Much as I dislike Tua and find him grossly overrated here, he's WAY to much for Marciano. He ends this quickly, and brutally. Marciano is the still undeniably the greater fighter.
This really depends on if you leave both fighters as is and just bring them together in a time machine or you bring one to the other era and have them get acclimated. A 188 pound fighter, even one as tough as Rocky, is going to go through hell with someone weighing anywhere from 40-50 lbs heavier. If Tua was just some C level scrub I'd easily give Rocky the win regardless. But he brings one of the most murderous hooks and a pretty damn good chin himself to the table. He also had an underrated jab. Neither guy could back up or move laterally to fight, so...at some point Tua wears him down, viciously. A brown bear vs a black bear. You don't slug it out giving up that much weight. If Rocky however, can get himself up to a stocky 205-210 or so (with or without peds), I give him much more chance. Even with a 10-20 pound difference, his vast experience, stamina, and inside skill will even the odds. He was more 2 fisted and had better head movement. The question is if Rocky's stamina and work rate would be the same at that weight. If he gets stronger but slower and less explosive then he'd just be a big target. Assuming it's the same relentless Rocky but a little bigger, I'd favor him to win 7/10. In the 50's, Tua would probably weigh around 205 to be able to handle the pressure of a 15 rounder. I'd have to go with Rocky in that scenario as well since Tuas enormous bulk and power would be less of an asset than the 220-230 brick house we saw in the 90's.
Call me a stupid MF, but i don't count Rocky out. He is a 2-handed hard puncher, he knows how to dodge punches and counter + he can survive 1-2 solid hits due to his granite chin. He proved that he could overcome early knockdowns and came back outworking his opponents. I'm not even a big Marciano fanboy at all. I just don't see the missmatch whether 30-40 pounds difference or not. A likely scenario would be: Rocky goes down 2 times in the first round but fights back and rocks Tua periodicly with his Suzy-Q, hits all his arms, hits everything he could constantly and stops him later when he tires out. To me a minimal edge to Rocky: ~55/45
This would be a more compelling argument if Tua and Marciano were biotechnological Terminators, manufactured by different generations of engineers. Since they are people, I think it's safer to stick with the traditional Usain Bolt / Jesse Owens stuff.
You have a profile picture of Marciano beating up Mike Tyson. Marciano just isn't that guy pal. Amazing fighter for his era but tiny compared to the world class heavyweights that originated from the 90s
Marciano is far more skilled then Tua…pal. There is literally nothing Tua does better. The 30 pound difference isn’t really life and death here. Especially being they’re the same height. Marciano by a mile. Plenty of lesser chinned men took Tua the distance. Think it’s a fun fight but Marciano dominates the rounds won.
LOL Marciano is going to charge straight at Tua and Tua will have fun battering the cruiserweight. Tua will eventually floor Marciano and will finish him off like he did Ruiz. If they were the same weight I'd definitely favor Marciano to put a beating on Tua. Marciano will always be the greater fighter but the fact is this would be a mismatch.
Marciano wasn’t really a “charger” he used a crouch and lean style. Tua would be coming at him and getting beat on the inside and out. He wasn’t a tricky puncher like Walcott or Moore. Tua was an easy book to read.
Marcianos ass would get beaten to the punch in the inside and would get steamrolled. This isn't your average sub 200 pounder that Marciano fought. Tua will eat everything Marciano throws and will proceed to blitz him with thudding combinations and lay him out. Marciano is tailor made for Tua. Here are some highlights This content is protected This content is protected The difference is that Tua's opponents aren't cruisers.