Before my time. Always thought that the age of big modern heavyweights started immediately after his era so it's hard to compare him to them. I Read a book about him that said he fought alot of nobodys and he and his crude style were heavily critiscised before he landed the title.Then he came into his own and he blossomed before retiring suddenly because he felt he was being ripped off by his manager who he was tied into. Can senior posters educate me as to A.How good was he ? B.Why was he criticised so much ? C. Would he have 'lived' succesfully in the next era versus the heavys of increasing size ? (I've always thought that mythical matchups between the likes of him versus Lennox etc ,are ridiculous because of the size difference,but the next era of Patterson Liston ,Ali etc) In fact Liston was emerging at the time of Marciano so was he ever talked about as an opponent for Rocky ? Be interested in answers and opinions ....
A. He was excellent in some categories. Endurance Determination Power Ring smarts He also had defensive skills that are often overlooked. B. He was considered a dirty fighter during his time. That's often glossed over now. He hit after the bell and on the break. He hit low. He rabbit punched. His fouls were ignored. C. He would have destroyed Patterson. He would have beaten Johansson. I don't know about Liston and Ali. Marciano said the the two fighters he would have feared were Liston and a prime Joe Louis. Rocky retired in 1956. I don't think Liston was on the contender radar that early.
The main criticism made to him is that he fought in a relatively weak era and his main opponents were old men.
BillB...Thanks for your answers... Do you think he retired prematurely ? I read it was because he didn't trust his manager any longer ? I've never read anyone's thoughts on that on here ?
You can say what you like about his era, or head to head ability, but the results that he got were just incredible! No other lineal champion has yet gone, 49-0, and most that came close did so by avoiding certain competitors. Rocky Marciano fought the current #1 ranked contender in every single title defence, except the ****ell fight, where he was fighting the #2 contender. Today people throw their arms up in the air if the lineal champion fights anybody ranked in the top 3! Don’t expect anybody to replicate what he did any time soon!
I've heard three different reasons for him retiring. I think Marciano has given all three reasons. 1. He hated his manager (Al Weill) and was convinced Weill was stealing from him. 2. Bad back 3. No money fights on the horizon. There were no challengers who would generate a decent gate. With all that, I think he left at the right time. I would love to have seen him fight Liston, but that would have been another two or three years away and it wouldn't have been prime vs prime. I doubt Rocky could have won.
A very formidable fighter within his weight range. Very tough, great stamina, lots of heart, could punch, and more subtle than credited. The main knock on him is he was in a relatively weak era, when the best opponents were older, smallish guys. But he beat everyone they could scrape up to face him, often in brutal fashion. I think he'd be overmatched against many of the much larger heavies who followed. There is a reason why it's been 60 years since a Marciano-sized fighter dominated the division. Liston was just a 12-1 prospect when Marciano retired. He would not have been a realistic opponent for years and was inactive for most of 56-57 anyway due to his brushes with the law. Had Marciano stuck around, his next fight probably would have been someone like Jackson, Valdes or maybe Patterson. On his retirement, I think he'd just had enough. I recall an old interview where he said he was starting to lose his zest for the game, and was determined not to end up staying too long like most do. That punishing style of his was also taking its toll; he had back issues, plus that horrific nose injury he sustained against Charles. The fact that he'd grown to really dislike Weill, who he thought (probably correctly) was robbing him blind, likely sealed the deal.
BillB.. Thanks again. Seem like good answers. anyone got anything to come back with on the post of Juggernaught 80 who thinks Marciano was a nobody ? I'm no expert on Marciano but even though he is deceased i have a feeling he has more of a future on here than the Juggernaught. !?!
Met him in 92. It was very heavy. I think it has been proven beyond a doubt that Marciano was the co-creation of the Eisenhower administration and the Gambino crime family. They searched high and low for the most handsome, athletic, Adonis-like seed of Italian soil and then carefully crafted a record for him in order to bolster production of crucifixes, IROC's and Dakkar NoirÂ… all in high demand for the upper coming nuclear showdown with the USSR. Yes, it was all a hoax. Is everybody happy now?
TheJuggernaut80 is nearly completely on point. Correct on at least almost every account. That being typed, Louis and Ali were yet even bigger hoaxes.
Not at all: I was simply asking what Cooper weighed against Ali. Cooper caught Ali with a really well timed shot that got under his radar; Shavers and Foreman were bludgeoning punchers but were more predictable in their delivery; it's not just the power of a punch that matters it's the surprise and timing as I am sure you know. I agree with you about some aspects of Marciano's title reign. He didn't beat any huge fighters and the one's he did beat were past their best. That said, they were still very talented fighters and Rocky beat them all. I am not one of those people who see Marciano as unbeatable, but I think he gets too much flak at times on here. He beat the best guys available in his time and nobody had an easy night against him.