Liston didn't display heart carrying on with a broken nose and koing Williams.? Stopping Nino Valdes with one eye shut? One thing that never seems to occur to Marciano's fan club is that Marciano displayed heart lots of times because he was that easy to hit and cut!
Yes I'm sure Listons broken jaw didn't hurt that much, nor his broken nose against Williams. Being afraid of Hypodermics confirms it ,Liston was yellow.:yep
Some fighters never get in the position where they have to ko an opponent or risk being stopped on cuts ,having cut susceptible skin and being easy to out- box isn't a virtue,or at least it wasn't when I boxed. Heart will only take you so far as Gatti,Frazier,etc would agree. As usual logic walks out the door whenever Marciano's name comes up.
Thats it in a nutshell. I know you are a big Dempsey fan Mac but at least you are realistic when it comes to h2h with him but Marciano fans are on a whole different level when it comes to delusion. RockyJim has him beating everyone Bummy has the audacity to claim that Ali is made out to be Superman, then does far, far worse where Rocky is concerned. Then we got someone called DagoWop or whatever....name says it all. It really is mindboggling delusion at its finest.
In 2 of the biggest fights of his career....Liston "**** the bed". He QUIT against the light hitting Cassius Clay in Miami in Feb. 1964...and then we all know what happened in Maine in May 1965...how Sonny was...'ahem"...KO'd by Clay in the 1st round. The Rock came through when it counted...Sonny didn't!!!
Marciano had so much determination, grit and power, I'd give him a puncher's chance against just about anyone. But I think Liston would take him apart, most likely. Marciano might hang in there for a few rounds but it would be quite one-sided.
For the vast majority of his career Marciano was a simple NE circuit club fighter, fighting 70% of his matches in the same town, largely in the same arena, rising only to what was then world class for the last dozen or so fights. He was on the scene, both as club fighter and world class fighter, for a mere seven years. Meanwhile, in his first ten fights, Liston matched Marty Marshall and Johnny Sumerlin twice... EACH. He was in the thick of it from the get go. He had a vastly deeper resume, fighting over 17 years, exposed to several generations of heavies, fighting all over the country and even internationally. In one, we have a coddled champion who rose for a brief instant among the most depleted time in the division's history, when it was replete with ancient warriors on their last legs, shopworn light heavies and non-entities like Layne, Matthews and LaStarza. In the other champ, we have a guy who fought a litany of top heavies, skilled, sized and proven, in a variety of circumstances, a guy no one wanted at the top and for whom no red carpet was rolled out, a guy who stayed in or near contention from very early in his career until almost two decades later. They are not even comparable.
In other conversations you are quick to tell us that Liston fought an under-sized weak crop of mediocre heavies. :huh I guess the message changes depending on the target. It's worth boosting Liston to take a knock at Marciano, I guess.
I do go back and forth somewhat on Liston but have never (or at least recently) accused him of fighting only undersized dudes.
From the way you are displaying it, it sounds like Liston was the easy one to cut. Broken nose, broken jaw, eyes shut sheesh I'll be amazed if he made it to round 6 with the rock! Liston isn't a fighter who fought with heart. That doesn't mean he had a weak chin which is what it seems you think I am implying. I am saying that Marciano, who roughed guys up, would be a pain in the ass for Liston the entire fight. Liston was a come forward fighter as was Marciano who was a come forward fighter. Put two and two together. Marciano had problems with fast slim fighters. Not big brawling heavyweights.