I think if you lined up all the greats in a row and asked random bypassers to pick the guy who went undefeated all the way through their career, the last guy anyone would choose is Rocky. Life is a funny old game sometimes.
I bet all those folks who slag Rocky off on here wouldn't have wanted to get in the ring with him. The 49-0 does give The Rock an aura, partly because some people are so impressed with stats...it sounds & looks good. I suspect Rocky wasn't that obsessed by it - otherwise he would probably have gone for the big 50. Smart career planning? One needs to remember that te Rock turned over at 23, his intention was always to make as much money as possible then get the hell out of Dodge - which he did successfully. I think for many The Rock was popular because he was a blue collar guy, who worked hard at his craft, overachieved for reasons discussed ad nauseaum on here, made his money and got out before his brains got scrambled. I wish some other great champions had had the good sense to do the same. I notice there any mythical match-ups on here where some love to tear Rocky down by matching him against 30-40-50 pounds heaqvier - if guys have got to do that in order to denigrate Marciano that proves how great he was.
Just straightforward statements really. This whole thread, from the opener onwards, is rather vague, to put it mildly.
Even better, just imagine if Marciano had the skills of the K2 brothers, or their opponents, or even their sparring partners. Then he might be worth looking at.:roll: Calzaghe could easily have beaten that record by finding 2 more stiffs and rematching the 2 geriatrics he beat. This though would not have sat well with his Italian born daddy, who thought the sun shone out of Marciano's rear end. A hero to Italians everywhere apparently, not just Murica. For me Chavez getting to 87 - 0 sh its all over Marciano's 49 - 0.
Nobody does that to denigrate him though. The problem is reading his more devoted fans prattle off their rich fantasies about how he would dispatch various skilled, athletic giants, like he's Beowulf or something.
Julio-Cesar Chavez's unbeaten run was fraudulent, because (regarding a 1981 fight with Miguel Ruiz): "For many years all the leading record books, including both Pugilato and The Ring Record Book, recorded the first loss of Julio Cesar Chavez as being by disqualification.... This has since been changed to a knockout victory for Chavez, based on confirmation from the local boxing commission in Culiacan that it altered the verdict the following day. Ramon Felix, manager of Chavez, happened to be a member of the Culiacan commission at the time." The A-Z of World Boxing by Bert Blewett (1996) at p. 341
So, as fraudulent as Marciano going from Pro to Amateur (and losing to Coley Walace) and going back to Pro only to have window lickers prattle on about 49-0. Again, this thread is about Willie Pep's first 49 fights. Please keep on topic. Chalkie Wright was on a good run when he ran into Pep who all but dismantled him.
Wallace fought Rocky in a three round NY golden gloves amateur bout in 1948. Wallace did not turn pro until 1950. Rocky was undefeated as a pro and this bout has no bearing on that record.
49 pro fights is 49 pro fights. He had 49 pro fights and won them all. Losing an amateur contest in that time does not invalidate his 49-0 pro record at all. Fraudulent is when a result is overturned, perhaps years later, by corrupt officials in the pocket of a fighter's manager. Which might well be the case with Chavez. Yeah, sorry. :good
It underscores how ridiculous and largely irrelevant the number is, this Holy Kabbalic Formula of Marcianistas. It was largely the work of good luck and timing. Sure, a great fighter is behind it but other greats have outdone it or just had a bum steer, bad decision, unfortuitous cuts or timing... In the end, it's just not that significant. Now, can we stick to Pep?
