Who is Greater between Holmes or Marciano?

Yes he was, Janitor. Not knocking him at all, got memorabilia on Marciano and DVD's. I watch his and Holmes's fights on a regular basis. They both had great qualities including the one that matters most:heart.

 

This is going to sound like i'm picking on your post and i'm not but nothing gets me more than people saying heart matters more than anything. As if it's magic or an excuse to ignore reality.

Don't get me wrong; hearts important. It's just not the be all end all. It's like clutch in other sports. Yes Robert Horry was more clutch than Karl Malone but you'd have to be stupid to draft Horry first, everything else being equal. I'm tired of reading analysis that come down to 'fighter x had more heart so he wins.' Wayne McCullough had more heart than Naseem Hamed but Naz was just better. He had a better career. Yes Sonny Liston was a 'quitter'. That didn't help Floyd Patterson and the 50 other guys he beat. Razor Ruddock wasn't scared of Mike Tyson and guess what- he still got his ass kicked. Twice. Heart is a tiebreaker.

 

To be honest, I have to back Holmes for this one 100%. First things first, he would absolutely smoke Marciano if they fought. Holmes would destroy him. I have to rate Holmes above Rocky head to head because of how well rounded he was in his prime. Holmes could do it all.

Second, I believe Holmes has the greater resume. His wins over Norton, Cooney, Mercer, Williams, Witherspoon, Snipes, and Berbick>>>> Charles, Walcott, Moore, LaStarza, Lanye, etc.

 

marciano and easily.. rocky never avoided anyone.. he faced every top guy in his era(yes not very strong era but still he did clean the house),holmes avoided tubbs, pinklon thommas and page, he fought in a crappy era, he faced tomato cans like evangelista, occasio, lorenzo zanon, leon spinks, marvis frazier, he did not look even dominant against a class c like berbick, spoon kicked his ass and no rematch, a past prime norton gave him the hell and no rematch.... he lost against a lhw, marciano was undefeated and i pick him against larry h2h as well.

 

:rofl:rofl

 

Holmes would neverhave beaten half of the rocks opponents. Holmes barely beat an old ken norton. He'd never beat, never mind knockout an old joe louis the 3rd greatest boxer. its ridiculous. At holmes best he almost lost to a 40 year old norton and a novice cooney. Louis stops holmes in 3

 

Both are great in there own way....different styles, different skill set. Marciano did something no other hwt champion ever has done before or since. He fought his entire pro career...lots of fights....and never lost. Huge CHECK for Marciano. His bouts with Walcott and Charles showed he was an all time great.

Holmes had that great boxing skill set....he could everything well and had that all time jab. His fight with Norton and Weaver showed he was made of all time great stuff.

I would place them even all time for different reasons.

 

I rate Marciano higher than Holmes but i really dont have too much of a problem if people prefer Holmes. If I were a manager i would sooner take my chances with Holmes who boxed forever, always holding his own at any age with any fighter. Good jab, versatile, big, could fight. Rocky realy cleaned out and was more emphatic winner albeit for a shorter time. Maybe Marciano was lucky that there was no politics preventing his biggest rivals being lined up for him back to back. Holmes certainly did everything that he could. Its close but I rate Rocky higher.

 

In terms of ability and who I think of who would win in a head-to-head: Holmes for sure. In terms of lonegevity: Holmes obviously. Marciano in terms of being a real fighting champion and taking on the top contenders. All of whom were rated in the top 3, I think. So it's quite close when considering real 'greatness', as Rocky was certainly the bigger noise when he was fighting but I rate Larry higher overall, probably top 5 all-time, so he gets the nod.

 

Marcianos higher for me.

The dude was the ultimate slugger. Last time I did a list I had him third, Holmes has a case too, no real qualms either way but Marciano for me becaus I think he'd beat Larry.

That weaver, norton pressure style is the way to beat a top boxer like Ali or Holmes. Rocky had under rated defense too. Even with a chin like his you won't last too long if your there to be hit, 49 fights is a decent amount for a pressure guy, Frazier didnt hit the mid 30s before he was literally falling apart. Although he had a solid ammy career too which rock didnt have.

 

I worded it badly, I think. I meant to to say they had the common denominator of tremendous heart, not that if you have heart it overcomes everything else.

 

I might take some stick for this, but I think that Holmes had the weakest top end opponents of any top 10 heavyweight.

In terms of title defences, longevity at world level, and number/percentage of wins against ranked opponents he is top three, but a list of the five best people he beat it is a bit luke warm.

 

agreed 100%

 

you are EVEN more stupid than i could imagine... spoon did beat holmes... simple like that, so HE WAS NOT A GREAT VICTORY. AND HE FOUGHT NO REMATCH WITH HIM.

 

hell! I could not say it better myself