Anyone seen Marciano fight live?

[john garfield]

Lots of conjecture how Rocky would've done against this one or that one. Anyone on here ever seen him fight live?

If you had, do you suppose it would change your opinion?

Ever seen a professional athlete perform in person and it colored your judgement about him?

[heerko koois]

This guy did .....[ in 1953 ]

[john garfield]

Originally Posted by heerko koois

This guy did .....[ in 1953 ]

"This guy," being you, hk? Was it against LaStarza or Walcott?

[Jack Dempsey]

I wish I had, does that still count??

I was showing a friend a clip of Marciano the other day, it was one of the Charles fights and I had seen it a few times, but watching it I was still amazed how Rocky could just keep throwing punch after punch, the man was a machine!!!

I think to beat him you literally had to kill him, he had one of the greatest 'engines' seen in HW boxing

[janitor]

I suspect that he is sombody that you would actualy have to fight or spar with to fully apreciate.

Everybody who did seems to have been surprized by exactly what they found.

[McGrain]

I think it is only relevant if you HAVE seen an ATG that you are comparing him with. So for example, if you've seen Joe Frazier fight then you will tend to show him the bias that comes from seeing a great fighter in person.

I do not accept that seeing one great fighter in the flesh has greater value than seeing another in the flesh.

[Jack Dempsey]

Originally Posted by McGrain

I think it is only relevant if you HAVE seen an ATG that you are comparing him with. So for example, if you've seen Joe Frazier fight then you will tend to show him the bias that comes from seeing a great fighter in person.

I do not accept that seeing one great fighter in the flesh has greater value than seeing another in the flesh.

Nat Fleischer saw pretty much all the greats live, think that lends any credence to his top 10?

[john garfield]

Originally Posted by McGrain

I think it is only relevant if you HAVE seen an ATG that you are comparing him with. So for example, if you've seen Joe Frazier fight then you will tend to show him the bias that comes from seeing a great fighter in person.

I do not accept that seeing one great fighter in the flesh has greater value than seeing another in the flesh.

It's not how good or bad a fighter is, MG, but might your judgement change if you saw him fight live?

[McGrain]

Originally Posted by Jack Dempsey

Nat Fleischer saw pretty much all the greats live, think that lends any credence to his top 10?

He said some pretty freakish things, didn't he?

Yes. The answer probably has to be yes. Seeing the greats over and over again at close quarters must inform your opinion of them.

Although...it doesn't help if you're a looney to begin with.

When Conn stepped up Nat predicted Louis' demise...we all know how hard he was on Ali. I like to think I would have known better!

[McGrain]

Originally Posted by john garfield

It's not how good or bad a fighter is, MG, but might your judgement change if you saw him fight live?

I think it would, yes.

[Jack Dempsey]

Originally Posted by McGrain

He said some pretty freakish things, didn't he?

Yes. The answer probably has to be yes. Seeing the greats over and over again at close quarters must inform your opinion of them.

Although...it doesn't help if you're a looney to begin with.

When Conn stepped up Nat predicted Louis' demise...we all know how hard he was on Ali. I like to think I would have known better!

Truth be told he died before Ali's renaissance, plus he was probably used to the more humble black fighter and thus was somewhat irked by Ali

He placed Johnson at number one didn't he?

Louis would have had his demise had Conn been Jewish as opposed to Irish

[McGrain]

Originally Posted by Jack Dempsey

He placed Johnson at number one didn't he?

Louis would have had his demise had Conn been Jewish as opposed to Irish

He did indeed. I think he had Jeffries at 2.

I think it's Janitor that makes the point about Conn - he may have been worried that he wasn't ahead and he may have been worried about getting robbed.

His corner may not have done the job.

[john garfield]

If your opinion about a fighter changed after seeing him fight live, what hadn't you noticed on TV?

[Jack Dempsey]

Originally Posted by McGrain

He did indeed. I think he had Jeffries at 2.

I think it's Janitor that makes the point about Conn - he may have been worried that he wasn't ahead and he may have been worried about getting robbed.

His corner may not have done the job.

I know the fight was actually a lot closer than is usually reported but the title was there for the taking

[Jack Dempsey]

Originally Posted by john garfield

If your opinion about a fighter changed after seeing him fight live, what hadn't you noticed on TV?

On modern tv, not much, replays, multi angles allow you to get a much better idea on a fighter than say a 1940's piece of footage would.

For example, imagine seeing a prime Dempsey on todays technology