Dan Morley has reached the final group of boxing tough guys…who will come out at number one?
7) Rocky Marciano – a great chin alongside an underrated skillset
The Brockton Blockbuster had almost every physical disadvantage imaginable for a heavyweight champion. Weighing barely more than today’s light heavyweights with the shortest arms of any heavyweight champion in history, Rocky was always up against it in the heavyweight division.
Yet, with unmatched fitness and legendary power, Rocky marched down all before him, amassing an unrivalled 49-0 record as heavyweight champion. While the record showcases perfection, Marciano had to endure relentless punishment to achieve it, constantly opting to outgun slicker and bigger opponents.
In the two occasions he was dropped, by Jersey Joe Walcott and Archie Moore, he scored KO victories. On the verge of defeat, with the tip of his nose split in half, Marciano forced the finish against Ezzard Charles. ‘The Rock’ had a perfect nickname, befitting someone as sturdy and immovable as he was.
(Original Caption) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Joe Walcott’s face is a misshapen mass under the force of a blow from Rocky Marciano. Rocky was losing on points when he K.O.’d Jersey Joe with the right to win the heavyweight crown in the 13th round. (Photo by UPI/Bettmann via Getty Images)
6) Gennady Golovkin – power, balance and immense durability
It’s extremely rare that you can recall a retired fighter who has seemingly never once been shaken by a headshot. Whilst the odd body shot has pushed Golovkin backwards, across 395 fights as a top-tier amateur and elite professional, the Kazakh has never seemingly been wobbled.
Gennady possessed elite footwork that maintained perfect balance, using shoulders to ride shots and subtle head movement. Still, on the few occasions opponents caught him clean in his pomp, the shots had no effect. Curtis Stevens and Daniel Geale found this out the hard way, both landing clean power punches only to be dropped themselves moments later.
Golovkin absorbed punches from Canelo Alvarez that had blown previous opponents away while also shaking off punches from David Lemieux, Curtis Stevens, Daniel Jacobs, Ryoto Murata, and many others.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – SEPTEMBER 17: Canelo Alvarez (red trunks) lands a punch against Gennadiy Golovkin (white trunks) in round five of the fight for the Super Middleweight Title at T-Mobile Arena on September 17, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
5) Kid Gavilán – the ‘Cuban Hawk’ had a chin to match his ability
Potentially the most influential Cuban professional boxer ever. Gavilán tussled with a prime Sugar Ray Robinson on multiple occasions before claiming the welterweight title himself and ruling for three years, engaging in action-packed brawls across the torrid 1950s.
The title fight victory against Gil Turner was perhaps the most ferocious, high-intensity back-and-forth welterweight title fight ever seen, with both men exchanging like savages.
Despite honing a crafty skillset, possessing wonderful movement and a brilliant IQ, Gavilán often opted to slug with anyone. With just 28 KOs in 143 professional fights, many of these went the distance. Across all of those fights, he was decked just twice and never stopped.
4) Muhammad Ali – a chin so strong it soaked up a lifetime of punishment
The Louisville Lip was so fast, illusive and dominant in his prime that he hardly ever took punches cleanly. On the rare occasions where he was caught clean and decked with headshots by Doug Jones, Henry Cooper and Joe Frazier, he either recovered to secure victory or saw the final bell. In his older days, when the reflexes had slowed down, Ali relied more on his toughness, opting to rope-a-dope opponents and take all they could throw.
Ali has fought more notable all-time great punchers than any other fighter I can think of, squaring off with George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Sonny Liston, Ken Norton, Earnie Shavers, Floyd Patterson, Henry Cooper, Cleveland Williams, Ron Lyle, and Larry Holmes, amongst many others.
The left hooks Joe Frazier bombarded Ali with were sickening. Ken Norton famously shattered his jaw, and Foreman pounded away on, around, and through his guard. It’s quite concerning how many clean punches Ali took from menacing punchers, yet he was never once knocked out, only pulled out once against Larry Holmes, completely past his prime.
New York, N.Y.: Joe Frazier, left, hits Muhammad Ali during the 15th round of their heavyweight boxing title fight at New York’s Madison Square Garden on March 8, 1971. (Photo by Dick Morseman/Newsday RM via Getty Images)
3) Marvin Hagler – able to withstand powerful barrages throughout his long career
Hagler bludgeoned his way to victory in two of the greatest fights of the 1980s: the wars with Thomas Hearns and John Mugabi. On both occasions, ‘Marvellous’ bit down on the gumshield and ploughed through the fists of the hardest punchers in the division to drag out emphatic knockout victories, cementing his legacy as a true boxing great.
Whilst it’s easy to reminisce about the greatest fights of the time, it’s worth remembering all of the tough competitors that were toppled on the way to the title in those extremely underrated Philadelphia wars. Fighters like Bennie Briscoe and Willie Monroe tested Hagler exponentially before he’d ever got a hold of the crown. Eventually claiming world honours after 53 fights, no one could snatch the crown from the champion.
It is even reported that Hagler had an unusually thick skull, which could further suggest why it was so difficult to budge him when in range and why the sole knockdown of his career, an extremely controversial one against Juan Roldan, was the only time Hagler was ever seen down on the canvas, albeit only for a second.
2) Jake LaMotta – this warrior literally rolled with the punches
Punches just bounced off of Jake Lamotta’s chin. The former middleweight champion of the world possessed a near superhuman ability to soak up punishment and remain standing, so much so that the iconic line ‘You never got me down Ray’ has been etched into cinema history as one of the most iconic quotes in film history, popularised by Robert De Niro’s mesmeric performance as Lamotta in Raging Bull.
The scene in which the quote appears re-enacts the “St Valentine’s Day Massacre” fight vs Sugar Ray Robinson, one of six times the pair fought. To this day, it remains one of the most savage beatings a fighter has ever taken whilst remaining upright.
In over 100 fights in the roughest era in middleweight history, with a brutal, brawling style, Lamotta was knocked down just once. Lamotta fought fellow great middleweights Marcel Cerdan, Laurent Dauhtaille, Fritzie Zivic, and Holman Williams and even stopped notable punching heavyweight Bob Satterfield.
1) George Chuvalo – legendary tough guy refused to crumble against the biggest and best of his era
Undeniably, in my opinion, the greatest chin in the history of boxing. Chuvalo was a pure tough man, holding a high guard and standing chest to chest with opponents, slugging away until one fell. In 95 pro fights, Chuvalo never hit the deck once. In truth, when heavyweight greats caught him clean, it seemed to hurt their fists more than his head.
When you dig into the opposition Chuvalo was scrapping with, it makes his insane chin even more unbelievable. The Canadian fought prime versions of George Foreman, Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali twice, also taking on Floyd Patterson, Cleveland Williams, Oscar Bonavena, Jimmy Ellis, Jerry Quarry and many others!
After Muhammad Ali had outpointed Chuvalo, Ali was taken to the hospital, and Chuvalo took his wife out dancing. On the two occasions he was stopped by Frazier and Foreman, he remained on his feet with the ref preventing him accumulating any more damage.
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