If Marciano Had Fought Valdes,Baker,& Henry?

Moore had bragging rights for a win over Valdes at a time when Valdes was unranked and on a losing streak, but he hadn't actually beaten a ranked heavyweight since 1952. He was nowhere close to earning a title shot at the start of 1955.

In any case, it's a myth that the second Moore-Valdes fight was a formal eliminator. There were never any promises made. There's no particular reason to think Valdes would have got a shot even if he'd won the decision.

 

Facts

 

Valdes dies
Henry goes into a coma
Baker gases and loses a slugging war against the worst version of Marciano

Only the Baker and Henry wins would boost him at all, maybe a spot or two p4p. Nothing major. He'd still be at #3 at HW for me.

 

Marciano was **** against Cockell and didnt train right by his own admission, not to mention he no longer cared about boxing

LaStarza was a very very good defensive fighter who was moving away from Marciano the entire time and just trying to survive

Marciano was green against Lowry, Lowry had a granite chin (stopped only 3 times in like 60 losses), and they were only 10 round fights

Clarence Henry is absolutely getting MESSED UP by Marciano

 

I've also read multiple books on Marciano, and almost all of them will specify his growing mental decline and lack of motivation to box during his championship reign?

https://www.boxingforum24.com/threa...on-his-condition-after-his-last-fight.651116/

^ for my main source on Marciano training less. Mike Stanton also goes over it in "unbeaten", and we all know about his nagging injuries.

He's a move forward pressure puncher going into THE move forward pressure puncher. It will not end well. Would be fun while it lasts though, probably something like a more competitive Layne-Marciano. Marciano at sub 200 is just too much of a freak of nature to do that to imo. I literally think even Frazier and Dempsey would lose trying to slug with Marciano. Clarence's defense is quite lackadaisical as well.

 

Seeing how Moore beat Valdes twice and Baker, not sure if Rocky would even get much credit, some for sure but not much.

 

Valdes was not much. He was only #1 for about eight months, he lost to multiple career LHWs, he was something like 13-9 for Rocky's title reign, and outside of Cuba and Miami, there was no great clamor in the day for him to get a fight.

If Rocky had fought him, he would have won in a relatively easy fight, and they would all be saying, "...but there's a reason he never got in there with Baker" (or Sattterfield...Jackson...whatever).

 

That’s how I see it, the second he beat Archie Moore, he really didn’t have to worry about Valdes or Baker or Satterfield or Bivins because Moore beat all of them.

 

Well, he managed to beat Ezzard Charles and Don Cockell, who between them represent half of Marciano's title defences, so either Valdes wasn't that bad or Marciano's challengers weren't that good.

 

But look at who he lost to.

He beat Charles. Charles lost 24 fights. When you fight that much, you lose some.