I think Tunney would get brutalized. He's tough as nails, so he could see the final bell and he'd have his moments, but he'd wish he never signed on the dotted line.
My response to Mendoza was questioning his statement that Tunney hit harder than any marciano opponent. I do not believe Tunney hit harder than Archie Moore.
Gene Tunney was an excellent boxer/puncher. Tunney had more KOs than Marciano. Tunney had more KOs than Dempsey, too. Tunney was never stopped. Whereas all the names Marciano stopped had been stopped by someone else, too. Tunney fought and stopped a lot of light heavys. Then again, so did Marciano. I just don't see Marciano stopping Gene Tunney. And if Marciano doesn't stop him, Marciano loses. And given the fact that Marciano was really busted up against Joe Louis and against Walcott and in both Charles fights, I think Gene could bust him up, too. I never saw Marciano fight someone who moved as well WHILE HE PUNCHED like Tunney. Walcott moved, but he was more of a "move-stop-punch-move" guy. He didn't throw punches while he was moving like Tunney did. On top of all that, Tunney was the bigger guy as a heavyweight. That's why I think Tunney either wins a clear decision or busts up Rocky and scores a late stoppage.
While I agree with some of your points...here’s a few I strongly disagree with “Tunney stopping Marciano” I don’t see this as plausible. Marciano not only had an iron chin, he aslo possessed excellent recuperative abilities. If bigger punchers and better finishers like Moore could put him down but not threaten to put him away, Tunney would not be able to do the trick. “If Marciano doesn’t stop him he loses” Why is that? Marciano outpointed Charles clearly over 15. Marciano showed against Moore in round 6, and Charles Round 15 that he was capable of throwing 100 + punches per round. That type of volume against Tunney could be enough to win plenty of rounds “Marciano couldn’t stop Tunney” Why not? Tunneys durability was not proven against Marciano caliber punchers. Outside of an aging Dempsey, Tunney did not fight any man who hit or finished even remotely close to marcianos level. You could say Dempsey was the only puncher that Tunney fought , and he put Tunney down and nearly out with 1 combination. Tunney missed out on many big punchers of the era so we don’t know exactly how good his chin really is. We do know how great of a puncher Marciano was. He went 6-0 with 5 knockouts against hall of famers. He knocked out every top 10 contender he ever fought
I think Tunney could stop Marciano but it would have to be a tko cuts stoppage. Rocky has the artillery to ko Tunney if he can land it.
Gene Tunney showed he was capable of throwing a hundred punches a round, too. And Gene Tunney didn't stand flat-footed and let people pound on him. Moore and Charles weren't guys who floated around the ring and punched while moving. Marciano unloaded hundreds of shots on them because they were standing right in front of him. Marciano NEVER fought ANYONE like Gene Tunney. Gene Tunney NEVER fought anyone like Marciano - although Dempsey was close (and bigger than Marciano). Also, nobody has seen all 15 rounds of Marciano-Charles I except for the people there that night. Marciano was badly cut at the end. He was also pretty beaten up. And it was close enough they rematched them a few months later, and Charles nearly stopped Marciano in the return. So who knows how divided people might be if we could actually watch all 15 rounds and score it for ourselves. Since Rocky and Gene were never stopped, the likelihood is it goes 15 rounds. I'd give Tunney a HUGE edge if it went to the cards. He just had a much better defense and punched/moved a lot more than anyone Marciano fought. I don't see Rocky Marciano "outboxing" Gene Tunney any day of the week.
Again, is it merely my perception that Tunney is being given a better chance against Marciano than a prime Ali was? Tunney has about the thinnest resume at heavyweight of any of the champs post Willard and discarding the fly-by-night belt grabbers. Ali has the deepest resume of all champs.
That's not accurate. Tunney fought a lot of punchers, although I wouldn't say any of them hit harder than Marciano. Regarding Dempsey, though, Tunney spent 20 rounds with Dempsey in a live fight and won 19 rounds. He also floored Dempsey with a single shot and totally busted up his face. Dempsey's hands weren't any slower than Marciano's, especially when Dempsey threw the combination that dropped Tunney. (It was a very fast and accurate combination.) Dempsey just couldn't catch him because Tunney was constantly on the move. It's not like Rocky would've had a lot easier time catching up with Gene. Rocky, by the same token, never fought anyone who was as big as Tunney who boxed and moved like Gene who was also an all-time great. Louis still hit hard and busted up Rocky, but Joe was slow. Walcott was slick, but he didn't box like Tunney, as Walcott tended to stop and plant when he punched. But Jersey Joe still busted up Rocky, too, in addition to flooring him. Charles battered Rocky in both of their fights. But, again, he didn't fight like Gene Tunney, either. I just believe, if it went 15, Tunney wins on points hands down. And if Rocky has to score a KO to win, well, good luck with that. Nobody ever knocked out Tunney. If the only way a guy can win is by KO, I tend to stay away from picking that guy. Especially if the guy he has to KO is a better boxer AND HAS SCORED MORE KOS than the guy who has to win by KO.
Like who? Because he certainly missed out on some of the best ones of the era at both 175 and heavyweight.
Hall of Famer Jack Dempsey (twice), Hall of Famer Tommy Gibbons, Hall of Famer Georges Carpentier, Hall of Famer Jeff Smith, you know, top guys of the day. They could punch. I said he didn't fight someone who hit as hard as Rocky. I acknowledged that multiple times. (Although Dempsey wasn't far off.) But the same is true for Rocky. He never fought a boxer/puncher like Tunney, either. Roland LaStarza wasn't Gene Tunney. And Rocky tended to cut and swell when guys did tee off on him. It's a compelling matchup. I just think Rocky can only win by stoppage. Whereas Tunney could win by decision or late stoppage. If Tunney could floor and bust up Dempsey over two 10 rounders, he could do the same to Rocky. (Although decision is most likely.) If the two Tunney-Dempsey fights were scheduled for 15, Tunney probably would've scored two stoppage wins.
