For the people insisting Rocky was "hard to hit" and had "underrated cleverness"

*GASP* You are defending Marciano

 

Lol what is this agenda posting, this is pathetic

Marciano was not Gene Tunney but he was far more technical than given credit and the primary reason he was seen as a caveman is that his style was not "within the realm of orthodox boxing", it was custom made, and it helped to have his opponents underestimate him. You cant train for a man like Marciano. And within the realm of sluggers, Marciano definitely reigns supreme as the most technical and defensively sound slugger at heavyweight

 

Make it stop...

 

What Joe Louis considered to be easy to hit, might not be what many fighters would consider easy to hit.

What it comes down to, is that no fighter is successful for not reason.

Oh, and just to be clear, a weak era won't get you success, unless you have some outstanding attributes.

Somebody once said of the renowned runner Emil Zatopek: "He does everything wrong except win."

So what are we looking at here?

Marciano didn't get to where he got, without some sort of defense.

 

Found this on internet:

"Marciano Was Easy to Hit"
In his time and ever since, it's been claimed that Marciano was a wide open target, easy to hit, and therefore wouldn't have lasted long against the big sluggers. This is not true. There was a deceptiveness to his style, making him look easy to hit to observers, but not easy for opponents.

Charlie Goldman (1955): "He ain't easy to hit as they say. Rocky rolls under punches and he weaves under punches... He protects his belly by blocking punches with his elbows."
Roland LaStarza (fought Marciano twice) asked where Marciano had improved most between the first and second fights: "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."
Keene Simmons (1951 opponent, KO'd in 8th) "He fools you. When you loook 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."

Joe Louis, in the dressing room after his fight with Rocky:"Marciano is a good puncher and he's hard to hit. He has a funny style."

Joe Louis, to Wendell Smith of the Pittsburgh Courier:"He's a good fighter. Better than most people realize. He's strong and young and hard to hit."

Angello Dundee (Ali's trainer)"Rocky was a very deceiving guy. He was not that easy to hit."

Jersey Joe Walcott and Archie Moore both said Marciano had proved to be much harder to hit than they had expected. And Ali, during the filming of the "computer fight" told Angello Dundee that he was surprised at how hard it was to land his jab on Marciano.

 

His knockout of Layne was intelligent, just out of the exchanges, knowing Layne was probably resetting, Marciano steps back just slightly to make Layne think they’re both resetting, the suddenly comes over the top with the right.
Marciano was also intelligent on the inside, knowing how to grapple to create room for punches, whilst also keeping his opponent in a position so they can’t get anything on their punches, by putting his head on their chest and pushing them off, whilst still leaning forward enough to get power, but pushing his opponents off balance so they can’t get power, he used his strength intelligently.
This would also work on the inside in general, puts his head in their chest, so he’s still got enough room for his arms to generate leverage, but because the opponents I forces to be more upright and above him, they can’t lean forward enough to generate power on their punches.

 

There are basically two kinds of people arguing the case against Marciano on boxing forums.

I call them Marcianohaters, and Marcianoskeptics.

Thankfully we only have Marcianoskeptics to contend with these days.

 

Oh cry about it I added something lol.

 

Louis throwing shade at Mike Tyson before Mike was even born!

Your complete quotes talk about how he improved. Perhaps the people who are saying the things you mention in the thread title are talking about Rocky’s best self, not the version who was on the rise but still learning.

One hallmark of greatness in any athlete in any sport is the ability to continue to improve and hone their skills rather than reach a plateau and stay there. (Dang, now it sounds like I’m throwing shade at Tyson.)

 

Pull counters are nice. They are not easy to time, but when they work they are effective. It's usually better to roll, pull back or slip, than to block. It gives you two hands to counter an opponent who has missed and might be temporarily off balance.

We were taught to use the uppercut in a similar way. If the opponent was coming forward, throwing punches, not respecting your punch, we were taught to take a half step back, turning (torquing) the body at the same time and, when the rear foot set, throw an uppercut while pivoting the rear foot and shifting the weight to the front. It works with the rear hand or the front hand, of course you have to torque the body the opposite way if using the lead hand uppercut. When the timing worked out it was nice, even if it didn't work, it gave the other guy something to think about. And from the rear hand uppercut, a weight shift from front to back with a follow up hook, from the front hand uppercut, a weight shift from rear foot to front and the follow up cross. (there are so many people fighting out of a "southpaw" stance now that I try to use front and back hands instead of left and right.)