ELEVEN professional opponents tried to solve Skye Nicolson’s great mystery. They all failed. The Australian won easily. Only one opponent tested it. Tough night last year in Fresh York against Tania Alvarez. An instructive fight for Nicolson. She still won. In fact, she won well. But Alvarez made it work. So far, the only opponent to achieve this. Nicolson learned. She changed. Since then, the former Olympian has been untouchable.

On Saturday night, Raven Chapman will be the last competitor to try out. Chapman has a better chance than the rest. He is a living opponent. An undefeated challenger who, perhaps unlike most, if not all, of the Australian’s previous opponents, inspires confidence and a genuine belief in victory. Trust me, it matters.

I spoke to both of them more than once. It’s tough to see the crack in their self-confidence. It’s a fight they both want. It’s a fight they both need.

The plan to defeat Nicolson looks simple on paper. But no one has managed to do it yet. In fact, no one came close. Nicolson could disappear from view very quickly. Before you know it, the fight is practically over. You can lose five or six rounds on the cards without landing a single punch. Chapman knows he has to start speedy. If Nicolson comes out on top. She probably won’t get caught. 11 previous opponents will attest to this.

But Chapman brings a lot to the table. In nine fights and nine wins, she had to work a little harder for those wins than Nicolson did for eleven wins. A petite fact that could be crucial if the fight gets deep and fierce. If Chapman is going to win, it just has to go in this direction. She’ll know she has to make Nicolson feel more than uncomfortable.

In miniature, he needs to stick it to himself. And repeatedly. Chapman finds it very different from those who have tried before. She will have to be. Chapman will win the rounds. The question is whether he will win enough. Everything indicates that he will not do it.

This coming weekend, Nicolson and Chapman will create a little piece of history. The first women’s fight of the season in Riyad. An essential footnote in the current climate. It should have come sooner. But we have it now. A lot will fall on the shoulders of both players. The WBC featherweight world title will not be the only thing at stake on Saturday evening. For many reasons you feel that the fight must bring results.

Skye Nicolson defends her WBC bauble for the second time. He won’t admit it, but this is the first fight he’ll enter where there’s a real chance he’ll lose. But Chapman is in exactly the same situation. Maybe even more. But they both wanted this moment of truth. They both just want to know how good they are. This is sporadic in boxing. It’s a good fight.

Chapman believes he will win. “I just think I’m doing everything better. Just expect violence at night,” she told me last month.

But Nicolson has never lacked confidence. Already at the initial stage of her professional career, she called for a fight with Amanda Serrano. Honestly, she still is. Of course that won’t happen. But it won’t hurt Nicolson if he shouts.

Nicolson wants to be the greatest fighter who ever lived. Bold claims. But you have to admire the ambition. But sometimes reality hits harder than any blow. Nicolson may very well be the best featherweight in the world, but in other respects you need to be reserved. When the featherweight ranks are left behind, trouble can begin. Raven Chapman might even cause her as much trouble as she can handle this coming weekend.

Nicolson’s elusive Catch Me If You Can style isn’t for everyone. Often, single-strike attacks and refusing to attack only from a protected distance discourage many. Some will say Nicolson runs. He’ll say it’s a move. But whatever it is, it works. And quite attractive. This is her greatest weapon. It’s not up to her to change. It’s up to her opponents to decide what her style will be. Boxing Rubik’s Cube.

The fight will take place at the Kingdom Arena in Riyad, Saudi Arabia. Good fight. But also very essential. This is history. Well, sort of. An overused expression in every area of ​​life. But more in boxing. But regardless of the label, Skye Nicolson and Raven Chapman have the seismic platform and fight they wanted. It may be a moment of time. We hope that there will be many more moments like this in their sport.

AS I watched people break up this weekend’s superfight for undisputed featherlight heavyweight supremacy, I noticed that most of them were motivated by Beterbiev being an aggressive puncher and Bivol being an elusive boxer.

While this is true, there is not enough detail on just how versatile both of these men are, which is what makes this fight so compelling. It is worth noting that Beterbiev has been stopping top-class professional fighters for ten years, since he knocked out Tavoris Cloud in 2014, and Dmitry Bivol has been a world champion for seven years.

While both of these men remained largely unknown to the masses until recent years, it’s simple to forget how long they remained at the top of the boxing world.

On the stylistic side, let’s start with Arthur being a puncher. Of course, it’s true; his fists are loaded with dynamite, just a brush is enough to turn the tide and turn the tide, and I don’t feel like anyone else in the sport today has heavier hands than Beterbiev. However, he is the furthest thing from a puncher who relies solely on punch power. Beterbiev is a phenomenal technician himself. His amateur record is 295-5, and he has won major tournaments, including the World and European Championships, even beating the phenomenally talented Oleksandr Usyk.

Developing his style in line with the longer format of professional boxing, Beterbiev has perfected a solid defensive front foot stance, spearheaded by an almost impenetrable high guard. The only weakness I have found may be a slight lack of head movement, which may have been the reason for the few knockdowns he has suffered so far.

His jab is devastatingly powerful and true, and he has an excellent ability to judge distance as he closes the gap. The way he takes shots when you’re under his calculated pressure has an impact on both your body and your head, and when he’s backing away he can counterattack really precisely, as we saw with the shot he caught Callum Smith with just before he got close to the finish line. . I think his skill, IQ and technique are a bit below the radar, and Bivol’s physical strength and pop are too.

Similarly, Bivol is a combat boxing champion. His powerful jabs, footwork, combination punches and distance control are his strengths and will most likely serve as his main tools for victory. However, in my opinion, he is much stronger than many make him out to be.

He doesn’t have a high KO percentage, but on his way to the top, Bivol challenged people to one-punch KOs in the first round; just look at the Trent Broadhurst fight. Although he hasn’t stopped many fighters lately, he has them under complete control during the fight, not only due to his boxing IQ, but also his underrated strength.

True, he had a size advantage over Canelo, but no one could keep Canelo as physically forthright as Bivol. He is solid and robust, but tends to apply it more methodically, sticking to a game plan designed to secure dominant wins. In his last outing, we saw his ability to finish fights when he decided to push the action harder.

Both of these men are undeniably the best at what they excel at, and in doing so, they have beaten the best with relative ease. But what makes this fight so brilliant is that both are more than good enough in all departments to nullify the other’s superiority in some areas. In my opinion, this is a fight as tough to decide as any other, and with all the belts on the line, it makes for some great intrigue.

You cannot learn how to take a punch. Warriors can be gifted with an iron chin or cursed with a glass chin. Throughout history, many of the greatest fighters of all time have relied on their toughness to overcome adversity and remain at the top of the boxing world.

Viewers were impressed by the speed, IQ and strength of many of the technically best boxers in history, but there was also something to behold when witnessing a punch that should have crushed anyone it hits when thrown so nonchalantly.

Recent history tells us this: viral reactions of disbelief on social media and the reaction to Gennady Golovkin effortlessly passing Canelo Alvarez’s right hand racket. Like everything in boxing, everything has its levels and the ability to make a shot is the same. In contrast, the same punch has previously decimated James Kirkland and Amir Khan in consecutive KOs this year.

With this in mind, I have highlighted 20 standout players who, in my opinion, had the most hard-wearing chins in history. This list requires extensive footage of each fighter, which excludes many old-school brawlers like Harry Greb and Jack Britton, to name a few. These were men who had gone through hundreds of 15- and 20-round bouts without stopping.

In the first part of a three-part series, let’s take a look at the first selection of fighters who were almost impossible to defeat.

---

20) Canelo Alvarez – a chin that can withstand brutal punishment

As it stands, the Mexican superstar has never been dropped in a career spanning 66 fights and spanning 20 years. While Canelo’s fluid defense and instinctive ability to control shots have allowed him to withstand many of the shots he takes, he still has enough color without even being moved. From what I remember, he was only in trouble twice, briefly by Golovkin in their second fight, and as a teenager he broke down notably against Jose Miguel Cotto, coming back and winning in two fights.

Canelo’s consistent durability is more impressive considering the number of top fighters he has faced in the 154- to 175-pound weight range.

Golovkin and Kovalev are two of the most perilous knockout artists of their generation. Bivol was much bigger, and the likes of Jacobs, Munguia, Kirkland and Cotto had powerful fists.

---

19) Chris Eubank – super middleweight king with a granite beard

Eubank, one of Britain’s toughest fighters, was stopped only once in 52 fights by the mighty Carl Thompson, who even stopped future heavyweight champion David Haye. His eccentricity somewhat overshadows the fortitude he possessed, but you only have to watch his fights against legendary fighters such as Steve Collins and Nigel Benn to see that Eubank was extraordinary.

He took Joe Calzaghe to the finish before the Welsh started to have stern hand problems and stopped all but one of their opponents. Eubank’s attack on the highly rated Michael Watson, who had so tragically turned the fight to his advantage, was perhaps the most dramatic display of his toughness.

---

18) Julio Cesar Chavez – an iron man, described by Mike Tyson as one of the best of his generation

Chavez never took a step back. In his prime, the highly talented, relentless Mexican was as close to an immovable object as boxing has ever seen. Throughout 13 peak years of unparalleled greatness and dominance in the contemporary era, he remained both undefeated and on his feet before getting his first taste of the canvas against Frankie Randall in his 91st fight.

Like Canelo, Chavez was masterful defensively, but with such an aggressive style, he inevitably absorbed difficult punches. However, against big-name boxers like Edwin Rosario, they only seemed to fuel his vicious intensity after bouncing off his skull.

---

17) David Tua – The Up-to-date Zealand left hook specialist faced the toughest punches

Considering the era in which Tua fought and his miniature, compact frame, it’s truly astonishing that in his 59-fight career, he only got to the deck once and was never stopped. Some of this may be due to his own bone-crushing power, stopping opponents before they can launch their own bombs.

However, Tua continued to absorb everything that Lennox Lewis threw at him, breaking the world record for most punches thrown in a heavyweight fight against the dangerously explosive Ike Ibeabuchi in a classic! Add in fights against Michael Moorer, John Ruiz and Hasim Rahman, and Tua’s chin rivaled many of the world’s top champions during one of the best eras in the heavyweight division.

---

16) James Toney – Finding the chin of one of the defensive greats was a challenge in itself

James Toney is a freaking talent. A man who loved to fight in close combat and yet was never truly struck unscathed, from middleweight championship honors to heavyweight title fights. This was all down to Toney’s free-flowing defense, which was perfect for piercing, malicious close-up combinations. From clashes with the talented Roy Jones Jr and Michael Nunn to fearsome heavyweights Evander Holyfield, Samuel Peter and John Ruiz, Toney was never stopped in 92 fights.

Even as a shell of his former self, he had enough to avoid the force of punches from the likes of Lucas Browne and Denis Lebedev. Toney recovered from all three knockdowns of his career, which came against Jones Jr., Reggie Johnson and Samuel Peter.

---

15) George Foreman – This returning king has taken an absurd amount of punches

While George Foreman’s hellacious haymakers cemented their place in boxing history, I always felt they overshadowed the punishment the great man could endure. In 81 fights at the age of 20 and 40 in two careers, probably the two toughest periods in heavyweight history, the great George was stopped only once. The stoppage in his match against Muhammad Ali in the iconic “Rumble in the Jungle” was due to exhaustion rather than impact resistance.

George imitated the Terminator on some occasions, especially in his older years, when he constantly marched through the powerful punches of the likes of Tommy Morrison, Evander Holyfield and Michael Moorer. While Ron Lyle was able to temporarily knock down George in the greatest heavyweight fight of the 1970s, Foreman’s extraordinary recovery skills and indomitable will carried him through the unforgettable Yo-Yo fight.

---

14) Micky Ward – the timeless “Irish” fighter could never give up on sending shots

Micky Ward epitomizes resilience. Not only because of his fighting style, but also his persistence in overcoming many setbacks before Arturo Gatti starts fighting. Micky had an incredibly grueling 48-fight career before he finally made real money against his biggest rival. During these years of relative obscurity, Ward took part in one of the most brutal fights you could ever want to see, the 2001 Fight of the Year winner against Emmanuel Augustus.

Ward’s unimaginable victory over Alfonso Sanchez came drastically after he suffered such a severe beating that commentators, who later came to worship Micky, heavily criticized him and consistently criticized the continuation of the fight. But it was the three wars with Gatti, considered the most brutal trilogy in boxing history, that cemented Ward’s legacy as one of boxing’s most courageous fighters. In 51 fights, including some of boxing’s fiercest, Ward was stopped only once, on cuts.