Marciano or Holmes ? Who rates higher ?

Rocky Marciano faced everyone that was put in front of him and won. Larry Holmes as great as he was did not, he avoided fighters like Pinklon Thomas, Greg Page, did not give Tim Witherspoon a rematch, chose to give an overrated elderly abuser Gerry Cooney and Randall Tex Cobb title opportunities. Fighters should not have to call out fighters, this is not the WWE.

 

Larry is in the middle of my top ten, Rocky just outside it.

 

"I'm an old guy fighting young guys.Rocky was a young guy fighting old ones."Larry Holmes.

 

Holmes, but not super far ahead, Rocky is top 10 for sure imo.

However, the more I watch both fighters...Rocky had a good chance of knocking Larry down, but I just don't think he'd be able to avoid eating that jab. Old man Louis hit him with it again and again, and even though that jab was still very good for his age, even in its prime it wasn't as effective as Holmes'.

I doubt Larry would stop him, but I think Rocky would have a swollen Halloween mask at the end. UD for Holmes.

 

True, but still avoiding quality contemporaries to fight guys like the elderly abuser Gerry Cooney (easy winner over aged Ken Norton and Jimmy Young) and a nobody in Randall Tex Cobb. Marciano defeated World Light Heavyweight Champion Archie Moore on Sept 21 1955, TKO 9. And Larry Holmes lost to World Light Heavyweight Champion Michael Spinks on Sept 21 1985 by decision, no 49-0.

 

I still have issues with condescending to Holmes' competition. He didn't fight Page, Dokes, or Thomas...but were those guys ultimately any real good? They held their titles how long? Who beat them?

Sure, there would have been far more interesting matches for Larry than Scott Frank and Marvis Frazier. But Bey, Bonecrusher, and Williams were all more than legitimate challengers, and it seems to me so was Cobb. Yeah, Cooney had that inactivity thing against him, but to this day I wonder how many of the above names actually would have beaten him in 1982.

But that's coming from the biggest Holmes fan here, lol. Grain of salt reccomended.

 

Yeah but how old was Holmes when he avoided Thomas, Page and Witherspoon? He must have been 34 or 35 and clearly years past his best. Marciano was finished and retired at 32.

 

Sports Illustrated predicted a 3rd round ko of Holmes.

 

Marciano 32 defeated 188lbs Moore who was, according to him 38, according to his a Mother 41. Holmes was 36 when he lost to Spinks 200lbs,an age when Rocky was safely retired
Spot the difference?
49-0-0 means nothing to me ,half of those wins were over dross.Two of them may have just as easily gone the other way. If Rocky had a record of 48-1-0 I'd rate him just the same.

 

Holmes better competition, longer career

 

To me it means something special, I always say, A fighter fights what is put in front of him, weight does not matter, that is a younger person' perspective, only a fool fights past his fighting years, a greedy individual. Larry blabbed a lot during the buildup for his title defense against Spinks, belittling Rocky Marciano, sadly he ate a lot of Crow after Spinks defeated him. People harp too much about competition, an overrated philosophy.

 

A smart fighter Rocky Marciano was, he was too smart for the Leeches that encourage a fighter to hang on when they are past their fighting years, fans too are blood thirsty. Larry was still at his best when he refused to defend against Pinklon Thomas and Greg Page. Gerry Cooney was just a money making fight, but he was unproven, fighting relics like past it Ken Norton and Jimmy Young. He too did not fight guys like Pinklon Thomas and Greg Page. Cooney and Cobb were not quality.