Does A Prime Marciano Beat The Joshua Of Today?

This is ridiculous. Just because both marciano and Joshua technically are HWs and Marciano was a great one, doesnt mean this isnt a mismatch. Maybe some of you should watch less rocky balboa and go read how much Marcianos 5 or 10 best opponents actually weighed. If we had weightclasses like a 190, 205, 220 all along no one would be saying Marciano has ANY chance against Joshua

What if Rocky Graziano at maybe 165 in the ring fought a young 225 pound obviously talented KO puncher with over a dozen more inches of reach? Does he beat Razor Ruddock? Tommy Morrison? lol





Just because Marciano and Joshua are both in the HW division(remember the weight divisions are just classes made up by PEOPLE)
doesnt mean that a 30% weight difference means any less

 

As long as you carry that through to Ali, I agree. For some reason, even though their primes were only separated by about 15 years, those two fighters get talked about like they were from different planets, let alone eras. Power is the great equalizer. Rocky had it, Ali didn't. He relied on size and movement, which doesn't translate in the hw division when you lose size. Ali giving up 3 inches and 30 pounds to top hw's is as daunting as 7 inches and 60 pounds, when the latter has power and the former doesn't.

 

Joshua's chin is untested.
He's mighty big but it turns out he's got a Herbie Hide chin you'd have to give Marciano a decent shot at KOing the behemoth.

 

Speed helps. Roy Jones didnt have nearly as much power after years of hand problems and a 230 pound opponent in John ruiz but he won that fight. I assume if ali was facing a bunch of bigger guys he would have fought differently. But you're right, to an extent power helps equalize a size disadvantage somewhat but only to an extent, especially if its strength based power like a Marciano had and not "Snap" like Tyson had. If you have alot of handspeed and snap you can still stun or drop bigger stronger man because he might not see the punch coming. But if you're beating people down because of your physical strength, whether it comes from your size(chavez jr) or your inherent physical strength(Marciano) or a combination(Foreman), when those types of guys face someone bigger and stronger than them, their power will be much less apparent because it comes from an advantage that they no longer have.

 

Agreed. Because he was usually bigger and faster than them. Historically, dominant hw champs have either been bigger or harder hitting than their peers. There's never really been a dominant champ who was smaller, lighter hitting and faster than average. But there have been dominant HW champs who were smaller and harder hitting than average. In that respect, Rocky has an advantage over Ali. Make no mistake though, I would pick Ali to beat Rocky h2h. As you said, nobody beat a bigger collection of bangers than he did.

 

Why are we comparing a complete novice pro fighter with 18 bouts against no real live opposition in any way to an ATG hwt champion? If Wlad beats an 18 pro fight novice that's immediately evidence he is now an ATG? Hardly. If Wlad fights and beats a fighter the caliber of say Joe Frazier in a tough hard fight that tests his limits THEN let's talk. Beating ANOTHER nobody does not do the trick.

 

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

As usual, you can't read. I said, I prefer to wait a bit before making such a prediction.

If you think he's an 18 fight work in progress who has not beaten a top ten ranked opponent when he fought them, why even speculate with this thread? Boxing history is full of 18-0 fighters at one point. Hence I used the Audley Harrison example.

I don't know if Joshua is going to be great or not, for that he will need a good chin, 12 round stamina, and survival skills if/when he needs then. Plus the ability to stay in shape and clean outside the ring. He hasn't been tested. Wlad if he's 80% of what he was will win.

But we don't know how much Wlad has left. He's 41 and out of the ring 1.5 years. He's also always in shape and focused. Hungry for this fight I think, and wil take the fight in Joshua's largest back yard!

If Wlad looks good, but looses, then I will say Joshua has proven a lot. But that means Wlad has to win some rounds, and lose later.

 

I would not. Joshua took way too long to finish Breazeale, and went safety first in rounds 5-7 making me wonder why. Are you saying he finishes Rocky in less than 7 rounds? Breazeale by the way was floored and hurt by an older blown up cruiser weight. All he was in the fight with Joshua was a punching bag, lacking the will or skill to land.

If Wlad blasts him out, AJ's chin and perhaps ability to take a body shot are issues, and Rocky was best later.

Wlad does well with bigger fighters who lack defense, , Derrick Jefferson, and Ray Austin come to mind, both over in 2 rounds. Also Wolfram, KO in 1, a smashing performance by Wlad. I see holes in Joshua's defense....

This fight Saturday night is going to be very interesting. A legacy boast or the next king? Boxing could use either. And for the sports sake no robberies if it comes down to a decision.