If Marciano never fought Joe Louis would it have affected either of their legacies?

Not really IMO. Joe Louis may have fought on a bit longer. You have to give Rocky a bit of credit, but Louis was so past it, and Rocky has better wins.

I guess it was somewhat of a passing of the torch, in a really sad way.

 

The most basic, top layer Marciano fan would have less to gloat over

Louis would have a slightly more impressive record, unless he tries to continue fighting

My favorite scene from "coming to America" would be gone, so really the true loser here is me

 

Nope, just like holmes didnt need a zombie old man ali on his record.

 

Louis wasn't really that old chronologically -but he was clearly shot. He moved stiffly and and even though he was only 37 he looked 50. If you look at film of young and old Louis it really is night and day, much like with Ali.

 

There would certainly be speculation about what would have happened, and I guarantee you there would be a vocal minority claiming Macriano ducked Louis like Dempsey ducked Wills, and of course parallels would be drawn to Wallcott.
("He was old too. So why fight him and not Louis?" )

My speculation is that this would very slightly hurt Marciano's reputation and very slightly help Louis'. I find that I'm not able to learn much about either fighter from their actual bout. (Though I have to admit in the parallel universe I'd probably be arguing that Louis would have knocked out Marciano.)

 

Not really, people who don't know anything about boxing might say so . I still think Louis in his prime would beat the Rock up.

 

I think it effects Rocky more than Louis, I never see people put Louis down for losing to Marciano but I do see people criticize The Rock for not fighting any good prime fighters. Joe was one of the best wins for Rocky (on paper anyway).

 

In hindsight, rex layne was a better win on paper. A prime hard hitting slugger with a good chin. But at the time, Joe Louis going on a win streak and being a living legend made people blind to the fact he was shot.

 

I think it wouldnt really hurt either but if anyone took a bump from it was def Rocky. Showed he could handle a heavier skilled opponent even if it wasn’t the best version of said opponent.

 

Louis was still a legitimate contender, but nothing more than that.

Marciano could probably get a comparable record fighting somebody else instead.