My reason for asking is not ,as some will undoubtedly say ,to bash Rocky,it is because Marciano currently stands in tenth place in my all time heavyweight top ten,and Wlad is nowhere. However, should Wlad,at the age of 41, and having been out of the ring for a year and a a half, beat Joshua on Saturday night I will feel compelled to include him in my top ten,at the expense of Rocky. So who wins ,prime Marciano, or the 18 fight work in progress Joshua?
I know people here get accused of being obsessed with the size of today's heavyweights but in all honesty, I find it hard to imagine the 5'10" 185-190Ib Marciano trading punches with a 6'6" 245Ib Joshua,who not only has punching power but surprisingly fast hand speed as well and coming out on top. The only possible saving grace for Rocky is Joshua's chin is still relatively untested so far but still, if I had to make a choice at this moment, it's got to be Joshua by KO.
All of these Joshua vs. threads are going to look silly if he gets axed this weekend. Remember Audely Harrison had a very similar record ( 19-0 ) with less of an exposed chin as an amateur until he lost to Danny Williams via split decision, who in my estimation is better than anyone Josuha has beaten so far. I'm sure some felt Harrison at 19-0 would have taken Marciano too back then, but few do now. So I prefer to wait a bit before making such a prediction. If you want my educated guess, Joshua is packing some glass and does not take a good punch. The Amateur fights show this. Most heavyweights don't take a good punch these days as their opponents even if unskilled at times are all big men. Joshua's long term stamina is un-proven, and I think he has some defensive issues that will be taken advantage of if he faces a skilled guy with some hand speed, or a guy who can counter. I also think his footwork is mostly north and south with limited circling and lateral agility. My $.02
It would be all against rock in the size - weight department. Odds would be stacked against him big time. But would rock stop throwing till he couldn't and keep getting up from kds. Most definitely. I would like to think rock could do it.. But it's against him in this.
His point was that Audley was highly touted ( just as Joshua currently is ) UNTIL he ran into Danny Williams.
I can see your points. They speak to the unknown quantity of emerging contenders, which is part and parcel of 'the new vs. the old'. Not going further than seven rounds, stands out in big, bold lettering, to my mind. The only thing I would say about the Audley comparison is that we probably knew, some time before he lost a decision to Williams, just how unlikely a success story he was going to be. Joshua is still a work in progress, for sure, but he looks more like a winner than Harrison ever did.
Audley Harrison? He was never anything more than British/European level was he? I cant actually remember much about his early days though or how much hype was around him. Must have been around 10-12 years ago? Anyone posting here back then that can remember if there was a lot of hype about him on these boards?
Not sure about the boards but he self-promoted, dining out on his Olympic Gold Medal win and then conned the BBC out of a 7-figure sum for a string of, quite frankly, p!ss poor performances. All one really need know is that his "first real test" (as described in at least one press report I recall, I'm sure) was a 39 year old Julius Francis, who was a late replacement and who in the previous two years had amassed a 1-6-1 record. It went the distance. Audley won in a shut out. But, had a freshly painted wall been in shot of camera, most people would have been staring at said wall, desperately seeking patches that hadn't quite dried yet.
This goes for me too. Although my 'size matters' obsession led me to bet 6ft Langford against dwarf Khurtsidze last weekend, so my opinion doesn't count.
Marciano gets ko'd in 2 absolutely no problem and really easy. Zero chance of the win for the Rock. Like 0%
