That's a perfectly fine "OP" trying to elicit open-ended but thoughtful responses, hopefully from one of the two posters who I imagine actually saw Williams in the flesh. Or pehaps I need o brush up on the Funk and Wagnall's regarding posting on internet boards. The truth is there is more fuel in a Marciaon versus anybody or Wlad versus anybody thread than a hundred Leonard threads... And far more possibility that I get to read about one fighter anally raping the other, the crowning glory of any thread. In the future I will try to emulate this elegantly constructed, erudite and footnoted effort that launched 100+ pages.... "I'm afraid I'm going to annoy SuzieQ with this one, but I suspect Wlad beats Marciano rather thoroughly. There's a point where extra size really does start to tell, even against the Rock. The same goes for Lewis. Thoughts? Feel free to prove me wrong."
Pretty difficult imagining the best Hopkins for this. He would have to be a little heavy, which is fine with his limited output and efficient footwork but it would also slow him down a bit. Could Hopkins tie Marciano up when he needs to? Quite possibly. Marciano would have excess energy, though, with Hopkins "shoplifting" as you put it, and may force exchanges. Hopkins would have to go through hell to have a chance. I think he has the mentality. I'd still make Marciano a favorite to take a UD. He'd be eating plenty of single potshots, but he can take it. Hopkins should slow down with the extra weight/moving around and I think Marciano sweeps the second half of the fight.
As good as Hopkins is I am not convinced he goes the distance , a whole twelve rounds and Marciano is not going to land at least one or two true hard punches I find that a tough ask to believe .
Tieing up Marciano would be the worst move Hopkins could make. Walcot had great movement and was not able to evade Rock. B-Hop would get knocked out.
When B-Hop was defending his middleweight title for the 100th time, a proposed match with The Rock would get you committed to a rubber room. But cunning as B-Hop is, it doesn't seem so far fetched. I'd get it PPV. It's more intriguing than some of the stinkers I've ordered.
Could you really see this fight going the distance JG , I see it as Hopkins fighting a clever cagey fight but after the 7/8th round rocky taking charge and stopping Hopkins around the 10th . I am not suggesting this is an easy fight for Marciano though . To be honest can also see Marciano winning this one earlier
After thinkin' about it, MB, agree with you. Cunning as B-Hop is, without anything to discourage The Rock, he'd get worn down 'n stopped.
Tho contrived out of bull****, it's not the worst match-up ever. I think Hopkins would make it interesting for a while, maybe even deep into the fight. But Marciano is going to catch up with him later on... or so one would think. JG- Did you ever see Ike Williams fight?
Walcott was a very old 38 and tired from the pressure. He had Marciano in knots earlier in the fight. Credit due to Marciano for applying the pressure tho. I am not sure which version of BHop has the best chance here. That, in itself, is an interesting question.
I am actually pleasantly surprised to see some good discussion on this thread. And i like what seems to be the consensus that Hopkins does better than expected but ultimately cannot deal with the power and is stopped. I think this likely. Benny Leonard, i think was too good for Ike Williams, but i am willing to listen to any reasonable arguments otherwise. It would definitely be a good fight, but Benny was probably the greatest ever at his weight. At the very least, imo, quite a bit better than Ike. The forgotten match in this discussion is the one i raised of Bernard v Klitchsko. Not really much point in discussing this match, but middleweight James Toney's white climbing efforts and ability to go the distance with top ranked heavys do beg the question as to whether Hopkins could become the logical contender to the Klitchskos. Given that the former light heavy champion Adamek did it, then surely Hopkins must not be without claim. Maybe Hopkins v Toney or Hopkins v Adamek might be the stepping stones to propel him into this position. Both would be interesting fights, imo. certainly better than most of the fights we usually get in the heavy division.