Jess Willard vs Rocky Marciano

No in my opinion, but it will be a much harder fight for Marciano, than some people may think.

 

Nah Rocky blasts him outta there in two. Hit way too hard for Jess and too relentless.

 

Willard was a big farmer. Same as Dempsey fight.

 

Marciano by KO/tko but it takes a bit longer than it took Dempsey as he was a faster starter, almost like a tiger. Willard much bigger and not lacking courage but he will succumb to Rocky inside of 10 rounds, maybe well inside.

 

After his savage display over James Toney and Lennox Lewis in threads previous, it looks like The Potawatomie Giant is getting yet another body on his record.

 

Rocky had less speed and worse timing than Toledo Dempsey, but probably hit slightly harder. However, he also has worse defense and tended to bludgeon opponents even hitting them on the arms or shoulders while Dempsey was picking his shots much more carefully.

So Rocky takes much longer to do serious damage to Willard, especially with the neutral corner rule. Willard was by all accounts a huge and durable guy willing to eat multiple shots or bide his time behind a guard to wait until he could drag his opponents into deep waters with his superior size mauling them (almost like a crude prototype of the Steward trained giants). I see this being competitive for the first 5-7 rounds as Rocky, despite being the much better fighter is still very tiny with a short reach and has never fought anyone this size. Willard's mauling, grabbing, leaning, and long range punches keep Rocky honest and tire him. Not enough to seriously hurt Rocky, but test his endurance and buzzing him occasionally.

But Rocky's non-stop aggression and body shots win him rounds and also drain Willard's stamina, bringing his arms down bit by bit. Eventually Rocky is able to land his first serious shots to the jaw in round 8-9, finally dropping the giant. Willard gets up and takes a beating from rounds 10-11 before the ref finally stops it.

 

He had some pretty ideal circumstances.

 

Gunboat Smith didn't see the the circumstances as being ideal, because he admitted that he was waiting for Johnson to get older.

Gunboat Smith did not lack courage by the way.

Willard firstly took the fight, and secondly came to win, as opposed to getting a big pay day.

I get it that Willard is not everybody's cup of tea, and he isn't mine either, but can't we extend some respect to him?

 

Very good analysis. I pick Marciano to win but it will be a hard-fought victory. We're not talking about the Willard of Toledo that Dempsey faced but the best Willard - probably the version that took the title from Johnson in Havana. Big Jess took everything that Johnson threw at him in the blistering heat. He even fought rounds 2 and 3 against Dempsey without going down, all after absorbing that horrible beating in the first round. And four years later he lasted into the eighth rounds against the powerful, hard-hitting Firpo. So Rocky would be facing a very durable foe. I envision Rocky clubbing Jess from the beginning, relying on his own durability and incredible stamina. It takes him longer to grind Willard down. He may stop Jess in the later rounds, but I wouldn't be surprised if the fight went the limit.

 

Right, the Willard that Dempsey faced wasn't the best version. That fight happened in the sizzling heat, and Willard was very inactive and hadn't been training very diligently (his camp was horrendous and even Dempsey acknowledges this in his book). Rocky is not going to just easily steamroll prime Willard in 3 rounds, and the size difference will be a major issue since he had never fought a boxer that big.

 

Marciano was the overall better fighter. But Willard would have a chance by virtue of his punching power and enormous size advantage. He also had the stamina to hang around late. People comparing this match to the Dempsey fight need to consider that Jess was 37 years old and retired for three years going into that bout. If we’re looking at best for best then I’m guessing we need to look at the Willard of 1915 or somewhere around there