Rocky retired after just 8 yrs. with 49 wins, which was a small career back then. Maybe Rocky's style would have prevented it, but guys like LaMotta and Beau Jack absorbed perhaps more punishment in their fights than Rocky and both fought more than twice as many pro bouts as Rocky (albeit with several losses each). Rocky probably could have finished the 50s champ (maybe?). Or would Patterson have outworked him for a decision? Could Liston have made it to the 60s? How would Marciano do against Liston from 1958 to 1962? How many more years could Rocky have fought on before being absolutely steamrolled?
How would the Rock have done against these big contenders?: Tommy Jackson Cleveland Williams Folley Machen Johansson Chuvalo Terrell Henry Cooper Doug Jones Keep in mind that this would be Rocky after the Moore fight.
Didnt Rocky try to make a comeback for a bout with Patterson but he couldnt perform to his standards in the training camp?
He should be favored over all of them, although Doug Jones' trickyness, Terrel's annoying jab and grab tactics+size would be a cause for concern. The problem isn't the matchups but Rocky's pace and health. His gruelling training camps and oressure fighting style mean that even an opponent he would normally not have too much trouble with could become a life and death affair. 32 isn't that old but Rocky's back was acting up and he would sometimes have issues with cuts/scar tissue so he was essentially a ticking time bomb. I could see Chuvalo upsetting him in a very close gruelling affair with a shopworn old Rocky, Terrel frustrating him and pulling it off, or Machen fighting super cautiously and winning on clean punches and ring generalship. It would just be a matter of time. I doubt he goes undefeated.
Rocky would of been 35-39 years old in this scenario and definitely on the downside or completely out of his athletic prime. He probably wins some of these but eventually the mileage and age are going to catch up to him
He was gonna fight him or Johansson around the time their trilogy took place. He would have killed Johansson though.
Except by the time he would have faced Ingo, Rocky's back would have been 3 years worse, he would have been 3 years slower and 3 years less explosive. Those with styles anywhere reminiscent of Rocky's have a short shelflife at the top. I think he wins about half of these match-ups at the time they would have happened.
I guess you're right. My dad's had a bad back since before my time, and it's only gotten worse and worse.
Rocky should get credit for stopping at the right time. How many other fighters have done that? He went back into training for a while, with a possible Patterson fight on the horizon, and he realized he just didn't have it any more. Could have received a big payday, but walked away.
That is a very hard thing for a champion to do, especially when they appear to be in a position of strength.