Who is the biggest person Rocky Marciano fought?

What?

 

i used the 6'1".5 for louis __ http://www.sportspages.com/images/products/large/12581.jpg __because i found fairly even amounts listed at 6'1" and 6'2". in addition louis was older and may have shrunk a half inch or so(in this pic).don't you think that a heavyweight who is 5'9" would want to be listed taller? the article i posted earlier, from his days in the service, was before he was famous, so i believe the author would have no reason to make rocky seem larger,plus his latest biographer was very surprized to learn he was just 5'9". what would be the point of them making him shorter than he was? look at him besides louis,definitely 5'9".why was frazier listed at an incorrect 5'11".5? because it was very close to six and his true height of 5'10". tyson too for most of his career was listed at 5'11".5 now it is common knowledge he was 5'10". hagler was always listed at 5'9".5 i met him many times,he was definitely 5'8" bonavena was 5'10" but was sometimes sretched to 5'11" or 6'. i guess it is a psychological ploy to instill intimidation in opponents to be taller than they were.liston was 6'.25" not 6'1" foreman was always 6'3" then in his 2nd career 6'4". holyfield was always 6'1.5" then 6'2.5" here is a pic with 6'3" ali,now marciano was in his forties and might have shrunk a half inch or so.__ http://afflictor.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/alimarciano99999.jpg

 

-I tried to peg both guys at a fair range(12 pounds) to show the size dynamic when near the best of their abilities. I believe Quarry was the bigger man but not by a significant margin.

-Do you believe Quarry was physically stronger than Maricano? I don't. Maricano was able to get under and bull a 213 lb muscular man into the ropes, rather Louis prime or not that's what he was inside the ring that night. And I think if Quarry can move Lyle, Maricano can. I could be wrong but it is not a huge stretch of logic.

-My originally comment was NOT refering specifally to the knockdowns but the damage Lyle inflicted throughout the fight.

-It was a 1-2 over the jab, Foreman went into survival mode after that and Lyle chased him down for the knockdown.

-It wasn't an exchange. Foreman was arm weary after swinging away at a shelled up Lyle for about 50 seconds, he couldn't get his hands up, and was just trying to push off and create distance when Lyle started bombing him.

-Foreman was a big open target as I said. If he wasn't walking into a punch, he was getting tagged because he squared up in front of his man, pawing out with his left hand. This fight tells us that George learned nothing from Zaire.

-Not sure I ever said it would be easy. Did I not already clarify this? Last time you accused me of claiming this, I responded:

It wouldn't be easy of course and I think Lyle's best moments would come from his jab in the early rounds.

But I stress, Lyle wouldn't be catching Rocky with the same shots he caught Foreman with. Marciano wouldn't be standing in his range upright, pawing out with his left hand, he would be crouching low to get inside, get in his chest like he did Louis, and like Quarry did against him.

 

5'10" was most commonly used exactly BECAUSE it was between his REAL height of 5'9" and the more intimidating height of most heavies (at that time) 5'11".

 

Exactly my point, they are all shorter than their listed heights.

 

Fair points. Some of them I can see eye to eye, while others I don't. We've debated this long enough, so I guess I'm just going to chalk this up to a stale mate.

 

That's fair. It's a fantasy fight afterall, no way of knowing anything for sure.

And I stand by my claim that the Louis fight does show us Marciano could perhaps physically hold his own with 6'1-6'3 200-215 lb fighters. I can see the argument against that but can't agree.

 

Definitely. Louis was still very able bodied in 1951 and might even have still taken apart a prime Jerry Quarry or better. I just don't see that as having any bearing on a fight between lyle and Marciano, but Joe could still fight. no question.

 

I agree with you. All these height arguments seem pretty silly to me as my measured height varies by over an inch depending on which physician's office I am visiting and being measured at. I just don't think it worth getting into a lather about supposed heights.

As for Marciano, he's on plenty of film and unless his opponents are also all exaggerating their heights, he is probably somewhere around 5' 10" to 5' 11".

No real evidence has been offered for the 5' 9" or 5' 8" heights. The quoted book section is hearsay on hearsay of a story which might actually be dubious in the first place. In other words, the GI might not even have been Marciano. And even if he were, it is just a guess.

That's no evidence. Evidence is something like the height listed in his physical for his army induction. I would take that seriously.

And given his build as displayed on film, I think he must have been closer to 5' 11" than not. Guys like Gene Fullmer and Jake LaMotta had thick builds at 5' 8" and they fought at 160, not 185.

*on Joe Louis. I remember as kids some of us boys wondered how big some of the champions were, and we looked up Louis in the Encyclopedia Britannica at our school. He was listed as 6' 1 3/4" and 200 lbs. I gotta consider that a solid source.

Not that these height disputes matter much.

**Off the subject a bit, but this reminds me of a guy posting over at the IMDB who claimed John Wayne was 5' 11". Okay. They certainly fixed up a lot of his films over the decades. They even gathered together a herd of short cattle in Red River for Wayne to walk through.

 

In itself it's not important , its just when someone uses it to bolster up a weak argument . Joe Louis said he was 6'1.5" tall I'm not going to call him a liar.

ps John Wayne was 6' 4" but wore lifts in his cowboy boots when in front of the camera,as Sinatra did onstage.

 

Oh please

 

My issue is using downgraded stats for some fighters and official stats for others when it suits them to bolster a weak argument. Go with one or the other, don't pick and chose to exaggerate the size difference of certain fighters because that's your only basis for arguing one over the other.

If someone wants to go with the 5'10.5" Marciano downgrade that's fine but why treat Quarry's official 6'0" as gospel when as Bummy pointed out he was pegged at actually being 5'11"

BTW Lyle wasn't really 6'3" either. Foreman himself said he was only 6'3" when in his prime, and he enjoyed about an inch height advantage over Lyle during their staredown. Lyle was likely a strong 6'2".

 

pic with 6'3" ted williams and he is slouching! no way was rocky 5'10.5" _ http://www.allstarpics.net/0026949/016486891/rocky-with-ted-williams-pic.html

 

Horse ****.

If he could have beat a fighter of Quarry's level, he could have continued and made more money.

Can you people even analyze film? He looks ****ing horrible, the textbook definition of a shot fighter with no timing, who can't react to openings and who pushes his punches like a beet cart.

 

Seriously, frank

I was really into baseball back in the fifties and religiously poured over things like Who's Who in Baseball,

and when he was playing Ted Williams was always listed as 6' 4"--now, this doesn't mean he was. I never measured him. But who knows? He was very tall, though.

As for this photo, I assume because he is wearing his uniform, Williams is also wearing spikes. If the two are standing on an unyielding surface, this would add quite a bit to his height, and Marciano is swinging a bat which might mean he is flexing his knees and therefore losing height.

Bottom line--neither this photo nor the Louis photo prove much. Louis would by all measurements be about 3 inches or so taller than Marciano's listed height. Williams is 4 to 5 or even more inches taller than Marciano's listed height. Williams was probably at least two inches taller than Louis.

Like I said earlier, what would matter would be an official measurement such as the physical for his army induction. I would accept that.