Prime Chris Byrd v Prime.... (wait for it) Rocky Marciano!

I think you’d be hard pressed to name 25 guys you’re confident are better. But I suppose it’s a matter of opinion.

 

There are levels to it. The point of being a pressure fighter who can cut off tne ring is to prevent your opppnent from being able to fight on the outside and move around.

So my point still stands. Rocky might have been "good" at cuttiing off the ring but the question becomes "HOW" good if Walcott fought his fight for 13 rounds? He obviously wasnt cutting the ring off very effectively or it wouldnt have lasted that long with rocky behind on the cards and walcott putting on a master class performamce.

If you want to have it both ways and say Walcott had top notch ATG footwork AND Rocky cut off the ring extremely well, you have to question Rocky's finishing ability, his power, accuracy, or all of the above. Walcott had been KO'd 4 separate times prior to facing Rocky and wasnt a particularly durable fighter. He was also pushing 40 and had lots of wear and tear.

The 4 men who KOd Walcott, incidentally, all did so faster than Rocky did. Does this automatically mean they hit harder? Of course not. But at some point you have to question Rocky's accuracy and/or finishing ability if this is the case.

Ring Magazine founder Nat Fleischer wrote that in terms of boxing ability Marciano was "crude, wild swinging, awkward, and missed heavily. In his bout with light heavyweight champion Archie Moore, for example, he missed almost two-thirds of the fifty odd punches he tossed when he had Archie against the ropes, a perfect target for the kill."

 

They do not want to hear this!

 

Rocky’s accuracy was always poor imo and that’s a fair assessment but sometimes styles make fights. James Tooney knocking out old Holyfield shouldn’t put into question Lennox Lewis power should it? Most of these hypothetical matches to me anyway boils down to styles when discussing the top 40 or so heavyweights. Walcott was Marciano’s hardest fight imo as his style def threw him off (heard Marciano said it was Ezzard that was the hardest but I doubt it).

 

Nothing wrong with this post ,or the points raised in it.

 

prime:

Byrd
Witherspoon
Tua
Ibeabuchi
Mercer
McCall
Bruno
Tubbs
Thomas
Tucker
Biggs
Briggs
Vitali
Povetkin
Douglas
Fury
Haye
Parker
White
Golota
Mavrovic
Morrison
Grant
Rahman
Peter

25 out of my head. Why should I make a no-speedadvantage LHW-CW with a 3 - 0 record in the >209lb-devision as the favorite here?

 

That post was meant for Byrd being a top 25 HW. If you don’t think Marciano is you have no business expecting anyone to take you seriously.

 

In his weightclass, he´s probably #1.

Shall I repeat my Excel calculation post? Rocky did barely fight any fighter that could be compared with what some call a modern devision.
Once again: Rocky does not have to proove himself in a highly unfair manner. He´d already do in a slightly unfair one at his time.

 

He absolutely may have decisioned him fighting as a heavyweight. I don’t see him strong enough as a cruiser. A prime Byrd with his speed and style would be a nightmare.

 

Wladimir Klitschko, Ike Ibeabuchi, Lennox Lewis, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Sonny Liston, Tim Witherspoon, Ken Norton, Pinklon Thomas, Riddick Bowe, Jack Dempsey, Tyson Fury, Floyd Patterson,, Tony Tucker Tony Tubbs, Buster Douglas, Anthony Joshua, Michael Dokes, Mike Weaver, Deontay Wilder .....

... and I could probably name another 25.

 

...... obviously Rocky Marciano as well !

 

Do you feel that Walcott showed exceptional footwork and Marciano showed exceptional abilities at cutting off the ring in that fight? If so, when? Walcott mostly just walked around flat-footed and even brought the fight to Marciano periodically.

https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/heavyweight-fight-of-the-week-1-marciano-v-walcott.619267/

 

Where is Greg Page???!?!?!?!!?

 

I didn't need him !