Marciano vs. Tunney

[Sweet Science]

Tunney could outbox Marciano on his way to a UD, if he so wishes. Marciano would pressurise him sure but Tunney was one helluva slick boxer and very hard to catch clean with shots. Should sloppyness creep into Tunneys demenour, I could envisage a late Marciano stoppage victory.

Tough one to call, but I'll go with Tunney.

Yes I agree Holmes it is a very tough call. But as crafty and slick as Tunney was, do you think he was slicker than Ezzard Charles?

[Bummy Davis]

Originally Posted by ChrisPontius

Indeed i think a speedy boxer with good legs is not a good style to beat Marciano. Like i pointed out before, only when there's a significant size advantage like Ali and Holmes then i'd pick them, and even there i'm not sure.


There's a lot to Marciano that easily escapes the eye. His weird angles, feints, constant punching. It's not a coincidence that ALL of his opponents tired. Fighting Marciano is like playing tennis against a concrete wall: he always keeps pressure on you and hits you back harder.

Your right, The pressure kills and weird angles can throw off a fighter's timing but even when Rocky had a rough start he pretty much Dominated the fights and finished strong and he was fighting acomplished 15 round fighters. To watch Marciano and to fight him are 2 different things....GOOD POST

[mcvey]

Originally Posted by thunder06

Who would win this fight and why? This fantasy match up never occured to me until just now and I'm curious to see who you think would win. Both in their respective primes in a 15-round match-up. Here are some stats:

Gene Tunney
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 189 lbs
Reach: 77"
Record: 82-1-3 (48 KOs) 2 No contests
Heavweight Champion: 1926-1928
Notable opponents: Jack Demspey UD10 (twice), Tommy Gibbons, Harry Greb, Georges Carpentier.


Rocky Marciano
Height: 5'10 1/4"
Weight: 185 lbs
Reach: 68"
Record: 49-0-0 (43 KOs)
Heavweight Champion: 1952-1956
Notable Opponents: Jersey Joe Walcott, Ezzard Charles, Joe Louis, Archie Moore, Roland LaStarza.

Good arguments for both men on here Tunney gives style problems to Rocky,due to his fast feet Walcott,Charles,Lastarza,and Moore,allways get quoted when this subject comes up,but Tunney,didnt fight in that way,he seldom came forward,and his footwork was far superior to those guys,Moores legs were gone for the Marciano fight,Charles met Rocky in ring center and tried to win by counters,Walcott got nailed when well in front,its very possible Marciano would wear Tunney down but it isnt a given,Tunneys quick one twos would find their mark and his legs would carry him out of danger,Rockys big guns would land ,but would they land often enough to slow Tunney down to a point where he becomes a stationary target? I think Tunney might just keep one step ahead of the Block buster and take a dec.

[rekcutnevets]

Good post mcvey.

[UpWithEvil]

Roy Jones Junior would have Louis tied in knots.

Even with the copious quantities of designer steroids he wouldn't stand a chance. Jones' chin couldn't even stand up to Glenn Johnson.

Without the steroids? We should be discussing how he'd do against Jackie Blackburn instead.

[Bad_Intentions]

marciano

[Dempsey1238]

Marciano thown so many punchings the other guy had no boxing room. I dont think Marciano would give Tunney room to breath and out box Marciano. Marciano would work Tunney onto the ropes and pound away. Even a old Dempsey was able to do that vs Tunney in the rematch. Tunney just twisted and turn off the ropes once Dempsey had Tunney on the ropes.

[Marciano Frazier]

Originally Posted by Homicidal Hank

Excuses excuses. This was the dramatization in the movie.

Um, most accounts I've seen of this fight describe Marciano as having been uncharacteristically tentative and unaggressive in the first three rounds- some attributed it to him wanting to look "fancy" and impress the Garden crowd, and others thought he hadn't gotten over the Vingo fight. Do you really think that almost killing someone didn't have any repercussions on his psyche? How can you know? He had almost killed a man in his previous fight, and was strangely unaggressive and tentative early in this fight- certainly it is a reasonable conclusion, no?

The fact is that LaStarza was a decent boxer and Marciano was a crude banger who could be outpointed over 10 rounds. Lowry proved that.

A. All three judges scored the first Lowry fight for Marciano. I know of a good few people who saw the fight and thought there was nothing questionable about it- the account in Everett M. Skehan's Marciano biography has him winning dominantly, Sam Silverman, a promoter who was there, thought he won clearly(against his expectations), etc. The Lowell Sun account saw nothing remarkable about the fight besides that Marciano(who had stopped 19 of 20 previous opponents) had been taken the distance.
B. Although the Providence Journal writer scored it for Lowry, he himself admits that Marciano outlanded Lowry at a rate of "three to one" from the fifth round on- have you ever seen a fight with no knockdowns or point deductions where the harder-hitting, more aggressive fighter landed three times as many punches as his opponent for six of the 10 rounds, but somehow lost? I question this writer's judgment.
C. Marciano dominated the rematch.
D. Marciano was inexperienced and well before his peak at the time of these fights.
E. Marciano dominated LaStarza in the rematch.

[Marciano Frazier]

Originally Posted by rekcutnevets

Make that 50/50 at the time of this post.

64/36 now.

[Bill1234]

Originally Posted by Homicidal Hank

Excuses excuses. This was the dramatization in the movie.

The fact is that LaStarza was a decent boxer and Marciano was a crude banger who could be outpointed over 10 rounds. Lowry proved that.

Not really. Marciano was in the church everyday praying for Vingo. He never wanted to hurt anyone that bad, just enough to win.

[Bill1234]

Originally Posted by Marciano Frazier

Um, most accounts I've seen of this fight describe Marciano as having been uncharacteristically tentative and unaggressive in the first three rounds- some attributed it to him wanting to look "fancy" and impress the Garden crowd, and others thought he hadn't gotten over the Vingo fight. Do you really think that almost killing someone didn't have any repercussions on his psyche? How can you know? He had almost killed a man in his previous fight, and was strangely unaggressive and tentative early in this fight- certainly it is a reasonable conclusion, no?


A. All three judges scored the first Lowry fight for Marciano. I know of a good few people who saw the fight and thought there was nothing questionable about it- the account in Everett M. Skehan's Marciano biography has him winning dominantly, Sam Silverman, a promoter who was there, thought he won clearly(against his expectations), etc. The Lowell Sun account saw nothing remarkable about the fight besides that Marciano(who had stopped 19 of 20 previous opponents) had been taken the distance.
B. Although the Providence Journal writer scored it for Lowry, he himself admits that Marciano outlanded Lowry at a rate of "three to one" from the fifth round on- have you ever seen a fight with no knockdowns or point deductions where the harder-hitting, more aggressive fighter landed three times as many punches as his opponent for six of the 10 rounds, but somehow lost? I question this writer's judgment.
C. Marciano dominated the rematch.
D. Marciano was inexperienced and well before his peak at the time of these fights.
E. Marciano dominated LaStarza in the rematch.

[thunder06]

Marciano is winning just as i expected.

[Bummy Davis]

My Uncles were from the Bronx, they rooted for Vingo( who my Uncles said was a good banger) they were rooting for Vingo vs Marciano, when Local favorite Roland Lastarza fought this Kid from Brockton,Mass it was like the Yankees vs the Red Socks, they were all rooting for Lasarza but after the 1st Lastarza fight, they said Rocky dropped Roland and was landing the heavier shots, they jumped on the Marciano bandwagon. They all thought Roland was going to be the Heavyweight Champ but this Kid Marciano won the fight, thats the way they all felt and they were from the Bronx

[janitor]

Originally Posted by Bummy Davis

My Uncles were from the Bronx, the rooted for Vingo( who my Uncles said was a good banger) they were rooting for Vingo vs Marciano, when Local favorite Roland Lastarza fought this Kid from Brockton,Mass it was like the Yankees vs the Red Socks, they were all rooting for Lasarza but after the 1st Lastarza fight, they said Rocky dropped Roland and was landing the heavier shots, the jumped on the Martciano bandwagon. They all thought Roland was going to be the Heavyweight Champ but this Kid Marciano won the fight, thats the way they all felt and they were from the Bronx

Thanks for the insight.

[KobeIsGod]

It seems when Marciano is involved in these atg matchups, the general consensus is he gets stopped by the bigger, monster punchers early in the fight like a Foreman, Liston, Tyson and does better against the slicker fighters. I'll echo that trend and pick marciano by late stoppage or ud. It's hard for me to pick against marciano against anyone who is similar in size cause he can wear anyone down over 15 no matter how slick and skillful they are.