Who could have been great (or greater) if they hadn't got glass jaws?

[hemichromis]

I ask this because the chin/jaw is the only thing a fighter has no control over.
You can work on your speed,power,tactics but you can't toughen up your jaw.

Bruno would have become champ he may have beaten lennox lewis and may have beaten a prime tyson, he certainly would have beaten pinklon thomas and tim witherspoon. unfortunately his chin was an OFF switch, one clean shot and he fel asleep.

Hearns was a great anyway but if he had even an average chin i would say he would have been the best fighter p4p of all time


Who else??

[Verstyle]

julian jackson......

[Kid Achilles]

Julian Jackson, Bob Satterfield, Wlad Klitschko, Michael Moorer (maybe not great but a much better champion at least), Earnie Shavers, Tommy Hearns, many others.

[THE REAL NINJA]

Shavers,Norton,Floyd Patterson

[King Koyle]

Not great,but greater...

-Shannon Briggs
-Tommy Morrison
-Hasim Rahman

[Tuggers1986]

Naseem Hamed, His mouth ruined his career.

[hhascup]

There many that come to mind. Tippy Larkin who I knew very well and I gave him his Eulogy when he passed away comes to mind. He was also a very good friend of my wife and I.

When I asked Ike Williams, who was the best pure boxer he ever fought, he said without a doubt, it was Tippy Larkin. I said, you KO'ed him in 4 rounds. He said, yea, BUT i the 1st 3, he gave me a boxing lesson.

He lost a 10 rounder to Jackie Kid Berg when he injuryed his right hand in the 1st round. All the other Decision losses were early in his career.

He came close to shutting out Billy Graham in 1947. Here's the scoring and what they said:
Scoring in rounds: 7-2-1, 8-2, 9-1
Larkin appeared to lose the 1st round, but then clearly outboxed Graham the rest of the way. New York Times

All the rest of his losses were by knockouts!

[butterfly1964]

I can't believe you all haven't mentioned the obvious one, Lennox Lewis! He would have been top three for sure if he had a great chin.

[SABBATH]

There many that come to mind. Tippy Larkin who I knew very well and I gave him his Eulogy when he passed away comes to mind. He was also a very good friend of my wife and I.

When I asked Ike Williams, who was the best pure boxer he ever fought, he said without a doubt, it was Tippy Larkin. I said, you KO'ed him in 4 rounds. He said, yea, BUT i the 1st 3, he gave me a boxing lesson.

He lost a 10 rounder to Jackie Kid Berg when he injuryed his right hand in the 1st round. All the other Decision losses were early in his career.

He came close to shutting out Billy Graham in 1947. Here's the scoring and what they said:
Scoring in rounds: 7-2-1, 8-2, 9-1
Larkin appeared to lose the 1st round, but then clearly outboxed Graham the rest of the way. New York Times

All the rest of his losses were by knockouts!

Thanks for the insight Henry. I'll have to re-examine Tippy a little closer since he didn't immediately spring to mind. I met Jackie Kid Berg at Aaron Pryor's training camp. That was in 1984 and Jackie was obviously a very old man at the time.

I had high hopes for heavyweight John Tate who looked very promising KO'ing Duane Bobick and Kallie Knoetze. I was concerned about his chin after the 1976 Olympics when Teofilo Stevenson KO'd him, but when his chin held up against Coetzee, I though he would go on to eventually overtake Larry Holmes.

[Southpaw Stinger]

I think any known fighter would be a bit greater if they didn't have glass jaws. shavers is the obvious choice mind.