If Marciano had carried on, how much longer would he have ruled?

It depends on how long he could fight with that swarmer style and how long he would be able to train and punish himself into the insane condition he worked himself into. I think his style,power and pressure do not fair well for Patterson and the slick boys Machen,Foley do not bring more than Charles or Walcott and the bombers Ingo and a few only have a punchers chance but not sure his chin holds up in a swap-fest. If Marciano surprises us and fights longer than the average swarmer that would leave Liston around 1959-1960 and Marciano may be too old but lets say he is not. A fight between a near prime Marciano and a near prime Liston could go either way. Can Liston Bomb Marciano out or does Marciano survive Liston's best and his heart and power/stamina take over?

My opinion is Marciano lasted longer than most swarmers and his pride to win would make him retire if he felt he was not fighting on all cylinders. It is rare to find a style like Joe Louis, who fought all styles well and adapted and for so long of a time. Marciano was good in rematched but I think his style and work load in training would have worn him down and he would have gotten out before someone stuck in a win against him

 

depends how long it took liston to emerge. liston would have destroyed old rocky fast if he had been allowed to get to the top a bit earlier and if rocky had stuck around till the end of his 30s.


young Floyd's speed and youthful stamina would have caused old Marciano serious problems but he would be evens to overcome him, after giving away most of the fight on points.

 

I think prime Liston beats any version of Marciano and Patterson loses.

 

The more I think about it, the more I think that his fall would come somwhere between.

 

You're may be right.
I don't think Folley or Williams could have beaten a marginal Marciano. Neither were good enough..IMO. Machen may have been the one to decision him.

 

Ingo beats him in '58 or so.

 

Fighters with Marciano's style don't last forever...Rocky knew this...he was having back trouble...having trouble with his manager, Al Weill...just KO'd the #1 contender in Archie Moore in an exciting fight...was 49-0 with 43 KO's...with no one really on the horizon...why push your luck? He wasn't enjoying the gym and training like he had in the past...so...bow out with your power still intact!. He was scheduled to have a title defense in June/July of 1956...against who?...I don't know...don't remember hearing a name. Instead...he retired in April 1956. He thought about coming back against Ingo in 1959...started training in secret with Lou Duva...but was too far gone physically...and ended the idea of a comeback.

 

yep ingo would have troubled him greatly, but liston, liston would put the fear of god into Marciano (in fact he probably he did).

 

Marciano probably didn’t even know who Liston was when he retired!

The debate was about whether Willie Pastrano, or Nino Valdez was the nearest thing to a credible challenger!

 

#1 Patterson had a Glass Jaw

#2 Cus knew it and would NEVER have let Patterson in there even with a shot Marciano

#3 Had they fought Marciano would have brutally KOed Patterson

 

I'm a Marciano fan, too. He's in my top 3. But he wasn't invincible and he was extremely lucky to have retired undefeated.

When Charles split his nose open and it was gushing blood, many referees would have stopped the fight then-and-there. Marciano was lucky to have one that didn't.

When Moore knocked him down, Rocky got up goofy and rubber-legged. The ref mistakenly gave him a standing 8 count and time to recover. The standing eight count had been waved for the fight.
Moore swore until his dying day he could have finished him if that hadn't happened. Maybe not, but it's possible.

I believe Liston could have knocked Rocky down and he wouldn't have gotten up.

The "Liston was a quitter" axiom has been worked to death.
Both of those Clay fights smelled like a sewer. Clay wasn't that good and Liston wasn't that bad for them to end the way they did.
I doubt we'll ever know what actually went on.

 

MAYBE EVEN LONGER? HATER!

Marciano holds the title unit a trilogy with Foreman. After a disputed draw in the third fight, he retires in disgust.

 

The s*** is getting deep in here.

 

Oh Christ you're back.atsch
Stand by for another deluge of hero-worship .

 

I like the inference that Marciano could have survived a plane crash to fight until holmes era if he'd stayed in shape.