Who is the biggest person Rocky Marciano fought?

No, I think U trollin' becuz U is big buffoon with zit on U face and hair commin' out U ears.

 

Tyson got KO'd by buster Douglas.... Oh wait, you mean I'm not supposed to say " well if that guy could do it, so can someone else?"

 

So Mike Tyson had the heart, skill and craftiness of the great Jersey Joe Walcott and Ezzard Charles?

 

All the above posts are true, but perhaps a bit misleading. Marciano fought five men over 210 lbs. One was the definitely great, but old, Joe Louis (6' 2" 213). Another was the fringe contender Johnny Shkor (6' 4" 220). A third was the journeyman Bill Wilson (6' 3.5" 229). He also fought local trial horse Pat Connelly (6' 5" 213) early in his career, and Jerry Jackson (6' 4" 254) when both were tyros.

But to put it in perspective, what about the other champions prior to the Ali era when heavies became much larger for all sorts of reasons (nutrition? antibiotics? pre-natal care? It is hard to say).

Jeffries--I don't think he fought anyone over 210 and few over 200.

Tunney--Did he fight anyone over 210. I don't think so. And very few, if any at all other than the 5' 9" 201 Heeney, over 200.

Schmeling--I don't think he fought anyone over 210. His biggest victim was I believe Ben Foord. He lost to Max Baer (203 for their fight).

Patterson--I believe only a couple of mediocre journeymen he fought late in his career went over 220. His biggest name opponent was Charley Powell.

Johansson--I think he fought two or three big opponents, including Ten Hoff and Neuhaus, but none who were heavier than the low 220's.

Even Sonny Liston didn't fight that many big men on the way up, despite being big himself. Valdes and Williams were over 210. In his last years he stopped Zech (6' 9" or 6' 7" 221) & Wepner (226)

Jack Johnson and Joe Louis fought a lot of big men, so did Max Baer. Dempsey is noted for fighting big men, but the only men who were any good at all over 210 were Willard, Morris, and Firpo. Fulton was 208 for the Dempsey fight according to boxrec, but you could count him.

How many of the 210 pound plus opponents of any of these other champions would I favor over the Joe Louis of 1951. Well, none.

Bottom line--Marciano fought as many big men as most of his peers, and also fought perhaps the toughest of all the pre-sixties 210 plus fighters in Louis, though Louis was old.

*Also, the big men of the pre-sixties era were not as good as the sub-200 pounders so the thrust of the thread strikes me as wrong-headed.

 

For what its worth, Marciano also fought the 6'4" carmine Vingo, though I think he was only around 190 lbs.

 

I think that people who use the size of Marciano’s elite opponents, as an argument against him beating bigger heavyweights, commit something of a logical fallacy.

There argument runs a bit like this:

“Rocky Marciano didn’t fight any larger elite heavyweights, therefore he would have lost to larger elite heavyweights”.

What you should actually take away from that is:

“Rocky Marciano didn’t fight any larger elite heavyweights, therefore we don’t know how he would have fared against larger elite heavyweights”

It is only if a smaller heavyweight has a track record against bigger heavyweights one way or the other, that you can use it to constrain your predictions.

 

Except I think Joe Louis would have to be considered a larger elite heavyweight by the standards of that time.

If you mean giants like Carnera and Willard, okay, but what exactly does beating Carnera prove? Willard perhaps something, but even he was basically a tough in and outer who lost to not only top men, but journeymen like Bearcat McMahon.

 

Roy Harris

 

True but a lot of guys were around 6'1"-6'2" at that time and right around 200 lbs. Louis fought Marciano weighing around 213, but was well over his prime weight which typically was somewhere between 199-205.

 

:ban1

 

No, you have to love him.