Would boxers like Jack Dempsey, Rocky Marciano and Floyd Patterson even have a chance in this era?

Patterson? No. His chin won't hold up. However, Patterson would make an excellent cruiserweight.

Marciano had immense power and a good chin but he didn't have many wins against decent heavyweights who were large. In addition, he had a short reach. I do think Marciano could ko most guys today if they trade with him. However, guys like Fury and Joshua would likely be able to keep him at a range and prevent him from getting close. I like Rocky but its hard to see him landing clean punches on skilled big guys. I do think Rocky would smash guys like Parker, even Ruiz etc. But the really tall guys like Fury and Joshua? Its hard to see a guy with a short reach landing clean hits on them (unless he has exceptional speed like a young Mike Tyson).

Dempsey was 6'1 with 77 inch reach, and very fast feet. Plus he feasted on big guys. I think Dempsey would like bulk up to 205-10 lbs with modern nutrition and wouldn't lose too much speed. Of course the big guys today are better than in Dempsey's era. Again, its hard to say but i think Dempsey has a better chance because he was taller than Rocky and Floyd, had faster feet than Marciano, was more durable and harder hitting than Patterson, and had fairly long arms.

I think Dempsey does better among the 3, with Rocky at #2 and Patterson at #3.

 

None of them at heavyweight, I see Dempsey knocking Wilder out tho but they all belong at cruiser or light heavyweight.

 

Yup, agree with everything you just said

 

In one off fights anyone an do anything.

But they wouldn't campaign at Heavyweight weighing what they weighed.

 

I think they would all do well at their natural weight which was cruiser.

They may even do well at heavyweight but I think that the sheer size of modern heavies would mean that their reigns would be much shorter than they were in their day, due to the attrition of fighting at a 40lb weight disadvantage every single fight.

 

Dempsey has the best chance,imo. because of his combination of speed and durability.
Marciano was too slow, Patterson too fragile.

 

Morlocks I did not know that you were a Vicious Homophobe.
This is no better than being a vicious, unrepentant racist.
Part of the Evil is that there is no evidence any of those guys are gay: but like accusing Obama of meing Moslem, you make it sound like it is wrong.

Now I happen to be straight, but am proud to support the much abused gays during gay pride month.
If you would not rave about Ni**ers, do not even think about mocking & insulting based upon sexuality.

Now for the issue at hand...I think they would have much trouble beating the today's champs, & some top contenders at least.
Sports progress, & while toughness & skills may have been at least as high in the past...if you could not imagine a guy in the 180's today being competitive against SHWs, I submit it is best to be very skeptical that the best men effectively a few divisions larger would not at least be favored head to head.

 

All of them would be allowed to be bigger and stronger with out losing anything w modern training. So yes they could be as good. Idk if someone like Patterson goes above cruiser. Chin issues and all.

 

Three great former champions, who happened to be some of the most ambitious heavyweight champions in the history of the heavyweight division could be succcessful in any era and especially this era considering all of the titles that are available today. How long they’d be champion is something entirely different however.

 

It would be a big uphill battle for all of them particularly over time.

 

It’s tough, you can’t expect someone that is 6’4 and 250 pounds to look anywhere near as good as someone that’s 6’1 and 200lbs, it just doesn’t work like that.

There seems to be this unspoken assertion that because a fighter doesn’t look as good on the eye that they are automatically less effective. I don’t really buy it

Maybe the talent pool in the heavyweight division wasn’t what it used to be like, probably, but I’d also argue that it’s because there only seems to be a certain kind of build that can be hyper successful at heavyweight now.

I know Uysk may have a chance to grab a belt at some point, but I’m not sure he’ll ever be lineal or unify & he’s pretty damn good!

Apart from that why haven’t any fighters from cruiserweight stepped up and been successful apart from Holyfield in modern times. I guess Huck did well and maybe should have got the win over Povetkin, but do we really expect him to have stood a chance against Vitali or Wladimir?

I think this is also a fair reasoning why we shouldn’t compare eras too seriously and only do it for fun.

 

All of them would have a chance, yes. Dempsey never had trouble with big men. He decked plenty of big guys with his speedy explosive ferocious style, and knew how to duck and move his head, along with his fast footwork to get in and off to the side. Marciano was a relentless ass beater, punching hard nonstop, with tremendous condition, great chin, body work, underrated dipping and countering ability. He was physically strong enough to have a chance with anyone. In fact, I think both Dempsey and Marciano would hit these big guys more easily than they would the smaller quicker skill guys of their era. Patterson had the blazing hand speed and power, but yes, he would have real trouble with these big guys today because of his chin issues. But prime Patterson could have pulled off some surprises too.

 

Damn, Pat M just threw the towel on himself.

 

They'd all have most success at LHW today. They might try bulking up and fighting at CW, but even the average CW today is around six three, 210lbs. They might have the odd success, but the wear and tear of constantly fighting athletic men substantially larger than themselves would shorten their careers prematurely.

Both Dempsey and Marciano have very similar stats to Kovalev and Beterbiev, though Rocky was even shorter than Beterbiev with a comparable frame. If you look at how much LHWs rehydrate to on fight night it's around 185/187lbs, which is bang on what those guys tended to weigh. Dempsey would occasionally go a bit higher, which is why he might decide to make the move up to CW, but it's very much within the realms of possibility for all three to boil down to 175 with today's weight cutting methods (basically extremely strong diuretics). Doing that would also take its toll, but not so much as bulking up and fighting guys a good twenty pounds over their natural weight who aren't big, clumsy oafs.

As for whether they could compete at HW today, an emphatic no.