Marciano-I Just Don't Understand It

he'd beat the weaker bit parters like vitali and wlad who werent strong enough to defend their world title son their own.

the undisputeds would be a bridge too far.

 

Rocky excelled by imposing his superior strength and power on his opponents .. he had neither on any of the fighters mentioned .. the differences in size are absurd. Let's be serious ..

 

Agreed. Too small.

 

Wlad breaks his back.
Lewis either breaks his back or uppercuts his head off.
Bowe roughs him up at any range
Foreman shoves him away and then destroys him
Vitali potshots him to a stoppage
Liston stops him too


Oh and in case of the "modern nutrition" argument, a 220 lbs Marciano would have zero flexibility and would have been a stationary target with zero defence as Rocky relied on his flexibility for his defence.

Which is also why he directly retired once his back began showing signs of trouble.

 

We can actually back Dempsey quite strongly against fighters like this, because he proved in spades his ability to overcome the stylistic issues.

In Marciano's case we have a massive uncertainty.

It is admittedly an uncertainty that cuts both ways.

I suspect that he would do better than most people think, but this is all speculation.

 

If they were fighting in Marciano's era and were able to get to the top 10 Marciano beats them all. Some of The things that made these guys were not available in the 50's or used, even weights were shunned. Liston would be tough but IMO his cracks show

 

None Prime vs prime. All six just to big. The last 3 were big and skilled.

 

Marciano would be a deadman walking for Liston .

Any fighter that goes straight after Liston will pay with their life .

 

The most important thing to remember here is deliberately omitted. And that is each champion is exactly what is required for the time they fought in. The big guys were great against big guys of their days and the small guys were great against the small guys for their time.

You can't swap them around because both sets of guys developed themselves in order to be successful only for when they fought. It's not possible to know if what they had (the way they were) absolutely works for them under a format and time zone they never fought in.

If you swap one guy for another era as they were all you are doing is putting both guys completely out of their depth into an era they have not prepared for.

You can't say for sure what strengths one guy may or may not have had (in his own time)would necessarily enhance their chances in an era that was totally alien to him. All you can say for sure is that both ways both guys have to adapt to something completely different to anything they experienced in real life. And that is a disadvantage to whomever is the stranger invited into the opposite time zone.

I dont think it is unfair to say that the guy in the wrong time zone is the one who is disadvantaged the most. A big guy from the future thrown into the the 1950s is just as out of his depth and visa versa

It's not as simple as saying this is a modern supermiddle versus modern superheavyweight.

It is a heavyweight developed in the past against a heavyweight developed to compete in the future.

 

They fought in the same era. This myth that Liston is a modern super heavy fighting in the past is a nonsense. Sonny was within the same kind of time zone as Marciano...and he did not always have things his own way and nor did he beat greater fighters than Rocky beat.

Sonny was however truly the best heavyweight in the world when he beat Patterson.. and let's not forget Floyd was not the most difficult or dominant champion to beat.

Sonny is seen as an enigma that for many years was very hard to judge in all time great terms. It's very difficult to decide on certainty in fantasy matchups at the best of times...But it's not outrageous to say Sonny is difficult to decide upon full stop.

 

Liston is superior to Marciano IMO

He was an extraordinary man and a genetic freak .

Style wise Marciano would not fare well against Sonny .

 

I dont think Sonny's legacy is comparable to Marciano ..and they fought under the most simular times and conditions. Therefore a superiority over Rocky is difficult to consider.

Stylewise Sonny is a monster. But in many respects so is Rocky.

Who is more proven?

 

Perhaps Liston. There was the reason the Cruiserweight division was created.
It's not an insult to Rocky, it is a testament to what he was able to achieve and the progression of the sport.

 

Fair Enough.

Rocky Marciano vs Sonny Liston.

If you had to pick a winner, which fighter would you pick to win this fight?

 

I'd pick Marciano out of sentiment. But I wouldn't put any money on it