Chin (combat sports)
In combat sports such as boxing, kickboxing and mixed martial arts, a fighter's chin is a figurative term that refers to an ability to tolerate physical trauma to the chin or jaw without being knocked unconscious. The fictional Rocky Balboa character of the Rocky franchise epitomizes the concept of a boxer with a granite chin.
Overview
A fighter with a "good chin" refers to a fighter with the ability to absorb blows to the chin or jaw without being struck unconscious, which can also be called a "granite chin", an "iron chin" or similar. Generally, the jaw portion of the skull, and specifically the point of the chin, is the area most vulnerable to a knock-out blow and therefore having an exceptional tolerance to punishment in this area is a great advantage to a fighter.
A "bad chin", "china chin", "suspect chin", or "glass jaw" refers to fighters with limited ability to absorb punishment to the chin or jaw. Many clubfighters and journeymen may have glass chins, although it may depend on weight class or sometimes legs. Some boxing experts, such as Teddy Atlas, believe it to be a mindframe. Additionally, some fighters have been known to have better chins as a result of moving up to a higher weight class. One example of this is Miguel Cotto, who was seen as having a relatively weak chin at light welterweight but was harder to hurt once he moved up to welterweight.[1]
Notable chins
Boxing
The following boxers have been known to possess a strong chin:
- Muhammad Ali[2]
- David Allen
- Carmen Basilio[3]
- Julio César Chávez
- Carl Froch
- George Chuvalo[3]
- Randall "Tex" Cobb[2]
- Chris Eubank[4]
- Tommy Farr[3]
- George Foreman[5]
- Gene Fullmer[3]
- Kid Gavilan[3]
- Gennady Golovkin[6]
- Harry Greb[3]
- Marvin Hagler[3]
- Evander Holyfield[5]
- Bernard Hopkins[7]
- Glen Johnson[8]
- Vitali Klitschko[5]
- Jake LaMotta[3]
- Rocky Marciano[3]
- Oliver McCall[5]
- Wayne McCullough[7]
- Ray Mercer[5]
- Carlos Monzón[3]
- Sugar Ray Robinson[2]
- Barney Ross[2]
- Salvador Sanchez[2]
- James Toney[7]
- David Tua[7]
Kickboxing
The following kickboxers have been known to possess a strong chin:
Mixed martial arts
The following list of mixed martial artists are known to have a strong chin:
- Yoshihiro Akiyama[15]
- Stephan Bonnar[16][17]
- Shane Carwin[18]
- Daniel Cormier[19]
- Carlos Condit[20]
- Patrick Côté[21]
- Nick Diaz[16]
- Nate Diaz[22]
- Junior Dos Santos [23]
- Brian Ebersole[24]
- Frankie Edgar[25]
- Fedor Emelianenko (earlier in his career)[26]
- Don Frye[27]
- Kazuyuki Fujita[28]
- Leonard Garcia[29]
- Clay Guida[16][30]
- Dan Henderson[16][31]
- Heath Herring[32]
- Mark Hunt[12][33]
- Quinton Jackson[34]
- John Lineker[35]
- Chris Lytle[36]
- Roy Nelson[37][38]
- Ian McCall[39]
- BJ Penn [40]
- Kazushi Sakuraba [41]
- Diego Sanchez[16][42]
References
- ↑ Emen, Jake (2009-08-28). "Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto Preview & Predictions".
- 1 2 3 4 5 "The Fight City - An independent boxing websiteThe Fight City". Bestboxingblog.com. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Houston, Graham (2008-01-08). "The Ten Best Chins in Boxing History". ESPN. Retrieved 2011-04-17.
- ↑ "Best I’ve Faced: Nigel Benn - Ring TV". Ringtv.craveonline.com. 2013-08-15. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Top ten chins in heavyweight history". Livefight.com. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
- ↑ Briggs Seekins (2014-06-13). "Ranking the 10 Best Chins in Boxing Today". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
- 1 2 3 4 "The 10 best chins in boxing". ESPN.
- ↑ http://www.badlefthook.com/2009/4/5/821292/best-chins-in-boxing. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - 1 2 3 4 5 6 https://web.archive.org/web/20110912023216/http://www.centralkickboxing.org/Articles/hardheads.htm. Archived from the original on September 12, 2011. Retrieved June 13, 2011. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20121226063807/http://fightsportasia.com/2012/02/07/bovy-loses-shootboxing-bout-to-former-boxer-suzuki/. Archived from the original on December 26, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2012. Missing or empty
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(help) - ↑ "LiverKick". LiverKick.com. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
- 1 2 "HugeDomains.com - BestMmaFighters.com is for sale". Best Mma Fighters. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
- ↑ "Badr Hari vs. Alexey Ignashov; a Battle of the Bad Boys". Ninjashoes.net. 2010-03-30. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20111218171430/http://fiveknuckles.com/mma-news/K-1-legend-Ray-Sefo-to-make-Strikeforce-debut-against-Kevin-Jordan.html. Archived from the original on December 18, 2011. Retrieved June 12, 2011. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20110227094347/http://ktfomma.com/ufc-116-fighter-yoshihiro-akiyama. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011. Retrieved June 3, 2011. Missing or empty
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(help) - 1 2 3 4 5 "UFC Power Rankings: Nick Diaz and the Top 5 Chins Right Now". bleacherreport.com. 2012-07-27. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
- ↑ http://www.fightersonlymagazine.co.uk/features/viewarticle.php?id=4928. Retrieved June 12, 2011. Missing or empty
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(help) - ↑ "UFC 131 Results: Shane Carwin's Face after Junior dos Santos Bloodied It". Bleacher Report. 2011-06-12. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
- ↑ Chisanga Malata (2017-04-09). "UFC 210: Daniel Cormier retains LWH title with submission victory over Anthony Johnson". The Daily Star.
- ↑ Dustin Filloy (2014-09-17). "Ranking the 7 Best (and Worst) Chins in MMA History". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
- ↑ Brian Oswald (2008-10-21). "UFC 90: Patrick Cote can upset Silva?". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
- ↑ "Nick Diaz vs Jeff Lacy: Contract Signed For Fall Showdown - Boxing News". Boxingscene.com. 2011-05-06. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
- ↑ Mike Henken (2016-03-21). LowKickMMA http://www.lowkickmma.com/lists/iron-chins-10-of-the-toughest-ufc-fighters-today/8/. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - ↑ Dustin Filloy (2014-09-17). "Ranking the 7 Best (and Worst) Chins in MMA History". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
- ↑ "Why Frankie Edgar Is the Toughest Fighter in MMA Today". Bleacher Report. 2013-02-01. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
- ↑ "5 Reasons Why Fedor Emelianenko Could Beat Dan Henderson | MMA News". Fighters.com. 2014-06-20. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
- ↑ Lima, Orlando (2011-08-26). "Don Frye vs Tank Abbott - The 50 Best Submissions in the History of MMA". Complex.com. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
- ↑ O'Brien, Daniel. "Worst Life Ever: The Story of Kazuyuki Fujita's Skull". Cracked.com. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
- ↑ . mmaweekly. 2007-04-07 http://www.mmaweekly.com/ufc-69-review-matt-serra-shocks-the-world-2. Missing or empty
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(help) - ↑ Vince Carey (2011-06-05). "TUF 13 Finale Results: Clay Guida Finally Has What It Takes to Win a UFC Title". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
- ↑ Liam Ward (2011-03-06). "Strikeforce Columbus: Dan Henderson and the Top 10 Chins in MMA Today". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
- ↑ http://bleacherreport.com/articles/193847-the-real-iron-men-the-top-ten-toughest-chins-in-mma-history. Missing or empty
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(help) - ↑ "Mark Hunt Recalls the Several Times He has Seen the Grim Reaper". bjpenn.com. 2015-06-15. Retrieved 2016-03-22.
- ↑ Darren Wong (2010-03-02). "The Top 10 Threats To Fedor Emelianenko (and 12 Non-Threats)". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
- ↑ "UFC 207: TJ Dillashaw Vs. John Lineker Results: Winner and reaction from UFC 207". Bleacher Report.
- ↑ "UFC 116 Preview: Chris Lytle Eyeballing Another Bonus Check Against Matt Brown". Bloody Elbow. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120317052432/http://www.squabbles.com/2010/08/roy-nelson-shows-granite-chin-in-loss-to-junior-dos-santos/. Archived from the original on March 17, 2012. Retrieved August 12, 2011. Missing or empty
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(help) - ↑ "The Golden Bell: The Secret to Roy Nelson's Iron Chin". fightland.vice.com. 2014-09-09. Retrieved 2016-03-22.
- ↑ Riley Kontek (2013-05-07). "Best Chins by UFC Division". Bleacher Report.
- ↑ Dustin Filloy (2014-09-17). "Ranking the 7 Best (and Worst) Chins in MMA History". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120312035908/http://www.blitzcorner.com/MMA/Kazushi-Sakuraba-Most-Brutal-Beatings-Tribute. Archived from the original on March 12, 2012. Retrieved June 12, 2011. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - ↑ "Clay Guida, Rick Story and the 10 Best Chins in the UFC". Bleacher Report. 2011-06-01. Retrieved 2016-03-02.