Joe Walcott was 38 years and 8 months old when he defended his title against Marciano on the 23rds of Sept 1952.Marciano had turned 29 years old that month.So an age difference of 9 years and 8 months What if it was Walcott who was the younger man ,and Rocky the nearly 39 years old one? Would the result have been any different? Please note that Walcott was not an active fighter at 29,[1943] so we have to imagine how his performance would have differed had he been a full time fighter with a training camp and the financial backing to allow him to devote his time solely to his craft. Since this was not the case in real life this means that his actual form at that stage of his career has to be largely disregarded.So please no," well he lost to Abe Simon "arguments!
No disrespect to Marciano but I think he loses this. Rock would have aged worse than Walcott , swarmers tend to do that. So if a past prime Walcott gave rock hell in the first fight, then a younger, well trained one beats him. It would still be a brawling exciting fight but marciano would always be behind on the cards. And he just isn't able to land that one punch to put jersey out. So I see it as Walcott w 15 marciano.
(tongue in cheek) OK! Now we're talking what I always talk about and often get slammed for. Eras differences! It's so hard to do a thread on fighters in their prime, often with decades of difference.
I'm picking JJW, but I'm also considering that JJW seemed to improve in his 30s. Rocky, though, would be an old man as far as boxing goes. His type of style accelerated athletic aging, every fight being a slugfest and usually an endurance contest. Marciano was already having back problems. It was good that he got out when he did.
The hypothetical demands that Rocky foolishly ignore the symptoms which convinced him to retire after the Moore fight. According to his own words the symptoms were: 1. Back problems 2. Opponent punches were starting to seriously interfere with his attacking ability. 3. Training had become a very unpleasant chore. He conjectured that MAYBE he had one or two more fights left in that condition. He also expressed deep concern about the possibility of embarrassing his family and his ethnic group if he insisted on forcing himself to go against his better judgment. Based on his own words we must then logically assume that a Rocky of Wallcott's age would not have Walcott's health at that age and must therefore lose to a far younger Wallcott. We must also conclude that at Walcott's age he would no longer be unbeaten and would have had losses on his record.
Since there eras overlapped and they fought each other twice and had several common opponents I don't see your point.What I'm trying to establish is how much of a factor was Walcott's age in their two fights. Of the five that have made a pick ,all five voted for Walcott.Therefore I think this validates my thread!
This, and Fergy is being kind to Marciano. Rocky didn't mind taking two to land one, and relied heavily on his fanatical training regimen and physical conditioning to power his way through bouts. Can you imagine another ten years of that when his body was starting to creak at the end of his career already? Marciano gave it his all and one can simply not keep the dials in the red and carry on as if nothing was going to break. The fighters that age well are the clever boxers with an aptitude for fitness and for defence. Guys like Moore, Walcott, Hopkins, Wlad. The sluggers, not so much.
This all said, how about a "What if Marciano had had a decent amateur career and training, instead of being thrown in the deep end?" thread. I see a definite improvement in Marciano's late career skills as opposed to his early stuff. He'd built up a useful style and had a few tricks up his sleeve by then. What if he'd started out as a pro in that condition?
Marciano's style wouldnt have aged him well. Prime Walcott would have outpointed a Marciano aged 35 or above.
Thrown in the deep end? 12th opponent Gilley Ferron 4-9 -0 11th Jim Connolly 8-5-0 10th lhvy Bob Jefferson 3-2-0 * last fight 9th Gil Cardone 0-1-0 8th Bill Hardeman 1-4-0 7th Humphrey Jackson 4-2-0 6th Jimmy Weekes 0-0-0 5th Eddie Ross 15-0-1 4th Bobby Quinn 8 -0-0* 2 losses to Bilazarian 3rd John Edwards 1-1-0 2nd Harry Bilazarian 3-5-0 1st Lee Epperson 0-0-0* last fight Doesn't seem particularly deep.
Things got a bit stiffer after that Maybe I'm used to the modern era where you have champs fighting bums in their 38th fight, I dunno.
Did they really? 13th Artie Donato 7-10-0 14th Jimmy Walls 9-15-1 16th Don Mogard 17-9-1 20thTommy DiGorgio 9-9-0 22nd Joe Dominic 18-10-0 27th Eldridge Eatman 22-20-5 32nd Keene Simmons 8-8-0 33rd Harold Mitchell 4-14-3 34thArt Henri 13-15-1 35th Willis Applegate 11-14-2