Rocky Marciano vs Jack Dempsey prime

Another one I’ll have to think about. It will not go the distance whomever wins, I can assure you that, and ain’t nobody going to take a step backward.

 

"I've scored my share of knockouts along the way, but more often than not my opponents got up after being knocked down and had to be knocked down repeatedly. The same is true of Joe Louis. But Marciano needs only one solid smash and it's all over.

That's why I say Rocky Marciano is the hardest-hitting heavyweight champion I have seen."

-Dempsey

 

I'll go for the bigger, faster, more explosive and harder to hit guy.

I don't see many advantages for Marciano tbh apart from stamina.

 

Dempsey's a quick starter and Rocky's a rather slow starter, I think Jack is also the most powerful puncher Rocky's faced. Either Jack gets him by surprise and out of there early or Rocky wears Jack out and wins by decision.

 

I really dont know. Can't decide.

 

Dempsey has faster hands, is a faster starter, and was a vicious finisher with the most 1st round KOs in history. Rocky was a slower starter, had leaky defense, bad skin, and was more of a bludgeoning pressure fighter who need time to wear down quality opponents. Both had solid chins and plenty of grit. Rocky had the advantage in late round stamina and a little bit more variety on offense.

I think when you add all that up, it is more likely that Dempsey gets to Rocky first either by KO or TKO within 3-5 rounds but he'd go through a lot of hell and pain to do it and may need to get off the floor once or twice. The hand speed and fast starting makes the difference.

 

I picked Rocky by KO but I might wake up in the morning and change it. This would be a frickin’ FIGHT, guys.

 

1. He was a little more than "a bit past it" for Sharkey.

2. This is a horrible argument historically. Norton was a handful for Ali. I know Foreman's more dangerous than Norton.

 

Quotes on Marciano. Note how many are about his deceptive defense. Note how many others are about how he hit harder than Dempsey.

JOE LOUIS
"It hurt to bump into him....He hits harder than Max Schmeling...this kid is tough enough to beat anyone."

"The Rock didn't know too much about the boxing book, but it wasn't a book he hit me with. It was a whole library of bone crushers."

"I had a bad weakness kept hid throughout my career. I didn't like to be crowded, and Marciano always crowded his opponents. That's why I say I could never beat him." (Joe Louis, May, 1990 issue of Boxing Illustrated, DISPUTED BY MCVEY).

"He's a good fighter. Better than most people realize. He's strong and young and hard to hit."

"Rocky was a very deceiving guy. He was not easy to hit."

Oh, I don't know. Marciano's the type of fighter I think is good enough and strong enough and takes a good enough punch to fight anybody.
I don't think that no one, (unclear word) either Dempsey or me, could say "I could beat Marciano".
I think the fight could be . . . It's close, it'd have to be a close fight, because he's too strong, and he could take a good punch, and he just . . . you just can't say that I could beat him.
I'd like to say that I'd fight him, alright, but who would win, I wouldn't know; but I'd like the pay for the fight -- i think it would draw money, though.


MUHAMMED ALI
“I could have beaten all of those guys, except for maybe Marciano.”

“When I was 14 years old and listening to the radio and I heard the announcer, ‘.and still champion of the whole world, Rocky Marciano..’ I knew I wanted to be champion someday. He was a big influence in the start of my career.”

"Ooo he hit hard. He hit you so hard it'd jar your kin folks in Africa...it'd been rough...I truly think on my best day and his best day I would have beaten him...I think he was better than Joe Frazier, I truly think he was better than Joe Frazier and you know what Joe Frazier did to me...I think it would be even, he may have won. It's just hard...In his heyday, he may have won. It's up to the imagination.

(When asked who would have given him the most trouble)
"Rocky Marciano...He would be the most trouble I think...Rocky Marciano."


ACHIE MOORE
(When asked which punch hurt him most)
"Man they all hurt."

"After a fight with Marciano, it felt like you had been beat all over the upper body with a black jack or hit with rocks."

"He could hurt you sure, but it was the quantity of his punches. He just had more stamina than anyone else in those days. He was like a bull with gloves."


JERSEY JOE WALCOTT
"Joe could take you out with combinations...Marciano was a one-punch artist. He threw every punch like you throw a baseball, as hard as he could. I have to say, with all respect to Joe, Marciano hit harder."

“I liked that title. I didn’t want to lose it to anybody, but if I had to lose it, I’m glad I lost it to you. You’re a good fighter and gonna be a great champ.”


EZZARD CHARLES:
"Rocky numbs you all over. Wherever he hits you, he hurts you; on the arms, the shoulders, the neck and the head."


JACK DEMPSEY
"What everyone forgets is that Marciano can punch harder with a right hand than any modern-day heavyweight. In his first fight with Walcott, Rocky needed only one blow to win the title. The power in his right scrambled Jersey Joe's brains at Chicago."

"I've scored my share of knockouts along the way, but more often than not my opponents got up after being knocked down and had to be knocked down repeatedly. The same is true of Joe Louis. But Marciano needs only one solid smash and it's all over. That's why I say Rocky Marciano is the hardest-hitting heavyweight champion I have seen."


GEORGE FOREMAN
I rank “Joe Louis 1, Marciano 2” Marciano retired undefeated. No other heavies has ever done it;


JOE FRAZIER
“Joe Louis is the greatest heavyweight champion of all time. Rocky Marciano is second only to Louis. Where do I rate Ali? Somewhere below me. I beat him, and if I could beat him, no doubt Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano could have beaten him.”



FLOYD PATTERSON
"He was the most determined heavyweight I have ever seen in my life. That man got in the ring and there was no way he was going to lose... Determination is based in the mind. How far can you go? What is your limit? With Marciano there was no limit."


ROLAND LASTARZA
"In defense. It was harder to get at him ... Rocky fools you. He doesn't take as much punishment as it seems. He looks easy to hit inside but he isn't."

"I would throw a hard punch, then he would throw a hard punch. The difference was that Rocky would throw 10 more. He just never stopped throwing punches."


CHARILE GOLDMAN
"He ain't as easy to hit as they say. Rocky rolls under punches and he weaves under punches ... He protects his belly by blocking with his elbows.


ANEGELO DUNDEE
"Rocky was a very deceiving guy. He was not easy to hit."

"Well, let’s face it. He never got licked. Undefeated heavyweight champion of the world. I mean, how much better can you do than that?"

"Marciano is the most underrated heavyweight of all time. He had so much more than they ever gave him credit for. He was capable of getting those bigger, heavier guys and destroying them."


KNEENE SIMMONS
"He fools you. When you look at him from outside the ring he seems easy to hit ... But if you're in the ring with him you find this isn't the case ... His head is bobbing and he's crouched low, so low in fact that you can't get a clear shot at him."


"Marciano is a good puncher and he's hard to hit. He has a funny style."


HARRY "KID" MATHEWS
"He was a great puncher, one of the best of all-time. He just threw one punch after another, and all of them were hard."


PHIL MUSCATO
"Dan, I can still feel his punches. He kept punching me in the upper arms until I could no longer hold them up to defend or throw punches".


BERNIE REYNOLDS
"He had amazing strength. Any time Marciano hit you, he could hurt you. He didn't do much flicking; every punch was a knockout punch."


DOC KEARNS
"Marciano hits harder than Jack Dempsey did"


FERDIE PACHECO
"He was chastised by the press every time he fought as being a Neanderthal, no concept of boxing, who was going to get beat as soon as he got in with someone who could box, who was gonna make him look silly…It took a long time for the boxing scribes to realize they were in the presence of sheer power."


SONNY LISTON
"This man was one of the greatest champions ever. He refused to accept defeat. And nobody beat him."


MARVIN HAGLER
(When asked to name the greatest fighter of all time).
"Naturally, the first thought that comes to mind would have to be Muhammad Ali. Ali is more my time. But before my time, it would have to be Joe Louis or Rocky Marciano."