Tony Tucker vs Rocky Marciano

Its interesting that after he beat Douglas and became the mandatory for Mike Spinks IBF title Spinks refused to defend against him and was stripped of his title.

Had they met, my money would have been on Tucker.

 

I don't see how Marciano demonstrated that he was "great" at closing the gap. That was actually one of his weaknesses, and where he looked most vulnerable. A skilled, bigger fighter committed to keeping Marciano at the end of his jab would have exposed and taken advantage of this.

 

I'm convinced that Marciano's biggest fans mostly just watch his highlight reels on repeat. So they don't see his flaws or limitations (literally), just snippets of him looking clever crouching, landing big punches, throwing volleys, etc.

 

I'd hazard a guess those that have watched his fights have seen more than edited highlights on YouTube !

 

The temperature at ring side was about 90 to 105 according to Barry Tomkins. Douglas seemed to hit a psychological wall in round ten, having looked the better fighter he looked like he couldn’t get going from the start of that round. It was 10 of 15 in those days. Tucker did land a good right and poured it on in response to Douglas’ reaction before pausing, Douglas was momentarily stung but not stung enough. He seemed tired rather than hurt. Tucker almost reluctantly went back at with punches and Douglas just did not respond. Buster was not especially groggy. The ref rightly saved him because Douglas would not fire back..but Douglas just walked away almost with a shrug of his shoulders. It was an unusual ending. Not Tuckers fault at all. He took care of business. It’s just that Douglas seemed to have imploded on himself as much as anything else.

 

unfortunately, that is what I saw, RM's first fight with JJW. Both looked slow, I didn't see the alleged great stamina, I saw a slow paced fight between two unremarkable fighters. Then I watched some of RM's other fights because I thought maybe he had an off night. Nope, same thing, throw a punch, lose his balance, regain his balance, throw another, sometimes he was so off balance he fell, he consistently moved left by moving his right foot first, etc., there is nothing on video that I've seen of RM that I'd want to learn or teach. Comparing RM or his competition to Tony Tucker or any modern skilled, athletic boxer is ridiculous.

 

Did I mention Marciano?
I bought my Marciano collection from Black Hawk in the 60's.
Layne
Mathews
Louis
Walcott 1&2
Charles 2
Cokkel
Moore

Its on Super 8mm still got it in the loft.

 

Ahhh def no. Marciano’s average opponent was larger and about ten pounds heavier then him. Didn’t seem to have a problem. How on earth do you think he won any match with his Trex arms? You don’t think smart fighters like Louis Walcott Charles Moore Savold and Lastarza would have maybe attempted to keep him at bay with their longer reaches?

 

Layne has better wins then Tucker and it’s not even close.

 

Sixteen of Marciano's opponents were lighter than him, including 3 of his challengers.
Of the rest ,a further sixteen were less than 10lbs heavier,
a couple being the same weight.
Smart fighters can only keep you at bay as long as their legs hold out, older guys find themselves getting hit more frequently when their wheels begin to give out.Another reason is about 28 of them were third rater journeymen and very few of them were punchers of any calibre.

 

who cares where Nat Loubet, Nat Fleischer, Randy Gordon, Bert Sugar, the WBA, or the WBC ranked a fighter? Guys like Roy Williams, Jeff Merritt, and Larry Middleton probably were never "rated" in the top ten, but does anybody who knows anything about boxing think that Jean Pierre Coopman, Eduardo Corletti, Brian London, Terry Daniels, George Chuvalo, Manuel Ramos, or many other "Top Ten" fighters could have beaten them? Give these guys full training camps with pay, not short notice fights and even the best would have their hands full. A lot of people have been rated in the Top Ten because of connections, if you want to know who the best fighters are ask around the gyms. Magazine ratings, sanctioning body ratings, mean little/nothing.

 

Layne is 50-17-3 .Being kod 6 times
Tucker is 57-7-0.Being stopped 3 times when he was 37,38,39.

 

Buster looked gassed. Do you think Tuckers fight with Douglas was ever beyond USBA level?