prime marciano vs. 2003 james toney

[boxingking500]

prime rocky marciano vs. 2003 james toney

who wins

[jabsRstiff]

Toney gets outworked.

Marciano by decision.

[Forza]

marciano by superior work rate/cardio

Toney would slip a lot of his punches though lol

[McGoorty]

Toney gets outworked.

Marciano by decision.

I too think that Toney will be outworked, but I think 15 rounds too hard a task for him. I think Rocky's power will see Toney fall by the 13th.

[ghns1133]

toney would do well early but marciano's body punching and punchesz to thearms would wear tonmey out

[New England]

i think toney would land the cleaner and more effective punches in a 12 round fight. he was a brilliant infighter when he wasn't taking a break offensively.

he rolled right hands as well as any man who has ever rolled a right hand



15 rounds rocky might pull ahead on the cards

i think it would be a very good fight.


toney vs jirov showed that toney can deal with a torrid pace (yes, i know jirov isn't a bone breaker, but the guy still threw a ****load, and he was an olympian. if i remember correctly he was an outstanding amateur, with a gold medal at the olympics)

and that was in '02 or '03 (in new england, btw ^^)



what would the fight look like?
i think james would fight in spots in the center of the ring at a middle distance with one punch at a time, but otherwise lay on the ropes and try and land his counterpunches and roll rocky's stuff

[StarshipTrooper]

Toney as he aged took to laying on the ropes and counter punching as his opponent came in. Not a good strategy against Marciano. You cover your head the way Toney does and Marciano pounds your ribcage to powder; when you drop your hands to protect your ribs Marciano knocks you out. Marciano clearly has the power to hurt and stop Toney while Toney is not going to able to hurt Marciano even with Marciano coming in on the punches and Toney doesn't throw enough punches to accumulate punishment on Rocky. Marciano can be beaten, but countering off the ropes isn't the way to do it.

Poet

[fitefanSHO]

Are they fighting in a ring or a cage?

Either way, it's Toney KO1 Rocky...

Really runnin from McGoorty now...

[JAB5239]

Toney as he aged took to laying on the ropes and counter punching as his opponent came in. Not a good strategy against Marciano. You cover your head the way Toney does and Marciano pounds your ribcage to powder; when you drop your hands to protect your ribs Marciano knocks you out. Marciano clearly has the power to hurt and stop Toney while Toney is not going to able to hurt Marciano even with Marciano coming in on the punches and Toney doesn't throw enough punches to accumulate punishment on Rocky. Marciano can be beaten, but countering off the ropes isn't the way to do it.

Poet

I agree with this.

[New England]

Toney as he aged took to laying on the ropes and counter punching as his opponent came in. Not a good strategy against Marciano. You cover your head the way Toney does and Marciano pounds your ribcage to powder; when you drop your hands to protect your ribs Marciano knocks you out. Marciano clearly has the power to hurt and stop Toney while Toney is not going to able to hurt Marciano even with Marciano coming in on the punches and Toney doesn't throw enough punches to accumulate punishment on Rocky. Marciano can be beaten, but countering off the ropes isn't the way to do it.

Poet

toney had a rock solid chin in '03

sam peter is a much harder puncher than rocky
so was holyfield and rahman to a lesser degree and none of them could even dent toney's chin.


and tony wasn't a huge puncher, but he wasn't a cupcake either, and rocky certainly couldn't just walk through what he had to offer.

no way i see toney getting stopped



i can see toney finding time the opportunity to roll the wide punches to the head from the pocket, even backed against the ropes.
marciano didn't really pick an angle and attempt to be elusive, he mostly used vertical motion (crouching and then rising,) which would afford tony many opportunities to counter with the right uppercut and with the hook to the body and the head
in other words rocky would be there, in front of toney and in the pocket where he wants him, and throwing the sort of shots that he wants to see and has made a reputation of slipping

toney did a tremendous job of muffling shots to the body with his elbows and rotating his torso as well

sure, somethings going to get in, and it's going to wear a soft bodied toney down, but i'm assuming that he comes in the best condition he could be in
and in that case i think he can weather whatever rocky is going to bring, and tie him up when he needs to take a break.

about 200 lbs (jirov fight was in '03 and he was a 190 lb cruiserweight at the weigh in)

six months later he fought holyfield at 220 lbs and looked a tad soft, but as dangerous and effective as he had ever been considering his size and the opponent he took out.




i get the feeling some of the posters (not you, poet, but generally) are forgetting how skilled toney was
when he was sharp, at a weight where he was healthy, and in shape, he was very elusive. a true counterpuncher.

and that marciano was relatively crude for an ATG, and made a reputation taking punishment and persevering


in a 12 round fight i'm taking toney with clean punches scoring over ones that are rolled or blocked
and in 15 rounds i'm still saying toney (in shape) is far too durable and crafty to get stopped, even if he loses.