Marcianos 3 minute bomb run on the durable Don Cockell

But in the meantime Archie Moore eclipsed Nino (he had already beat Nino as had Bob Baker) as a greater challenger to Rocky so a match between Nino v Archie was made ahead of Rocky fighting Cokkell. It sometimes happens. To sell Nino it was decided he needed to erase past losses to Moore, Johnson and Baker by beating Moore whilst a fight that would sell straight away Rocky vs British Empire champion would go ahead for the title. But Nino couldn’t beat Moore so he was next for Rocky.

 

“Valdes and Moore to sort things out”

That’s the problem.

Does that seem fair to you or even logical that a number one "most logical contender" doesn't get a direct title shot at Marciano but has to fight an eliminator first?

 

This is all false opinionated drivel you’re coming up with here

 

That is incorrect. Don was actually 7-1 underdog against Rocky.

Jersey Joe Walcott was 10-1 underdog against Joe Louis.

Sorry to say but Don was taken more seriously at the time than you want to believe.

 

Quote from Seamus says it all. This is a big reason why they chose 5’10 70” reach don as a test for marcianos nose instead of the 6’3 80” reach a Valdes

Shortest combined reach in heavyweight title history!

 

Sure it does!

Nino had lost to current rated fighters Baker and Moore. Who in the top ten had Cokkell lost to? He already beat Lastarza.

 

Nothing false about Nino losing to Moore twice.

 

Valdes went on an 11-0 run from late 1953-may 1955. He defeated number 1 rated Ezzard Charles, knocked out number 4 rated Hurricane Jackson, and knocked out number 6 rated European heavyweight champion Heinz Neuhaus. If you can find anything on Don’s resume that comes close to that, let me know. I’ll let the well educated fans on this site decide for themselves who had the better record going into 1955

The Ring and NBA was obviously impressed enough with Valdes run to name him both number 1 contender and most logical contender. Head of the IBC Jim Norris stated in October of 1954 “Valdes is the only contender Marciano should fight next”

 

Damn Rez this video quality is amazing, you somehow always find the best stuff

Also yeah Cockell's durability is extremely underrated.

 

While Valdes should have gotten the call over Cokkell, Moore had racked up some equally impressive wins like Baker, Henry and Valdes back in '53. Combined with the fact that he was the reigning LH champ, you could certainly make a case that he was as worthy of a shot as Valdes.

 

Please to explain?

He was stopped in 12% of his fights.

162 pound Randy Turpin bounced him off the floor 3 times.

Spadafora-esque Jimmy Slade put him down 5 times.

The Aaron Wilson, yeah, that one, stopped him with a single shot.

His rep and ranking were brought about by victories over West Coast hype-job Matthews (Archie Moore's words) and LaStarza. I have news for folks. Roland Lastarza was not very good. You only know his name because Marciano struggled with him one time. And because you can't stop talking about Marciano, and even the most minor facets of his career, the name Lastarza gets repeated and you start to think that he was decent. Well, he really wasn't. Sorry.

That is all.

 

Cockell took a hell of a beating in this fight, and his durability is underrated, thats all im saying. Maybe the heavyweight fat cushioned the blows lol

LaStarza, though irrelevant to what I was saying, beat Rex Layne, who was one of the best during that time. Layne was even a favorite to beat Marciano before Marciano knocked him out. LaStarza's record isn't fancy because he was ruined as a fighter after the Marciano rematch

In fact, if we were to rate the fighters in Marciano's times, it would probably go like this:

1. Walcott
2. Charles
3. LaStarza
4. Moore
5. Layne
6. Cockell
7. Satterfield
8. Valdes
9. Matthews
10. Old Louis
11. Savold/Shkor/Baker

 

Moore isn’t on trial here. Cokkell is. Forget Moore. Cokkell did not deserve the title shot over Valdes

 

Great Post and very truthful, per usual