Better Resume Marciano Or Liston

I think Rocky should be ranked slightly higher, regadless of what you think about their H2H matchup.

 

A conundrum.

Liston cleaned out the division before getting his title chance and twice blitzed the previous champion.He has two ignominious defeats on his sheet however.

Marciano didn't clean out the division until he was champ [excepting Valdes,] but he kept a clean sheet against his contenders.
Liston beat foes in their prime.
Marciano beat many of them when they were past prime.
Better winning resume Liston for me.
Overall resume Marciano.
H2H I'm confident Liston demolishes Rocky.
Liston is in my top ten all time , he sits around the middle of the pack .
Marciano is just outside my number 11, with Frazier at number 12.

 

My two favorite fighters. Head to Head I don't know. Liston had most of the tools to win, but Marciano had the will and determination. It's a fight I would love to see.

 

Liston has fought much better opponents than Marciano. Liston would also beats Marciano H2H. Liston was unfortunate that he had to face a prime Ali when he no longer was at his prime. Liston is top 5 all time heavyweight.

 

How is Patterson, Machen and Williams "much better" than Walcott, Charles and Moore? I fail to see it.

 

Face to face I've got Liston, resume wise is an hard one to go for. Can't argue much with Rocky s perfect record but can we assume he could beat all of Liston s oppenent s?
I think I give it ever so slightly to Rock but even then indecisive really.
Good question actually.

 

Perhaps he is referring to their respective ages?

 

Exactly what I was thinking brother.

Who needs to face ‘64 Miami Ali in just their 2nd defence?

As you said, Liston’s woes compounded by advancing age and very few rounds in the bag over the past several years. Which other HW ATGs in possession of the title otherwise could’ve turned back the challenge posed by Miami Ali?

Ali’s all round title winning performance may well rank as # 1 compared to any other performance that saw annexing of the HW title.

Sonny might’ve had quite a few more defences under his belt if Mr Ali wasn’t on the scene.

Sort of makes me think of Norton having to face Larry Holmes in the first defence of his so called Paper Title. Tough gig.

 

This is the question.
Marciano has a better resume.
Walcott, Charles, Moore, Louis...

 

I'd have The Rock a little ahead on my ATG list.

 

In terms of overall resume/career ignoring factors like the age of the opponents, outside of boxing issues, etc, Rocky is slightly better. He was one of the most consistent fighters of all time across all divisions and eras. He made the most of his limited athletic ability in a relatively weak era and answered every question asked of him to silence critics.

Liston did the same thing on his way to the title, but had multiple issues hampering his career outside the ring. Jail time, alcohol issues, mob problems, inactivity, etc. At his peak you could definitely compare him to Rocky at his peak and he basically cleared out his division before patiently demanding his shot.

When comparing their best elite wins, Listons thrashing of Patterson were utterly dominant. Rocky has nothing remotely similar other than the rematch with Walcott (who was way past his prime and quit). However, while Rocky's elite opponents were often past their prime, they were still ranked and very skilled they weren't just "name" opponents and Rocky went undefeated. Rocky also gets an edge in title defenses, but as others pointed out Liston did beat multiple contenders before he became champ and those could have been defenses so their mid level opposition is close some what.

So Rocky is just slightly better based on sheer consistency and having the undefeated record.

 

Fine post!