Rocky Marciano

[Hawkins]

After seeing alot of people run down Marciano as being nothing but an overrated bum I decided to go back and watch the fights of his that I have.

It had been several years since I had seen some of his fights and wanted to brush up abit. After watching them I came away with a couple of new impressions about The Rock.

First, during the latter stages of his career he was very hard to hit. He was constantly moving, crouching, bending and moving at the waist, moving from side to side. This made for a very difficult target to hit. His defense was VERY underrated. He might not have been the most technically proficient nor look the best doing it but it was very effective.

Second. the man was truly relentless. He did not tire. Saying he threw punches in bunches wis an understatement. He was constantly swinging, ****ing punches off any and every part of your body. His opponents got tired yet he kept punching. Not only that, every punch he threw was thrown with alot of power and bad intentions.

When facing the Rock, by the latter your rounds you're not only tired but your body hurts all over. The guy in front of you just keeps coming and hitting you every where with hard, thudding shots. Before you know it you catch one on the chin and your staring at the lights.

Anyway, he may have been undersized for todays game, but truly, what heavyweight in the world today could deal with someone as relentless and tireless as the Rock?

It's my contention that most of these guys today wouldn't be able to last into the late rounds. By the time the latter rounds roll around most heavyweights are gassed, just imagine how tired they would be having to fend off a human buzz saw like Rocky? I'm not saying he would be invincible, however, he would do alot better than alot of you guys think he would - especially in todays joke of a heavyweight division.

[hhascup]

After seeing alot of people run down Marciano as being nothing but an overrated bum I decided to go back and watch the fights of his that I have.

It had been several years since I had seen some of his fights and wanted to brush up abit. After watching them I came away with a couple of new impressions about The Rock.

First, during the latter stages of his career he was very hard to hit. He was constantly moving, crouching, being and moving at the waist, moving from side to side. This made for a very difficult target to hit. His defense was VERY underrated. He might not have been the most technically proficient nor look the best doing it but it was very effective.

Second. the man was truly relentless. He did not tire. Saying he threw punches in bunches wis an understatement. He was constantly swinging, ****ing punches off any and every part of your body. His opponents got tired yet he kept punching. Not only that, every punch he threw was thrown with alot of power and bad intentions.

When facing the Rock, by the latter your rounds you're not only tired but your body hurts all over. The guy in front of you just keeps coming and hitting you every where with hard, thudding shots. Before you know it you catch one on the chin and your staring at the lights.

Anyway, he may have been undersized for todays game, but truly, what heavyweight in the world today could deal with someone as relentless and tireless as the Rock?

It's my contention that most of these guys today wouldn't be able to last into the late rounds. By the time the latter rounds roll around most heavyweights are gassed, just imagine how tired they would be having to fend off a human buzz saw like Rocky? I'm not saying he would be invincible, however, he would do alot better than alot of you guys think he would - especially in todays joke of a heavyweight division.

I agree with most of what you have stated BUT I would like to see how he would do against the really BIG heavyweights. Remember if he fought today, he would be a Small Cruiseweight. That's like saying Duran at 135 would hold his own with the Great Middleweights and Light Heavyweights.

Rocky's power was Great against Heavyweights that were his size (under 200 Pounds), I would like to see how it would be against Heavyweights that were a lot bigger.

[Hawkins]

I agree with most of what you have stated BUT I would like to see how he would do against the really BIG heavyweights. Remember if he fought today, he would be a Small Cruiseweight. That's like saying Duran at 135 would hold his own with the Great Middleweights and Light Heavyweights.

Rocky's power was Great against Heavyweights that were his size (under 200 Pounds), I would like to see how it would be against Heavyweights that were a lot bigger.

So would I. It would be interesting on two levels. Rocky having to face someone with a tremendous height and reach advantage versus the opposition having to face such a relentless onslaught.

Most on here will lead you to believe Marciano would be destroyed by even the marginal heavyweights and I just do not believe that to be the case.

[hhascup]

So would I. It would be interesting on two levels. Rocky having to face someone with a tremendous height and reach advantage versus the opposition having to face such a relentless onslaught.

Most on here will lead you to believe Marciano would be destroyed by even the marginal heavyweights and I just do not believe that to be the case.

Rocky would have trouble with Lewis, Holmes, Ali and Foreman because of their size and with Ali's speed.

He would also have trouble with Tyson and Frazier. Tyson punched much faster and Frazier actually had a higher punch output. Remember, Frazier was only beaten by 2 men., Ali and Foreman and IMO these 2 would have beaten Rocky as well.

On career totals, I would rate Rocky higher then Tyson, BUT if they fought each other, my money would be on Tyson because Rocky wouldn't back up and that would be his un-doing. I just think that 30 pounds with Tyson and 20 pounds with Frazier would just be too much for Rocky to over come.

[Hawkins]

Rocky would have trouble with Lewis, Holmes, Ali and Foreman because of their size and with Ali's speed.

He would also have trouble with Tyson and Frazier. Tyson punched much faster and Frazier actually had a higher punch output. Remember, Frazier was only beaten by 2 men., Ali and Foreman and IMO these 2 would have beaten Rocky as well.

On career totals, I would rate Rocky higher then Tyson, BUT if they fought each other, my money would be on Tyson because Rocky wouldn't back up and that would be his un-doing. I just think that 30 pounds with Tyson and 20 pounds with Frazier would just be too much for Rocky to over come.

Well I think you could point out the difference in Frazier and Marciano in the aspect that Frazier's money punch and main power punch was his left hook. He constantly had the left hook working. Marciano threw everything - rights and lefts and ****** them off of any part of your body with power.

Not disagreeing, just pointing out the subtle differences in their styles.

[hhascup]

Well I think you could point out the difference in Frazier and Marciano in the aspect that Frazier's money punch and main power punch was his left hook. He constantly had the left hook working. Marciano threw everything - rights and lefts and ****** them off of any part of your body with power.

Not disagreeing, just pointing out the subtle differences in their styles.

Frazier was one of the most aggressive boxers ever. His left hook is rated as one of the best if not the best ever. Rocky had one of the best right hands ever and he really didn't have anything near a great left hook, BUT it was most lkely better then Frazier's right hand.

If Frazier and Rocky traded places, I really can't see anyone that Rocky beat that Frazier couldn't. I even think Joe would have more KO's. No body that weighed under 200 pounds ever lasted the distance with Joe, where as several under 200 pounds went the distance with Rocky. I can see Ali and Foreman beating Rocky the same way they beat Frazier.

[The Iron Man]

Marciano is probably the hardest fighter to judge. He didnt have great technical ability. He wasnt especially fast, or agile. His Jab wasnt even there. But he beat person after person because of his Resiliance. Even though he fought in probably the weakest era compared to the other greats. He went unbeaten yes, but put any of the greats in his time and they would all have gone unbeaten.

[hemichromis]

rocky is one of those fighters who looked very one dimensional but was actually very good
he always looked as if he just stood there and threw punches till the opponent was overcome, this isn't quite accurate.

rocky was a deceptive fighter with good head movement he knew how to feint and how to counter. rocky looked sloppy and awkward but all the best fighters have been awkward its the best way to confuse the opponent.

[StarshipTrooper]

Frazier was one of the most aggressive boxers ever. His left hook is rated as one of the best if not the best ever. Rocky had one of the best right hands ever and he really didn't have anything near a great left hook, BUT it was most lkely better then Frazier's right hand.

If Frazier and Rocky traded places, I really can't see anyone that Rocky beat that Frazier couldn't. I even think Joe would have more KO's. No body that weighed under 200 pounds ever lasted the distance with Joe, where as several under 200 pounds went the distance with Rocky. I can see Ali and Foreman beating Rocky the same way they beat Frazier.

For the record only six of Marciano's forty-nine victories were distance fights.
They were:

Ezzard Charles I
Willis Applegate
Ted Lowery II
Roland LaStarza I
Ted Lowery I
Don Mogard

Not too shabby for any era.

As a side note, I don't factor weight into my evaluations because I believe it is misleading. Place today's giants back in the 40s and 50s and they would have grown up to be smaller than they are today. Reverse that and a fighter from back then would grow up to be larger. Don't believe it? Go to any high school and and take a look at how large these kids are. People in general are steadily getting bigger.....and so are Heavyweight fighters.

Poet

[hhascup]

For the record only six of Marciano's forty-nine victories were distance fights.
They were:

Ezzard Charles I
Willis Applegate
Ted Lowery II
Roland LaStarza I
Ted Lowery I
Don Mogard

Not too shabby for any era.

As a side note, I don't factor weight into my evaluations because I believe it is misleading. Place today's giants back in the 40s and 50s and they would have grown up to be smaller than they are today. Reverse that and a fighter from back then would grow up to be larger. Don't believe it? Go to any high school and and take a look at how large these kids are. People in general are steadily getting bigger.....and so are Heavyweight fighters.

Poet

Yes, I agree But everyone of these boxers were under 200 pounds. Also the average height of a person went up less then 1-1/2" in the last 50 years and the weight is about 20 pounds more.

Once again, besides Joe Louis, Rocky never fought a TOP 10 Contender that weighed over 200 pounds and stood over 6 feet tall, and only fought 10 boxers in his hold career that was over 200 pounds.

Here's the boxers that went the distance with Rocky like you stated, a long with their weight and the record they had going into the bout with Rocky:

Don Mogard 187¼ - Record of 15-8-0
Ted Lowry at 177¾ & 180¾ - Records of 59-48-9 & 62-56-10
Roland LaStarza at 187 - Record of 37-0-0
Willis Red Applegate 196 - Record of 10-14-2
Ezzard Charles 185½ - Record of 80-10-1

Can anyone see Tyson, Frazier, Foreman not stopping any of these guys. Applegate was stopped 3 times.

Most Boxing Experts and Historians would agree that Rocky did box in an era that was pretty weak. Like I stated many times, just put Tyson, Frazier, Holmes, Ali or several other Heavyweight Champions in the same era as Rocky and have them box the same opponents as Rocky did, and see what their record would be.

I will say that Rocky had a much better career, BUT IMO Tyson, who would out weigh Rocky by 30 pounds, would be too powerful for him.