I never said Marciano beating those guys was an amazing feat, but the point was he had beat guys who were contenders within a few years of beating them, he did to them what you’re supposed to do and then he continued to beat fighters that were currently in the top 5.
He had beaten ONE ranked heavyweight in the previous 3 years! If Daniel Dubois beat Beterbiev or Bivol ,would that be a noteworthy feat?
Mathews was a light heavyweight he was 4 lbs over that limit when he fought Marciano.Mathews was overhyped as a heavyweight that was my point Jack Hurley his manager was offered a LHy title fight with Maxim but turned it down to go after more money v Marciano.
Moore had beaten ONE ranked heavyweight contender in the previous 3 years ,Valdes.After Marciano he beat ONE more Lavorante who was very briefly ranked. Cockell beat how many ranked heavyweights? Williams no 10 who didn't deserve a ranking.I don't think Lastarza was still ranked when Don beat him.Farr was 40 years old and bankrupt when Cockell beat him,he was fighting to clear a big tax bill. Casuals? I boxed for nearly 20 years bought my first fight films in the early 60's ,regularly went to fights,and have a decent fight film collection and a boxing library of about150 books. I first saw Marciano on film when I bought a Super 8mm film collection of his fights in1964. I interviewed Cockell about his career when he was working as a sales rep. Were you even born then?
Okay, lets look at that 22 fight winning streak. One was a middleweight. Eight were light heavies. The good heavies on that list are,Henry,Valdes, Baker ,and Dunlap. Total 4 Here are some of the resumes of the other heavies Toxie Hall a full time sparring partner 8-3-2 Spaulding26- 23-1 Buford 22-20-7 Ansaloni 2-0-0 Dugan 5-0-0 Now his winning streak after Marciano. King31-7-5 Dunlap30-12-1 Daniels28-11-1 King32-8-5 Bean 41-24-5 Parmentier17-12-4 Andrews14-11-1 Thompson 9-12-5 Pompey LHVY Parker28-5-4 Shire debut Wrestler Anybody on that list 12 fight Moses Itauma would not be favourite to beat?
His hand speed wasn't as bad as youd think in his younger years. During his later years like 54 55 etc he stopped putting everything into all of his punches, so they'd be slower sometimes. He threw wide, looping punches around guards very frequently, so the travel distance was long, which may have given the illusion of slow-ness. But he wasn't actually all that slow. He actually could throw pretty explosive tight knit punches occasionally (in his younger years), but preferred moving in explosively with a wild looping punch that would escape a fighters peripheral vision ideally.
I havent seen Choc Lab in a while, Rocky Jim i think still posts? Idk theyll probably come in and say something insane, like "Marciano beats Lennox Lewis" my bad on being late to this inane thread, i check this place less often as i did in my youth. lack of free time, and i get tired of having the same discussions every month. Gotta defend the man who got me into boxing every now and then though
Boxers do this all the time. I fail to see the problem. He took more money for a more prestigious fight.
I think knocking off the number 1 guy when being the number 1 guy meant something is still a huge feat for Moore, especially since he was older and mostly a LHW.