Liston was a rocksolid 220 lbs, 6-1 with an astounding 84" reach. He was not a bird-chested, truncated sub- 6footer.
I hava changed my view on this. If you hava one fantastic decade it doesn't matter that much what you did before or after. The main blot on Wlad's resume imo is that he didn't have a win over any of the best he shared an era with, Vitaly being the main one. Marciano had that, but when they were on the slide.
When I watch a Marciano fight, I notice his lack of footwork/balance, then his lack of speed/quickness. If he had good balance and quickness he could possibly make up for his size. You have RM higher H2H than I do. Where do you have Ron Stander and Obie English in your ratings?
I think some leeway is allowed because 2 brothers weren't going to fight. Also Vitali inactive or retired for a significant portion of Wlad's 06-15 reign (2006-2007 and 2013-2015 really) while Wlad was actively defending far more. But of course most people think Vitali would have beat Wlad if they ever faced somehow so there is that.
Lets be honest the fighters Wlad beat are superior H2H then the fighters Marciano beat including over Marciano himself so who cares if he didn't beat the "best"
So, I'm not blaming him for not taking the fight, I understand and respect the reason fully, but the fact is when evualating his resume that he doesn't have that W and Vitaly was the best besides Wlad himself for a fair part of Wlad's peak.
That's fair I was just adding my opinion on it. I think it counts against him a bi but just less than other people. I agree it leaves doubt it people's mind when many think Vitali beats Wladimir.
DeJohn 202 Summerlin195 3/4 Bethea 204 Williams 210 3/4 Valdes 211 Besmanoff 201 Williams 215 1/4 Harris195 Folley 1981/2 Machen 196 King 204 Zech 226 Johnson 2001/2 Clark 215 Rischer 200 Lincoln 209 1/2 Wepner 228
I am not all that great with lists, but I have Ali and Joe Louis at numbers 1 & 2, with Marciano and Holmes tied for 3rd.
,,,and this is exactly why I can't put him near the top 10, as a matter of fact I'd add Fraizers name to the list. He outweighed Marciano by 20 pounds and while Rocky did hit hard, he hit hard for a 185 pound man. Had Frazier fought the men Marciano fought he'd be 49-0 too.
Vitali being the ONLY one. He beat every other top contender of his era. From Byrd, to Ibragimov, to Chagaev, to Haye, to Povetkin, to Pulev. He of course lost to Fury, but you gotta lose some day, if you're still fighting at 39.
Baker was Ko'd in 1 round by 5"10 183 lb. Bob Satterfield (Satterfield was Ko'd in 2 by Ezzard Charles and Archie Moore in 8 rds.) Nino Valdez lost to light heavyweight champ Archie Moore 2X and lost to 5'10 180lb. Harold Johnson (Valdes was beaten badly and dropped in the last round for a 9 count by 5"10 Bob Satterfield. The Valdes-Satterfield fight was in 1955 before Marciano retired so had Valdes won, he may have been considered for Rockys 50th fight but he lost badly. Quality counted more than size in the era and Marciano fought the quality. 5'10 Bob Satterfield also KO'd 6"3 2018 lb. Cleveland Big Cat Williams in 3 rds. who had a record of 35-1-1 at the time. Valdes was unconscious for several minutes according to accounts. Marciano fought the best in his era and did not draw the color line.