I won't try it my friend, though it would be an excellent opportunity to get a "W" over an ATG!!! :good
Was it that lunging in was all the guys knew to do, or was it that it was all Johnson would let them do? Granting it may be some portion of a mixture of those two explanations, I think the predominant factor was Johnson's skill at eliminating mid-range milling unless his opponent was breaking down and such milling was to Johnson's advantage.
Johnson would slip the odd one in during his neutralising process but as you know It was out of character for Jack to take part in an exchange. Johnson wasn't putting two punches together unless the other man was helpless. Marciano is not going to be helpless, exhausted or that frustrated. It will take more than one punch at a time to make any impression on Rocky who will force the action all the way. Johnson won't open up at any point. It could be bonecrusher v Tyson all over again. An inside tangle. Johnson could even get disqualified.
Rocky knew enough tricks of the trade to fall victim of a spoiler. The Rock was able to over come all styles.
One thing to note about Rock was how hard he was to tie up. With his strength and stubby appendages, it seems almost impossible. Very slippery. And he was always able to do damage in this clinch.
Well, I don't think JJ's peak (or anywhere close) is captured on film for starts. Hard to judge him against the Rock for this. Enough can be gleaned from the available evidence to show that Rocky was a very slippery customer inside, great strength in his trunk and willing to take risks. I suppose Rocky wins this peak-for-peak but no-one can be sure at all. To Jack's disadvantage is the era he fought in. People wanted to see rounds, not 15, not 18 but HOURS of fighting! He had to fight slow, show-boat, win the people over. There's certainly no way he'd have been allowed to 'do-a-Wilder' and 1-3round KO his way to the title! I'm sure there were men who could (and should) have done it but they were no draw...(and no use to the crooks). I think Johnson will always be under-appreciated as a boxer in his own right, due to his place in history as a flamboyant, ground breaking man of the Civil Rights movement. Shame for the boxing hardcore analysts though..... One thing he had over The Rock was style.....can't see Marciano taking a morning constitutional with a couple of hookers, a glass of Champagne and a pet ocelot! Ha ha...