If Marciano had fought on and beaten Valdez, who after that?

Patterson, but Satterfield would’ve been fun

 

I give Floyd a good chance to upset Rocky because of hand speed combined with enough power to hurt the Rock with combinations. This match, if set in 1956, would catch Marciano at the beginning of his decline. He wasn't quite the same fighter against Moore and Cockell as he was against Louis and LaStarza. He was still a hard hitter, of course, but to me he had become more of a batterer than a one-punch knockout artist. I think Marciano knew Patterson would be a tough opponent. You'll recall that he never went back into training post-retirement until Ingo upset Floyd for the title. That spurred him into considering a comeback, but he discovered he no longer had the requisite hunger.

 

Floyd Patterson was a good fighter, good speed, but if you had decent power you could unseat him like Ingo, Harris, Rademacher and later Liston, Ali. Rocky Marciano had the power to bust the veins of his opponents arms as they were trying to defend themselves against his rugged onslaught. I think after Nino Valdes that Marciano would have ended up in the ring against Patterson. Sure the speed would have bothered Marciano early, but the Rock would put immense pressure on Floyd, forcing him into exchanges on the ropes and connecting with brutal body shots meant to rob Patterson of his wind and speed. Marciano catches up with Floyd by round 7, when Rocky lands his famous Suzi-Q right hand.

 

Wish Rocky crushed a few guys on a fake comeback just to go 55-0 or something lol.

 

If you are referring to Lastarza,Marciano did not bust any of his veins.Lastarza went into hospital to have bone chips removed from his elbow after their fight,the damage was there before their fight.
My source is a Ring interview with Roland.

 

During his reign the following were ranked.
End of year
52 Henry no5.
53 Walls no 5, Henry no 7,Harrison no8,Satterfield no9.
54 Baker no4, Walls no5,Jackson no8 .
55 Baker no 2,Jackson no3,Satterfield no8.
56.Patterson Champ,Jackson no2,Satterfield no6,
Johansson no7,Baker no8.
If Rocky had continued any of the1956 names would have been interesting.
For an entertaining shoot out Satterfield.
I wouldn't pick any of them to beat Rocky and that includes Valdes
but matches against Baker,Walls,Henry,and Valdes would have been intruiging and informative.

 

It goes a bit both ways. The arm was hurt in training but Marciano did indeed hit that same arm i believe and burst blood vessels.

 

You are all knowing

 

Naah ,I'm an average poster who can't remember what he had for dinner last night ,but has a load of irrelevant facts in his head.

 

Lastarza never mentioned any burst blood vessels and he was at some pains to state the injury that required surgery, happened before their 2nd fight ,of course their 1st fight might have contributed to his problem.

 

An Interview with Roland LaStarza

Former Golden Gloves champ and heavyweight contender Roland LaStarza was unable to join us today. However, he shared these stories about his career and wished everyone in attendance well.

On fighting Rocky Marciano: "I won the first fight. Everyone thought I won the first fight except the referee. One judge scored it for me, the ref and the other judge gave it to Marciano. All the newspaper guys gave me the decision.

"The second fight, ruined me. It was easy at first. Then in maybe the sixth round I blocked a punch with my left arm and my left was gone. I blocked one of his right hands and that was it. I hurt that arm in training and when I blocked that punch I damaged blood vessels in my arm. I stood there and took a beating until the 11th."

 

See, the problem with this thread - or possibly the problem with my mindset - is that I can't get around the influence of Al Weill in this scenario. If it is Al Weill putting this together, I say he would pick Hurricane Jackson. He was small enough, extremely easy to hit, quite willing to absorb punishment and not impervious to a puncher as Nino proved. The perfect foil for a fighter like Rocky having one more fight. Of course, if it was me picking his opponent, I would go with Bob Baker. He and Nino were the big fellas that was sorely lacking on Rocky's resume. And I pick Rocky to dispatch both in two very good fights.

 

This ... I don't see Weill letting Rocky face a real threat to his unbeaten record. Because time was marching on, you could see it in the Moore fight even though he won, and you get into really quality opposition there's a threat.

 

Cheers for posting this JT, not to be pedantic but ,"damaged" does not equal burst. The 2nd fight certainly ruined him and made him a suitable opponent for Cockell to beat and stake a claim for a title fight,
Marciano's manager was the matchmaker for MSG,whether this had any bearing on the decision in the first Lastarza fight is open to conjecture imo.
Just as imo ,the Marciano fight ruined Layne and made him a suitable opponent for Lastarza to beat and make his claim for a title shot.
Of course Marciano then went on to ruin Cockell who was a spent force after their meeting.
Grinding attrition punchers, who never stop throwing leather at you, and heavy leather at that,are the ones that shorten careers.