Does A Prime Marciano Beat The Joshua Of Today?

Most fighters would crumble in that situation.
Marciano is the type of guy to take some big ones, and then somehow return a huge overhand.
That kind of resilience and pace could startle Joshua.
In the Klitschko fight, there were times when Joshua looked desperate in his attempt to dodge Wlads punches by ducking with his head down and not being able to move.

Joshua could stop Marciano.
But if Rocky catches him in that state, he's not letting him go.

It would be a great fight.

 

That's easier said than done. Punching a target like that leaves the taller guy extremely off balance. Pretty much falls right into the trap of what the crouch was designed to do against taller fighters. Joshua isn't mobile enough to do that over and over again without backing himself into a corner. Then it would be Marciano lighting Joshua up.

 

Marciano wouldn't have any success until after Joshua lets his hands go for a couple rounds.

 

Or Joshua leaning on Marciano or Joshua clinching...

For me, the bottom line is that Joshua is more than strong and powerful enough to give Marciano problems by throwing hard shots into and around his guard, while taking an occasional step backwards or laterally. If Marciano tried to close the distance against Joshua, he would have to pay a whole lot more for the real estate than he had to pay against the smaller men he fought in his era. Say what you want about Joshua but unlike almost every man Marciano ever stepped into the ring with, he had enough power to keep Marciano honest, and enough size to deliver it from a safe distance.

PS -- Just for the record, I think we may be implicitly overstating the amount of time Marciano spent in his crouch, or how difficult a target it would have made him for a man with a 15-inch reach advantage.

 

I just don't see it. The only scenario where I see Joshua losing is if, stunned by the extraordinary size gap and Marciano's lack of athleticism, he treats Marciano like a complete joke and starts throwing nothing but wild haymakers, or showboating recklessly or something.

 

Its not like Joshua would have the best of everything. You make it sound like Joshua shows up and knocks Marciano out without Marciano ever landing a single punch. Again I say it is far easier for a short opponent to fight a taller opponent than the other way around if the taller opponent doesn't have a fast pounding jab which Joshua does not. I agree that Joshua is stronger and bigger but this isn't a weight lifting contest. The only time strength comes into play is maybe in a clinch. Joshua isn't like Klitschko, his strategic clinching ability is very low.

Joshua needs room to get his punches off. A LOT of room. Marciano constantly coming in and countering makes that very hard. All it takes is really one solid punch from Marciano to put Joshua down. That is a lot easier said than done however.

Walcott and Moore had enough power to keep Marciano honest. Marciano just couldn't fight on the back foot lol.

 

You are out of your mind.

Any success Wladimir Klitschko had against Joshua last night doesn't translate to meaning Marciano can do likewise, and in any case Joshua gave us a great performance and a KO victory.

 

He fought a more fan friendly style, but wasn't as fast or as sharp. He's 41, out of the game for 1.5 years. As you said what HW ever looked that good at 41? Very few which shows you Wlad was special.

I thought AJ had a shaky chin and less stamina than he did, but this had to be proven in the ring and it was. A young Wlad finishes AJ in round six. He just gassed a bit late and got caught.

At age 27 as Joshua is, a fighter is almost always in his prime, the amount of fight does not matter than much these days, how many does Lomo have? See my point. If you are the super heavyweight gold medal winners at the game, you had a top amateur career.

I would say Wlad was way past prime ( we saw declines in the Jennings fight years ago ) , and Joshua is now prime. He's won a title, and had two warm up title defenses...how can this not be AJ's prime?

Yes, I give Joshua full credit and think he's #1 in the world right now and good for the game, but make 18+ title defenses for him won't happen. If I had to put an over and under number with him fighting at least one top ten guy a year, I say 3-7 more title defenses.

 

Although Wlad didn't prevail, did he at least impress you against Joshua on Saturday? He almost got him out of there and gave us a great heavyweight fight.
Joshua at least must have won you over considering he prevailed in a "Manila type encounter" or at least the modern equivalent given the hugeness of the competitors, tell me you at least view him as more than "a nothing" now and recognise him as a Champion?

 

Marciano in comparison to most champions pre-1960 had better power, better chin, more heart and more stamina.

Joshua is going to tower over many famous past champions, some of which were not as durable and didn't hit as hard as Rocky did.

So what applies to Marciano here, also applies to Johnson, Dempsey, and Louis doesn't it? Maybe the others have 5-15 pounds on Rocky, that's it!

I no longer think Joshua is a work in progress. Graduation was last night. He has proven he can take a hard punch, get off the deck to win, and come back late to win a high-stakes fight. His stamina might never be great, but as long as he's not pressed, he can work around it, and if needed he's got youth on his side for a while to catch a second wind.

 

Realistically Marciano would get destroyed he would be giving up nearly 70lbs and over 10" in reach. A jab from Anthony would feel like a cross from most guys Marciano fought. This would look like Foreman vs Frazier might even be worse. The size difference between these two is like Pep vs Louis.

 

I didn't mention Klitschko once in those 4 posts and on top of that you never responded to them.

 

Marciano gets crapped on for fighting guys in their 30s.

Joshua goes life and death with a 41 year old who hasn't been in the ring for 1.5 years and nobody says ****.

Lol there's so called "unbiased" analysis for you.

 

Why does Marciano not do worse against bigger guys in his actual career?

 

Bill Wilson. Decent big guy journeyman in an era where nobody had padded records. He was 43-11 when he fought Rocky.

Marciano gave up 40lb to him. That's a lot, right? 40lb!!
So surely, it'll take Rocky a bit longer than usual to put him out, yeah?
Marciano TKO 1.