All things considered, it has to be Rocky for me. His stats: Height: 5'10 Reach: 68" Weight: 180-190 pounds Those are crazy stats for a HW. Floyd Mayweather has a bigger reach. Then consider that he wasn't fast or techically gifted. He was nowhere near as gifted as the other fighters. Picking Rocky, is actually a compliment to them. It simply has to be Rocky for me. Even though he fought past prime fighters, he was far more up against it than anyone else on that list.
Joe was extremely gifted and he wasn't outweighed and outsized like Rocky was. You can't just look at their resumes, you have to look at them individually as fighters, and look at their attributes, and any advantages or disadvantages they may have had. Joe was never outsized or outweighed like Rocky was, nor was he ever outsped or at a disadvantage from a technical standpoint.
Calzaghe's biggest wins: Lacy, Hopkins and Kessler. Really?, that record over Mayweather, Marciano and Ward?. Hell even Ward, who only has 28 fights, easily rates above Calzaghe.
Marciano's is, and always will be, the most impressive. The heavyweight division has historically been boxing's marquee division, and the 49-0 mark will always be affiliated with the only heavyweight world champion to ever retire undefeated. While you can argue someone like Floyd actually has a more impressive ledger, even if Floyd makes it 50-0, Marciano will still remain the standard of heavyweight greatness when it comes to retiring undefeated. :smoke
It is an argument, because Floyd was one of the greatest boxers of all time. It seems unfair, but I have to punish him for being too good here, as absolutely crazy as that sounds. Of course he wasn't born with those incredible skills he had, and he had to dedicate his life to become the fighter he was. But Rocky was up against it much more. A 68" reach? It's crazy. His build was similar to Artur Beterbiev's at LHW, except that Artur has a much bigger reach. Floyd has a reach that is 4" bigger than the one Rocky had. It's insane. By omitting Floyd from the above list, you're actually paying him a huge compliment.
:think Here's a question - both Marciano and Mayweather are criticized for the biggest name on their records being shot when they fought them. Pacquiao was obviously less shot than Louis was, but Joe is also obviously greater than Manny (obvious to me, anyway, some will disagree I'm sure). Do those facts make for a wash? Is how much greater Louis was proportionate to Pac offset him being so much further gone in their losses to Pretty Boy & the Blockbuster? Canceling each other completely out, that is, so the merits of each unbeaten record have to be viewed with those "cherries on top" skimmed off?
Look closer. It's not just about who each fighter faced, it's the difficulty that they were up against. Floyd had a lot of advantages in his fights, and he was never hurt due to his great skills. Whereas Rocky was a limited guy who was extremely small, who had to constantly tough it out to win.
No way in hell Mayweather 49-0 26-0 in title fights 4 division lineal champ 12 time champion 18-0 in lineal fights Marciano in his 33rd fight fought a guy 3-13-3 and in his 34th fought a guy 13-15-1 and in his 35th fought a guy 11-14-2 are you serious?
I think he was saying more along the lines of for having achieved what he did when he wasn't "supposed to" given his size and natural talent base. He is considered an overachiever, something Mayweather (groomed from birth to hone the craft by a successful boxing family which also bestowed incredibly athletic genes upon him, and to my knowledge his childhood was never exactly spent roughing it or going hungry...not a worry in the world except getting better and better at boxing) would never be accused of being.
Floyd. Floyd would probably dominate in most era's. Marciano wouldn't. Remember: 1996 is a lifetime ago. Most of you were kids then. He's been undefeated since 1996! Three decades, 20 years - Hell of an achievement (even if it can be picked apart to a degree). How old were you in '96 and how old are you now? Think of what you were doing back then, and remember from then till now that Floyd hasn't been beat despite facing fighters of all types and plying his trade over various divisions. Look, he's a scumbag, but he's a tremendous fighter. Joe's record is inflated, IMO. Fought some very good challengers, but what's his defining win or handful?