Whose retirement "timing" is better; Lennox Lewis or Rocky Marciano?

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by ikrasevic, Dec 19, 2024.


Whose retirement "timing" is better; Lennox Lewis or Rocky Marciano?

  1. Lennox Lewis

  2. Rocky Marciano

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  1. Devon

    Devon Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Prime for prime, Marciano runs through him, probably early due to the style matchup, but at that point, Marciano probably would’ve been slowing down and Patterson may have been the best opponent he would’ve faced, maybe just behind Walcott, but maybe not considering Walcott was 38, but even if 38 Walcott was a bit better than Patterson, there’s a good chance Patterson still would’ve been Marciano’s toughest fight considering Marciano probably would’ve been slowing down.
    I would still have favoured Marciano late in a very tough fight.
     
    mcvey likes this.
  2. mcvey

    mcvey VIP Member Full Member

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    Great fighter, great champ, and a fine man.
    It would have been nice to see him against the likes of
    Walls
    Henry
    Baker
    Valdes
     
    Reinhardt likes this.
  3. BCS8

    BCS8 VIP Member

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    Still waiting for that Vitali rematch. But Lewis' mum says he can't.
     
    CooperKupp likes this.
  4. Seamus

    Seamus Proud Kulak Full Member

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    Marciano was essentially a gimmick champ, a guy who fit into a short window of a heavyweight class depleted of new talent, of true heavyweight talent as we would come to know it, full of old men, lightheavyweights and the vestiges of earlier wharfbrawlers. It was the very definition of convenient. Some say Marciano needs an asterisk beside his reign. I believe those observers have an argument worth considering.
     
    FThabxinfan and ThatOne like this.
  5. Reinhardt

    Reinhardt Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Marciano retired at the right time for sure, had he continued I personally think he'd have lost to a younger Patterson and I shudder to think what Sonny Liston would have done to him
     
    Marvelous_Iron likes this.
  6. Marvelous_Iron

    Marvelous_Iron Active Member Full Member

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    If Marciano had kept going would it have altered the timing of his getting on a malfunctioning plane? In other words it might have been a different and properly functioning plane if he even got on a plane at all

    Liston might have killed him instead though, Marciano took some damage over his career and Liston would have been the hardest he was ever hit

    Gonna go with Lewis since he seems a lot better off/healthier, Marciano basically ended up disfigured as he aged
     
  7. mcvey

    mcvey VIP Member Full Member

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    What did Vitali's Mum say about her ,5 inches taller, 34 lbs heavier,in front on all cards ,29 years old Son, after he quit against no punch Byrd ,and never pursued a rematch.? LOL!!!
     
    JohnThomas1 likes this.
  8. mcvey

    mcvey VIP Member Full Member

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    There was nothing wrong with the plane,the pilot was inexperienced and had never flown in fog,or other adverse weather conditions.
     
  9. Ney

    Ney Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    She tried to call Wlad to do it for him but Vitali tied up the line with the same purpose.
     
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  10. mcvey

    mcvey VIP Member Full Member

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    Lennox rematched and beat the two men who beat him.
    The 2 Klits got each other to take on those they found stylistically problematical.QUACK ! QUACK !
     
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  11. BCS8

    BCS8 VIP Member

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    I don't think there's any doubt in anybody's mind that Vitali would have tuned Byrd up in a rematch. Well except in Classic, where Vitali's shoulder pops out every second fight and his face randomly falls off just in time to save the favourite fighters from a thrashing ;)
     
    CooperKupp likes this.
  12. Dynamicpuncher

    Dynamicpuncher Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    I'm not so sure Byrd only had a weeks notice for Vitali and the fight was alot more competitive than people make out Byrd would also be Vitali’s best win of his career.

    Byrd landed over 40 percent of his punches whilst Vitali only landed 26 percent I don't think Byrd gets enough credit for going to Vitali's backyard with a weeks notice being the much smaller man and fighting a competitive fight vs Vitali.
     
    Levook, JohnThomas1 and mcvey like this.
  13. Smoochie

    Smoochie Indiana Jones and the Harry Greb Footage Full Member

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    Vitali stans still in shambles so Lewis.
     
    ikrasevic likes this.
  14. mcvey

    mcvey VIP Member Full Member

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    If Byrd would have been so easy 2nd time around,why didn't Vitali fight him,instead of taking on all those unranked nobodies?
    I don;t think there is any doubt that , had Lewis rematched Vitali,he would have been in much better shape 2nd time around,avenging his 2 losses proved what he was capable of.
     
    JohnThomas1 likes this.
  15. The Long Count

    The Long Count Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Marciano. Only because Lewis popped off and said he would rematch Vitali and then he didn’t. Lewis fans will say he did what he had to do and was 37 etc and his detractors or even objectionable posters will say yeah but you don’t say you’re going to rematch someone and then you don’t when the fans really wanted it.
    Anyway Lewis and Marciano left with their health and their bank accounts well off. So good retirements for both of them.
     
    KasimirKid and BCS8 like this.