Marciano was the heavier man in 16 of his fights, 4 of his opponents were inside the light heavy limit of 175lbs.
Liston is ranked in the all time top ten by. Ring S.I Herb Goldman Teddy Atlas Tracy Callis Mike Casey Nigel Collins Boxing Scene BBBOC World Boxing B I IBRO Terry Leigh Lye Reg Gutteridge Peter Wilson Joe Louis Muhammad Ali
Did he lose to a guy 23lb lighter than himself though? Sonny Liston did, and that guy was lighter than Rocky. Later Sonny quit in a fight against a man who did not hit close to Rockys power. Isn't that food for thought?
Nothing wrong with rating him today, it was nearer the time Sonny lived that it was so unusual. can you tell us how many among them rate Sonny below Rocky though? And also, how many of these ratings were before say 1978?
Now had Kovalev knocked out Ward and Stevenson, retired undefeated, I would understand why some might think that. As it is when he stepped up to the elite level he got caught short.
This is always the problem when being too hasty with current guys. I remember those who got a little carried away with Luis Ortiz and other drugs cheats. It's a trap that people can avoid falling into.
Liston would break Marcianos unbeaten record but Marciano would win the return. The rubber would be 50/50, with neither packing great longevity (well liston did, he was champ in his late 30s - but he had social issues that cut his longevity down hard).
It's better to wait until a fighter retired before putting them fantasy fights. Joshua could be the best ever or a flash in the pan, only his career will tell us that.
Well it's easy highlighting irrelevant things already well known about Rocky than highlighting Sonnys short comings in these size obsessed times. Sonny and Rocky came from a time where 20 odd pound heavier guys got beat by small men all the time - and Sonny was one of them. The days where that kind of advantage could not be overcome was further into the future.
Without film this cannot be proven. No official fight report mentioned this at the time of the alleged incident and no mention of it surfaced until many years afterwards. Marshall flat out denied it. It is one of those unlikely stories where there is no hard evidence it happened one way or the other.
