. Fighting in an infamous era, against the likes of Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns and John Mugabi, he was floored only once by the rough Juan Domingo, in which some debate was more likely to be a slip than a knockdown. His ability to endure the right hand of the ‘Hit man’ Hearns for three rounds before finishing his rival will be marvelled at by boxing fans for decades to come.
Undoubtedly, I have missed many mentions to many other fighters who possess the valued boxing ability of the ‘cement chin’. Here is simply a short list of some of the best the sport has seen. With the ‘Bronx Bull’, in my mind, possessing a steely, self-destructive, determination to absorb as much punishment as he could that sets him apart from many other fighters. In the words of the man himself:
“Punches never bothered me that much…”
37 Responses to “Seventy Years since Jake “The Raging Bull” LaMotta’s pro-debut – has anyone boasted a better chin since?”
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Anyone thought of David Tua He has never been Knocked out and only just got knocked down for the first time??
Michael Kastidis for current fighters rates a mention.
im surprised that nobody has mentioned wayne mcullough, the man was never floored and he took some severe punishment in a lot of his fights, to be honest i dont think i ever seen him rocked.
chris eubank had an iron chin. he would hav retired unbeaten if he has not hurt michael watson. it made him lose his edge but great chin. also mayweather has never been down. chavez. margarito has great chin
Jake Lamotta had a great chin. He was really not a great fighter and his won loss record was not that good.
mayweather the greatest ever.
i’d add carlos monzon to the list
Neither Naseem or Eubank were ever KO’d, Eubank had the toughest chin of the 90′s.
MAYWEATHER HAS THE BEST CHIN IN THE SPORT NEVER BEEN LAYED OUT. HE IS THE BEST BOXER ALIVE. PACMAN IS A DRUGGY HE FOUGHT COTTO AND MARGARITO BEAT THEM IF U LOT FIND THAT NORMAL. YOUR JUST BLIND. MAYWEATHER JR IS THE BEST
Mccall had a great chin
Kelly Pavlik!!!!!!
So I don’t see your point Anonymous?
This article is about CHINS. Pacman got KO’d twice but they were with body shots not shots to the chin. Pacman has a great chin and he has taken the shots to prove it!
@Teddyb
Mosley was the only knockout loss in Margarito’s career. And how many bombs did Mosley have to drop before the man finally crumbled? Even then he still wasn’t completely out. Chin and endurance wise there’s not a lot of fighters out there who can take punishment like Margarito can.
@4×4 yeah but i dont think they fought anyone in their prime nor did they have any dangerous opponents. Calzhage’s best win was against lacey. And marciano just fought an old joe louis and dempsey. Not impressive in my eyes. They will go down as wat couldve been.
I know chavez had a hell of a chin. And even tho duran got ko’ed by the hit man, i still think he had a real good chin too.
margaritos tough sure but top ranked chin llike lamotta? Not even close! Mosley crushed him drooped n rocked him repeatedly… Pac bezt chin? Someof yall need to watch some old videos n learn somethin about boxing
If Wlad Klitscko had Lamottas or even Vitalis chin, he could be the one of the greatest heavy weights ever. He is skilled, hits hard and intimidates his opponets.
Marvin Hagler without a doubt, was and still remains numero uno people! Enough said! Period.
italian granit chin on lamotta is the best
Some good names on here..The article by the way wasn’t about the greatest fighters, its about the greatest chins.. Every one wants to bring Pacman into every conversation, but he was KO’d twice in his career so his chin doesn’t match up. If you watch the Hagler/Juan Roldan (not Domingo), the punch was a sweeping hook that drags Hagler down from behind. Remember Hearns blasted out Duran who also had an outstanding chin and Hagler walked through it. Julio Cesar Chavez had a great chin up until near the end. Time makes mortals of them all eventually. Chuvalo sanding up to Foreman, who was KO’ing folks into his 40′s is also very impressive. Some good names nonetheles.
Chavez and Margarito at the top of my list.
Amir Khan has a glass chin, but it’s been toughened more than it used to be. BTW, what happened to Paul Williams in his last fight? (lol).
Me, amir Kahn, Novak been and jr jones
JULIO CESAR CHAVEZ SR
“Evil Scotsman” you’ve got a good point about Duran and Hagler being better defensively. That’s why even though Ali had a fantastic chin, I wouldn’t rate him up there so highly because he was so skilled at avoiding punches rather than taking them on the chin. That is why he endured so many hard punchers without being knocked down.
There is no doubt, that George Chuvalo, has to be at the top of the all time toughest list, and, it should also be recognized by someone at the top of the WBA, that George Chuvalo did defeat Ernie Terell in a very clear way, and that their fight for the heavyweight title should be reviewed, so that George Chuvalo can be served justice, and recognized as a bonafide former world heavyweight champion. I would like to call on the WBA AND WBC, to accept this challenge, and to respond my posting in this fine boxing forum, and to do so promptly. Those two boxing organizations are all about fairness, and justice, so I do hope that somenone who is at a top level amongst them will respond.
amir khan has the best chin lol
I think it’s always hard to compare different fighters at different weights and different era’s but no doubt LaMotta was a tough nut. So was Hagler and Duran but they were much better boxers than the raging bull so probably didn’t take as much punishment over the course of their respective careers.
Jake LaMotta was tougher than Rocky Balboa! He fought more like Ricky Hatton but was much tougher! Haha
No one can take shots like Antonio Margarito!
well said “4-1″!
i think no one can take punishment like raging bull
@Floyd say
Manny? LOL
Manny was stopped early in his carreer by little guys where Jake was stopped only once by Ray Robbison who wss the greatest fighter in boxing to date!
Manny does NOT belong in this conversation!
to “anonymous” if you read the article you’ll see he has included marvin hagler in the list
I don’t know about having a better chin, but I can think of few really tough fighters who compare well, particularly Marvin Hagler who for me, was a much better fighter than LaMotta.
A prime time Hagler had everything that made him a near perfect fighting machine, with his ‘seek & destroy’ motive in almost every fight he had.
They broke the mould after they made Hagler. Roy Jones Junior and Bernard Hopkins were good middleweights champs of course, but I much preferred watching Hagler who was as tough as any fighter. I also liked Roberto Duran who also deserves acclaim as one of boxings toughest fighters.
Pacquiao of course