How good was Mercer's chin...

[Russell]

In his prime?

The only people I've ever seen take Lennox's overhand, downward right is Tua and McCall.

Is prime Mercer's chin beyond either one of theirs?

[DamonD]

Considering he took several of Lewis's overhand rights, along with all his right uppercuts and left hooks too...I'd certainly say it was right up there with those guys.

I think it's the 9th round, where Lewis just throws a total Rahman-crusher of a right hand. Whizzzz-splat! The sweat blasts off Ray's head, he barely budges, and he just continues coming forward.

[brooklyn1550]

Top 10 ever at heavyweight

[ChrisPontius]

His chin was as good as any. I'm currently compiling a video of Lewis' best landed punches and despite his fight with Mercer being close, he hit Mercer more and harder than basically any other opponent he fought.

Even at age of 40 he was floored only once by Wladimir Klitschko which was more a butchery than a fight. The TKO loss against Briggs was a quit job after being repeatedly punched behind the head.

[Russell]

He seemed to lose the chin with age, anyway.

Some of his MMA fights show that...

[mr. magoo]

He took the very best that Lewis, Morrison, Witherspoon, and Cooper had to offer. I'd say that speaks for itself....

[DamonD]

I remember him being cut and shaken up by Brian Scott around...2000 or so, I think. That's when I first started to worry that his durability was starting to slip.

[fists of fury]

Mercer's chin was bona fida granite.

The fight that convinced me of this was the Morrison fight, where for the first three rounds Mercer absorbed Tommy's best power shots without budging.

I think his chin ranks right up there with the best of them.

[jackiebrown]

mercer is mean as a rattle snake .. i dont think his chin was as good as his will to be merciless .. lol .. guy was fuckin insane with his chin lol .. in all honesty...if someone busted him in the face with a baseball bat it would not suprise me at all if he fucked them up without budgeing

[TBooze]

Mercer's chin was excellent for 12 years, but it is not an absolute bona-fide concrete chin because it did not last the whole of his career.

The likes of Chuvalo and McCullough were damaged goods by the end of their career, but despite this, you still could not take them off their feet...Mercer cannot say that.

[Senya13]

Chuvalo was only 32 years old when he got knocked out by Foreman. Several clean punches were enough to have him pretty much senseless even though he stayed on his feet.

[TBooze]

Chuvalo was only 32 years old when he got knocked out by Foreman. Several clean punches were enough to have him pretty much senseless even though he stayed on his feet.

But he did not go down, unlike Mercer against Holyfield and Wlad

[Senya13]

Chuvalo never faced the row of punchers Mercer faced, or otherwise he'd have several more stoppage losses.

[Mendoza]

His chin was as good as any. I'm currently compiling a video of Lewis' best landed punches and despite his fight with Mercer being close, he hit Mercer more and harder than basically any other opponent he fought.

Even at age of 40 he was floored only once by Wladimir Klitschko which was more a butchery than a fight. The TKO loss against Briggs was a quit job after being repeatedly punched behind the head.

Mercer had an all time chin for sure. He took some early bombs from Morrison, and solid shots from Lewis. In the Wlad fight, he was hit with many hard shots including an early hook that turned his body sideways with outgoing down! After the fight Wlad said Mercer had the best chin of anyone he’s been in there with.

The trouble with Mercer is I felt he took a break in his knockdown vs Holyfield, and had some " off " efforts in other fights. If Mercer’s will to win was a bit better, perhaps he could have achieved greater acclaim. He had the jab, the chin, a nice over hand right, and great finishing ability when his man was hurt.

[DamonD]

Well, that was always Mercer's biggest problem. He could be very lacklustre in training sometimes and inconsistant in his performances. Sometimes he really didn't use his brains too well in there.

Compare his fights against Morrison, Holyfield and Lewis to his efforts against Ferguson and Wilson, or the way he got totally befuddled by Holmes.

[Unforgiven]

Well, that was always Mercer's biggest problem. He could be very lacklustre in training sometimes and inconsistant in his performances. Sometimes he really didn't use his brains too well in there.

Compare his fights against Morrison, Holyfield and Lewis to his efforts against Ferguson and Wilson, or the way he got totally befuddled by Holmes.

Well, he looked well out of shape against Lennox Lewis to be honest. His conditioning let him down, he actually seemed fitter against Holmes.

[bigG]

....one of the best, if not THE best chins in boxing when he was active...his fights against morrison and lewis were career highs for me.....jeez, lewis musta started to doubt he was a puncher in that fight......

[achillesthegreat]

It was definitely gold. Lewis landed hum dingers. Part of the reason that fight was close is because Lewis work was registering the same as it would against another opponent. Another opponent would be stunned, hurt, dropped, stopped, he'd have to take a backwards step, he'd have to a little more defensive, he'd be wary but Mercer soaks it up like a sponge soaks up water.

[DamonD]

And it wasn't the only one. As Mendoza said, Morrison hit Mercer with every shot in the book but Ray didn't go down. I'm also thinking of the bombfest with Cooper, and the way he soaked up everything Damiani threw at him for several rounds before crushing Damiani's nose for the win.

He did come in heavier against Lewis and I did think that affected his movement and workrate. Ironically, it probably did boost his punch resistance though. Even more of Mercer to absorb shots.

[hobgoblin]

After the fight Wlad said Mercer had the best chin of anyone he’s been in there with. .

I don't mean to go off topic - but Wlad here is clearly favoring the guy he beat (who was 40) against the guy that beat him. Wlad beat the shit out of Ross the Boss but got tired of doing it :lol: because Purrity had a great chin (better than FORTY YEAR OLD Mercer) and so he lost. Purrity is one of those fighters that will be forgotten and overlooked because he sucks, but will wrongly be omitted in specific categories like "best chin" because no one knows him. 40 year old Mercer was not the most durable guy Wladdy faced.

[DamonD]

Puritty is a great example of someone that had one excellent, world-class attribute, but not the rest of the package to make him a champion. But that one attribute could make him a fighter you needed to be careful with!

Marion Wilson is another guy with a great chin but even less recognition.

[Senya13]

Chuvalo needed only several clean punches to be out on his feet. Even Ron Lyle took more punches from Foreman without going down or being out on his feet.
The greatness of Chuvalo's chin is vastly overrated.

[Zakman]

Certainly one of the best HW chins since I've been following boxing - post-Chuvalo, only McCall and perhaps Tua were better.

[Russell]

Certainly one of the best HW chins since I've been following boxing - post-Chuvalo, only McCall and perhaps Tua were better.

Lewis seemed to affect Tua a little more than he did Mercer from what I remember.

[apollack]

Mercer had the best damn chin in boxing in the 1990s. He took them flush and didn't budge.

[mr. magoo]

.Briggs knocked him out.Briggs couldnt hurt Foreman.Holyfield dropped Mercer but he landed more on Foreman and couldnt drop him.

Briggs couldn't hurt Foreman, because Foreman's defense and overall fighting style was better suited for Briggs, than Mercer's. It doesn't say anything about Ray's chin.


Taking Lennox Lewis punch proves what?So did a OLD Holyfield but a younger Holyfield was knocked out by Bowe.


Holyfield was 36 when he fought a 33 year old Lewis. Mercer was 35 facing a 31 year old Lewis, and he hadn't won a fight in nearly 3 years. If you're going to use age to make a point, at least do it properly by looking at it from all angles. Also, the Bowe knockout came when he Evander was at a lowe point in hos career. He was coming back after a layoff, during which he was diagnosed with a life threatening heart condition. What's more, he was in there with a guy who had met him on 2 previous occasions, and knew him pretty well.

To have a top 10 chin you would have to face the biggest punchers the division had to offer and get hit by their punches and walk right though them..

First of all, you don't necessarily have to walk through punches to have an all time great chin. Cobb, Mccall, Chuvalo and Ali were all top chins, and believe me, they were hurt plenty of times. What's more do consider Tommy Morrison, Burt Cooper, Lennox Lewis and Tim Witherspoon to be cream puffs? Those guys hit like trucks, and mercer survived all of them.



If you are stopped it has to be because the ref stopped it while you were still on your feet.Mercer can't say this.Infact only few people can.You can't say Ali because he was knocked down serveral times in his career with one punch by guys who were smaller than he was.He also was hurt big time by Doug Jones a 180 or so odd pound man.McCall didnt face many huge punchers in his career and if you think sparring with Tyson without being knocked down means anything then well you know in sparring boxers wear bigger gloves and use head gear?Tyson couldnt knock out Holyfield in a real boxing match.
Chuvalo had a great chin because of what i just said.Hagler fought John Mugabi and went to war with him and wasnt knocked down so he has a great chin.Foreman fought various guys including Briggs at 48 and Morrison who after 1 or 2 rounds realized he couldnt hurt Foreman and ran the rest of the fight,Holyfield landed 25 punches in a row against Foreman without being able to drop him.Alex Stewart was a huge puncher with a kind of weak chin but he landed countless hard punches which broke Foremans nose and he still wouldnt go down which proves his chin.Tua has never been hurt in his career or down,i am sure if i thought about it i could come up with some more great chins.
Mercer is not one of them and his only really good win in his career came against Morrison in a fight he was losing until Morrison got tired and trapped against the ropes.Mercer usually lost when he stepped up so not only isn't his chin a all time great his skills period are kind of iffy at best.
[/QUOTE]

I don't even want t bother responding to the rest of this.

[anut]

i remember him being cut and shaken up by brian scott around...2000 or so, i think. That's when i first started to worry that his durability was starting to slip.


yes i totally agree with u/ he was wobbled pretty bad in the 1st rd.....mercer was starting to fade/

[FJAY360]

A great chin but not impregnable, I would put him in the teir below the likes of Chuvalo, Mccall ect

[frankenfrank]

Good enough to get floored by Holyfield , his stoppage losses aside and still not watching the 2 Fergusson fights

[he grant]

Chuvalo was only 32 years old when he got knocked out by Foreman. Several clean punches were enough to have him pretty much senseless even though he stayed on his feet.

Chuvalo was inhuman ... I've heard it argued that the fight was stopped prematurely which is insane. I've never seen a man hit as hard as often in a round as Foreman hit Chuvalo flush and Chuvalo took it ... for a second he cringed but he simply stood and took bomb after bomb from a prime, fresh Foreman ... it was terrorfying to watch ...

Mercer was exceptionally tough, his chin right up there ... the bombs he took from Morrison and especially Lewis were unreal ... when he went down against Wlad he was 41 years old and Wlad still fought like he had balls at the time ..

Chuvalo, Mercer, McCall were simply monsters when it came to their chins .. a prime Tex obb was right there as well ..

[Kalasinn]

Chuvalo had a great chin, but for his chin's reputation, he was lucky the Foreman fight was stopped at 1:41 of round 3. Chuvalo was on Queer Street & taking a clubbing from Big George. I'm very unsure if he could've stayed on his feet for the remaining 1:19 of the 3rd. Personally i think Chuvalo was about to go down from the battering of bombs.

[he grant]

Chuvalo had a great chin, but for his chin's reputation, he was lucky the Foreman fight was stopped at 1:41 of round 3. Chuvalo was on Queer Street & taking a clubbing from Big George. I'm very unsure if he could've stayed on his feet for the remaining 1:19 of the 3rd. Personally i think Chuvalo was about to go down from the battering of bombs.
Right but Foreman had hit him flush over twenty times ... How many men could take those bombs from George and keep standing after two or three ?

[Kalasinn]

Right but Foreman had hit him flush over twenty times ... How many men could take those bombs from George and keep standing after two or three ?

Not many at all, if they were getting hit as often.

My point was just that Chuvalo was lucky it was stopped, before he was dropped.

[Bonecrusher]

Mercer had an amazing CHIN!!

One of the best heavyweight chins I have ever seen... A buddy and I used to marvel over how Ray would just come forward getting blasted and be unfazed, it just seemed to piss him off much more then hurt him..

Mercer fought some good punchers, I remember when he fought Bert Cooper who was on in this fight and in very good shape, Mercer had his jaw broken by Cooper it literally looked like he had a softball in his cheek.. And this was the same Cooper who hurt Holyfield bad and bounced Moorer off the canvas.. Bert could punch...

In rounds one and three I know for sure Morrison threw his best shots right at Mercer and Ray just kept coming unfazed by them...

Holmes not a big hitter but still bounced shot after shot off of Ray as did Ferguson and pretty much everyone Ray fought...

Lennox and Witherspoon both hit him with there best shots and again Ray just kept on coming... I remember one sequence in the Lewis fight where Lewis just unloaded a beautiful combo with a cross and an uppercut and it did nothing, same thing in the Spoon fight he hit Mercer hard with his big right hand and again there was Ray..... Nuff said here, the Mercer chin was concrete....

[he grant]

Not many at all, if they were getting hit as often.

My point was just that Chuvalo was lucky it was stopped, before he was dropped.

Before he was killed .... start at the 8:05 mark ...

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

[PowerPuncher]

Tooking your chin makes you very hard to KO, Mercer tooked his chin well

[Hookie]

In his prime?

The only people I've ever seen take Lennox's overhand, downward right is Tua and McCall.

Is prime Mercer's chin beyond either one of theirs?

I'd say all 3 have top notch chins... among the best ever.

Tua has taken hard shots from Lewis, Rahman x2, Ibeabuchi, Maskaev, Izon, and others.

McCall has taken hard shots from Lewis x2, Seldon, Bruno, Douglas, and others.

Mercer has taken hard shots from Lewis, Morrison, Cooper, Holyfield, Witherspoon, and others.

They all have or had... tried and true granite chins.

[ironchamp]

I tend to think it was a pretty solid chin but I also believe that he was not KO proof. He could be stopped and his fight with Holyfield showed us that.

Mercer's style he moves forward and he occasionally backpedals, not necessarily when hurt but it is part of how he fights. After he got dropped by Evander, he never really recovered and IMO appeared shaky for the rest of the fight. He was in the previous round stalking Evander yet after the KD he was being chased around the ring practically. I personally think he would have suffered a TKO loss had it been a 12 rounder.

My observation.

[Kalasinn]

I tend to think it was a pretty solid chin but I also believe that he was not KO proof. He could be stopped and his fight with Holyfield showed us that.

Mercer's style he moves forward and he occasionally backpedals, not necessarily when hurt but it is part of how he fights. After he got dropped by Evander, he never really recovered and IMO appeared shaky for the rest of the fight. He was in the previous round stalking Evander yet after the KD he was being chased around the ring practically. I personally think he would have suffered a TKO loss had it been a 12 rounder.

My observation.

Very good point ironchamp, i agree. :good

Mercer would've been stopped on his feet by Holy's combinations in the 11th or 12th.

[MAG1965]

a good chin and almost great. He has a compact body which is better for taking punches than say Michael Moorer at heavyweight.

[apollack]

Ray Mercer had a phenomenal chin.

[lefthook31]

Mercer took a lot of clean shots by big punchers, Morrison Lewis etc. He had a dam good chin. It was amazing to see him go down from the shot Holyfield landed on him. Just goes to show you accuracy is as important as power, and Holyfield was a hell of an accurate puncher at times.

[young griffo]

Before he was killed .... start at the 8:05 mark ...

[Only registered and activated users can see links]
How Chuvalo remained upright after the first left hook Foreman landed is testament to how amazing his chin was imo.

I remember reading that Arthur Mercante ranked that punch as the single most powerful he had seen in his entire career as a referee (until matched by Tommy Morrison's monster shot against Razor Ruddock).

A brutal punch.

[Cachibatches]

His chin was as good as any. I'm currently compiling a video of Lewis' best landed punches and despite his fight with Mercer being close, he hit Mercer more and harder than basically any other opponent he fought.

Even at age of 40 he was floored only once by Wladimir Klitschko which was more a butchery than a fight. The TKO loss against Briggs was a quit job after being repeatedly punched behind the head.
Holyfield?

[he grant]

I tend to think it was a pretty solid chin but I also believe that he was not KO proof. He could be stopped and his fight with Holyfield showed us that.

Mercer's style he moves forward and he occasionally backpedals, not necessarily when hurt but it is part of how he fights. After he got dropped by Evander, he never really recovered and IMO appeared shaky for the rest of the fight. He was in the previous round stalking Evander yet after the KD he was being chased around the ring practically. I personally think he would have suffered a TKO loss had it been a 12 rounder.

My observation.

I had read Mercer went down from pain caused by a cracked rib but the tape shows Evander really did drop him ... and hurt him, not just a flash ... [Only registered and activated users can see links] go to 3:00 mark