Who Has The Better Chin?

Errol Spence has been declaring his plan to break Terence Crawford. But as boxing analysts, we must consider both sides of the equation, can Spence be broken by Crawford?

In order to determine this, we must rate Spence’s chin. Against Peterson, Lartey, Shawn Porter, and Danny Garcia, Spence showed a good chin and recovery ability. And against Ugas, he received an unexpected well-delivered shot to the chin. Consequently, Spence got rocked but recovered well. It is important to note that in all these occasions in which he received big shots, Spence was throwing a left hand. Therefore, Spence has to be careful to not overextend his left hand against Crawford.

Now let’s analyze Crawford’s chin. Against Gamboa, Crawford got hurt but recovered and stopped Gamboa. Against Kavaliauskas, Crawford got dropped which shows some durability issue. However, interestingly, his legs were affected but his mind remained intact. When Crawford got hurt against these respective fighters, Crawford had his left hand low. That is something he has to consider against Spence. And it may be beneficial for Spence to go orthodox at times.

This fight is likely to be won in “the exchange”, therefore both fighters must be careful about their mistakes and try to take advantage of the other’s mistakes.

Based on the fact that, when Spence got rocked, Spence received those punches from better fighters and better punchers, he likely has the better chin and likely has the advantage in “punch to chin ratio”. However, at the end of the day, this fight might be won by IQ and not a good chin. When Spence brings the war, does Crawford use his instincts and skills to finish Spence? Or will Spence’s consistency prevail?