Expert opinions on Marciano VS Liston

A small man like Tyson weighing 220lbs?

 

Same reach as Lewis.

 

He was such a revelation for the division that the blueprint for short, slow, stubby, off balance fighters was set for generations to come. Promoters and managers have been searching for this archetype in every canoli shop and pizzeria since.

 

Weight wasn’t the argument it was reach. And yes Tyson was small compared to some of the men he fought. The era more determined the weight of said fighter as Marciano would prob weigh the same if he fought at Hw with steroids, weight lifting, etc. Liston wasn’t bigger then Marciano in anything he hasn’t already seen. Louis was of similar height and weight when they fought as Liston was. Marciano dealt with him in a pretty one way fight. Even if Louis was old the jab was his best asset and was still quicker then anything Liston threw. Marciano fought great jabbers in Louis, Moore, Walcott, Charles, Lastarza and he had no problem getting past their jabs. So no I don’t see the jab being the problem here more likely Listons inside fighting and strength and being able to match Rocky w endurance is the issue for Marciano. If Liston has tbe heart to push threw be wins this. But it will be a tough hard fight Imo. Slightly favor Liston in this one.

 

Hell of a jab though.

 

Moore and Charles were a lot smaller than Liston.

 

Sonny quit against ali, the biggest weakness liston had was his heart and grit. once Marciano applied any pressure on him and make him start grinding, he would have quit in the stool like in the Ali fight. You need more than height and reach to beat rocky, he was killer with crazy work rate, in a 15 round fight, Rocky drowns liston and makes him quit. And floyd would beat Duran and Robinson.

 

You've perked my interest CT.

What sort of comments lead you to believe that?

 

Not only wrong, but not even funny.

 

Liston fought on with a broken jaw against Marshall, so this idea that he'd quit against Marciano is laughable.
When he did quit vs Ali, it was cause he ruptured a tendon in his shoulder and was unable to carry on fighting. And in the second fight he took a dive.
Liston obliterates Marciano with ease, it's not even close. As Reinhard said, Foreman would do the same to Marciano.

 

Here’s an old thread pivoting on Rocky’s assessment of Liston following the DeJohn fight in Feb59 - quotes courtesy of @McGrain. Excellent info and very interesting.

[url]https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/rocky-marciano-on-sonny-liston.94277/[/url]

 

He quit v Ali because he couldn`t hit him.

 

Actually, it was because of an injured shoulder.
But you are right, Liston couldn't hit Ali much. But that's cause the stylistic matchup favored Ali, and cause Liston was old and unprepared.

 

I don't think the idea people have of Liston is Foreman with stamina+Louis skill. I think it's that he had surprisingly good stamina for a big puncher and operated behind a sledgehammer jab. We literally haven't seen anything like that in decades and even big guys like Lewis and Wladmir have to be careful to pace themselves and have gassed in other fights.

The closest guys to Liston in size and skill would be Rahman, Ike, Mercer, etc and you can definitely argue Liston has them beat in terms of power, skill, accuracy, finishing ability, a wider variety of punches, etc even if he doesn't have as much pure muscle as them. A prime Liston would be a problem if he fought in any era and was carefully managed without the contenders being allowed to duck him or the champion freezing him out.

As for the thread, Liston TKO's Marciano in 5.

 

Ha,ha,ha,ha,,,,