Contemporary evaluations of Rocky Marciano

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by The Undefeated Lachbuster, Apr 15, 2020.


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  1. The Undefeated Lachbuster

    The Undefeated Lachbuster On the Italian agenda Full Member

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    Part 2! This time from an equally bias source, from the opposite side

    (Floyd Patterson)
    "He was the most determined heavyweight I have ever seen in my life. That man got in the ring and there was no way he was going to lose... Determination is based in the mind. How far can you go? What is your limit? With Marciano there was no limit."

    (May 12, 1952 issue of Quick "Rocky Marciano: Is he a 'Bum'?")
    "MARCIANO: Ring Riddle
    The hardest working, most promising heavyweight in the ring today is the Brockton, Mass., block-buster, Rocky Marciano. Yet, at a time when fight fans desperately sought a new idol, Marciano still hadn't convinced them he was championship material.
    One big reason is that in the ring, although his style is exciting, Marciano is a brawler- and few brawlers have achieved greatness.
    Still unbeaten, Marciano has compiled an amazing string of victories, beating such "name" heavyweights as former world champion Joe Louis, Rex Layne, and Lee Savold....
    ...his famed left hook and right cross should make him the most feared puncher in the ring today.
    With the experts, Marciano is rated no "bum", but a potential champion who might, with a little more seasoning, become truly great."

    (Jack Dempsey, interviewed in the 1953 fall edition of Fight magazine)
    "What everyone forgets is that Marciano can punch harder with a right hand than any modern-day heavyweight. In his first fight with Walcott, Rocky needed only one blow to win the title. The power in his right scrambled Jersey Joe's brains at Chicago."
    "I've scored my share of knockouts along the way, but more often than not my opponents got up after being knocked down and had to be knocked down repeatedly. The same is true of Joe Louis. But Marciano needs only one solid smash and it's all over. That's why I say Rocky Marciano is the hardest-hitting heavyweight champion I have seen."

    (Gettysburg Times - Sep 20, 1955)
    "Heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano's awesome, meat-grinder destruction of gallant, ancient Archie Moore in one of boxing's great battles may have been the invincible Brockton Blaster's last fight.
    This was the one the indomitable rock from Brockton wanted to win the most wanted to win more than any other since he knocked the crown off Jersey Joe Walcott's head three years ago in Philadelphia. And he won it in the typical fashion with a relentless, bulldozing attack that smashed Archie's defenses with a knockout in 1:19 of the ninth round.
    Now, with the light heavyweight king out of the way, there were no more worlds for boxing's Caesar to conquer and he mulled over retirement...
    ... A great champion
    To 51,574 spectators at Yankee Stadium and to millions who saw and heard the fight by modern communication, the well named "Rock" established himself as one of the game's greatest champions."

    (Doc Kearns, The Ring, Dec. 1952: Marciano Another Dempsey?)
    "Marciano hits harder than Jack Dempsey did"


    An extra that wasnt from Rocco's specific championship time frame but is still relevant to the discussion, especially to a certain someone else's thread:

    (Ferdie Pacheco)
    "He was chastised by the press every time he fought as being a Neanderthal, no concept of boxing, who was going to get beat as soon as he got in with someone who could box, who was gonna make him look silly…It took a long time for the boxing scribes to realize they were in the presence of sheer power."
     
    Last edited: Apr 15, 2020
    The Undefeated Lachbuster, Apr 15, 2020
    The Undefeated Lachbuster, Apr 15, 2020
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  2. catchwtboxing

    catchwtboxing Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    How about Ali saying he was better than Frazier:

    This content is protected


    A few more good ones:

    JERSEY JOE WALCOTT
    "Joe could take you out with combinations...Marciano was a one-punch artist. He threw every punch like you throw a baseball, as hard as he could. I have to say, with all respect to Joe, Marciano hit harder."

    HARRY "KID" MATHEWS
    "He was a great puncher, one of the best of all-time. He just threw one punch after another, and all of them were hard."

    EZZARD CHARLES:
    "Rocky numbs you all over. Wherever he hits you, he hurts you; on the arms, the shoulders, the neck and the head."

    JOE LOUIS
    "It hurt to bump into him....He hits harder than Max Schmeling...this kid is tough enough to beat anyone."

    and

    "The Rock didn't know too much about the boxing book, but it wasn't a book he hit me with. It was a whole library of bone crushers."

    ARCHIE MOORE
    (When asked which punch hurt him most)
    "Man they all hurt."

    and

    "After a fight with Marciano, it felt like you had been beat all over the upper body with a blackjack or hit with rocks....He could hurt you, sure, but it was the quantity of his punches. He just had more stamina than anyone else in those days. He was like a bull with gloves."

    ROLAND LASTARZA
    "I would throw a hard punch, then he would throw a hard punch. The difference was that Rocky would throw 10 more. He just never stopped throwing punches."

    PHIL MUSCATO
    "Dan, I can still feel his punches. He kept punching me in the upper arms until I could no longer hold them up to defend or throw punches".

    BERNIE REYNOLDS
    "He had amazing strength. Any time Marciano hit you, he could hurt you. He didn't do much flicking; every punch was a knockout punch."
     
    catchwtboxing, Apr 15, 2020
    catchwtboxing, Apr 15, 2020
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  3. The Malibu Mauler

    The Malibu Mauler Lakers in 5 Full Member

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    Can't forget Marciano being rated as the Ring Magazine's fighter of the year 3 times, 1952, 54 and 55 and 3 of his fights also being fight of the year, fro 52-54
     
    The Malibu Mauler, Apr 15, 2020
    The Malibu Mauler, Apr 15, 2020
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  4. The Malibu Mauler

    The Malibu Mauler Lakers in 5 Full Member

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    And in case you think sportswriters are wrong, here's some champs
    – “When I was 14 years old and listening to the radio and I heard the announcer, ‘.and still champion of the whole world, Rocky Marciano..’ I knew I wanted to be champion someday. He was a big influence in the start of my career.”
    — Muhammad Ali

    – “I liked that title. I didn’t want to lose it to anybody, but if I had to lose it, I’m glad I lost it to you. You’re a good fighter and gonna be a great champ.”
    — Jersey Joe Walcott

    – “Joe Louis is the greatest heavyweight champion of all time. Rocky Marciano is second only to Louis. Where do I rate Ali? Somewhere below me. I beat him, and if I could beat him, no doubt Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano could have beaten him.”
    — Joe Frazier
     
    The Malibu Mauler, Apr 15, 2020
    The Malibu Mauler, Apr 15, 2020
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  5. Dance84

    Dance84 Unicorn and seastar land Full Member

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    Wow nice !!
     
    Dance84, Apr 15, 2020
    Dance84, Apr 15, 2020
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  6. WAR01

    WAR01 In the 7.2% Full Member

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    @Seamus
    Gonna say anything big boy?
     
    WAR01, Apr 15, 2020
    WAR01, Apr 15, 2020
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  7. mcvey

    mcvey VIP Member Full Member

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    Marciano was just a street fighter.Joe Louis
    He had bad balance, was too small for todays fighter's , and fought old men. Emmanuel Steward.
    I'm an old guy fighting young guys,he was a young guy fighting old men.Larry Holmes.
     
    mcvey, Apr 16, 2020
    mcvey, Apr 16, 2020
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  8. janitor

    janitor VIP Member Full Member

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    I think the picture that we are seeing, is that he always divided opinion, and like with many champions, his currency increased the more he confounded the critics.
     
    janitor, Apr 16, 2020
    janitor, Apr 16, 2020
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  9. Cecil

    Cecil Boxing Addict Full Member

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    I just don’t get this debate about Marciano’s technique and ability.
    If we’re simply studying that in fighters as a discussion and nothing else that’s fair enough.
    However if people are somehow looking to denigrate Marciano’s overall legacy because of it then I’m a bit puzzled.
    Surely if he was just a crude, strongman slugger with a knockout punch then this enhances his legacy?
    At the end of the day he was unbeaten in 49 fights an unsolved puzzle and 43 opponents didn’t see the final bell. He was unquestionably the best heavyweight of his era, you can’t do any more.
    I mean what’s there to argue about?
     
    Cecil, Apr 16, 2020
    Cecil, Apr 16, 2020
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  10. mcvey

    mcvey VIP Member Full Member

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    No argument about him being the best of his era.
     
    mcvey, Apr 16, 2020
    mcvey, Apr 16, 2020
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  11. The Undefeated Lachbuster

    The Undefeated Lachbuster On the Italian agenda Full Member

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    They won't even give us that, some like to argue with us that he was a relatively weak attrition puncher whom only won because his opponents were so ungodly bad that his completely untalented and "having no outstanding physical traits" (a literal word for word quote by Pat M) boxing was able to defeat them

    Every time a thread meant to bolster Marciano's credibility and legacy, they have to go on it and call him a small attrition puncher and retort the same rhetoric. It makes me sick, ive begun to laugh at it. It makes me not want to post Marciano content at all. I have 3 different writeups/news articles involving Marciano that I wanna post, so I wait for the heat to die down, but it doesnt, every time we go a few days without a controversial Marciano thread, someone has to make "Marciano vs (Modern Fighter)"

    I mean look at this, he's responding to a comment that was tagging Seamus with rhetoric against Marciano for absolutely no reason.... It has nothing to do with my post, it doesn't debunk anything I said, it's just an assortment of negative quotes dug up for some reason or another (to hate on Marciano). The Joe Louis quote wasn't even negative, it's just out of context ffs.

    Sorry for the long rant
     
    The Undefeated Lachbuster, Apr 16, 2020
    The Undefeated Lachbuster, Apr 16, 2020
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  12. George Crowcroft

    George Crowcroft He Who Saw The Deep Full Member

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    Whilst I agree with your point, and the entre post barring 4/5 words, reading this was really fun. Just because I know your mannerisms and accent.

    The message is clear, STOP POSTING MARCIANO THREADS

    @InMemoryofJakeLamotta that goes for you too. No - You especially.
     
    George Crowcroft, Apr 16, 2020
    George Crowcroft, Apr 16, 2020
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  13. mcvey

    mcvey VIP Member Full Member

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    They are counter quotes to those posted.I haven't endorsed either the positive ones or the negative ones.
    I've asked you politely for primary sourced quoted from Ali,in which he states Marciano would have beaten him.
    I also asked you for lists by respected boxing writers in which Marciano features in the top two all time at heavyweight.
    These are both things you have stated as gospel.
    Now why don't you drop the fake indignation and channel that energy into answering my requests?
    **** or get off the pot time!
     
    mcvey, Apr 16, 2020
    mcvey, Apr 16, 2020
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  14. The Undefeated Lachbuster

    The Undefeated Lachbuster On the Italian agenda Full Member

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    I don't believe I said Ali said Marciano would beat him, only that Marciano had the only chance to, in Ali's mind. Ali always highly regarded Marciano's h2h abilities

    "Ali watched the film of Rocky's epic first title fight against Jersey Joe Walcott. 'He'd be hell to fight,' he said. 'It wouldn't be no fight- it would be a war.'" -from unbeaten.

    I said he was regarded by some, when did I say boxing historians? They were too busy still overrating Jack Johnson and Jack Dempsey at the time

    World Boxing 1974 Readers Poll
    Joe Louis
    Jack Dempsey
    Rocky Marciano
    Jack Johnson
    Muhammad Ali
    Joe Frazier
    Gene Tunney
    Jim Jeffries
    Sonny Liston
    Ezzard Charles

    Quite highly regarded in his time.
     
    The Undefeated Lachbuster, Apr 16, 2020
    The Undefeated Lachbuster, Apr 16, 2020
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  15. mcvey

    mcvey VIP Member Full Member

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    "You so fast,why you let them have Marciano whip you?"Frazier
    " You mean in that phony computer fight?You know that was fake.Whites want to see Marciano go down as the greatest heavyweight of all time when he wasn't.Leaving off myself and you,who you think would be the best two to fight the all time fight?"Ali.
    "Oh Like Joe Louis and Jack Johnson" Frazier
    "That's who I think"Ali
    "Well I mean really,guys like Dempsey,Marciano,Tunney can fight,but they no comparison to the black man.In ring power I mean. You got one or two white guys that may really fight.Nobody's overlooking any good fighter.
    But they no comparison in power to the best black fighter.He got more"Frazier
    "Right"Ali
    Interview between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali,taped by Ali,August 1970
     
    mcvey, Apr 16, 2020
    mcvey, Apr 16, 2020
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