How Good is Rocky Marciano’s Resume Actually?

It was pretty darn good.

It might serve some people well to remember, that after Lennox Lewis retired, we didn't see the two best heavyweights in the world face off, for well over a decade.

Rocky Marciano repeatedly made that happen twice in the same year.

So yes respect is due.

You could argue that he fought in a weak era, and you would probably be right.

So what, weak eras are ten a peny, and this record has still stood.

Was he protected?

The answer is, its complicated.

He was thrown to the wolves as a sacrificial lamb early in his career, then when he kept knocking the wolves out, his sheister manager decided to feed him some weak opposition, and see where he went.

The rest is history.

 

Very good. He started out with two undefeated fighters, and their resumes are underrepresented in Boxrec. Why Rock rid of them, Al Weil started to realize he had something.

 

I can name 40 heavyweights who would likely have gone undefeated fighting his resume. Probably 400.

 

I ll give you a few that would and are not considered that great:
Floyd Patterson
Ernie Terrell
Ken Norton
Jimmy Young

I give better then 50% chance the following guys would also be 49 - 0 against that competition.
Jimmy Ellis
Jerry Quarry
Oscar Bonavena
Ron Lyle
Ernie Shavers
Al Blue Lewis
Leotis Martin
The only guys with a chance to eke out a win would be Charles and Walcott.

 

Good point.

 

All heavyweight champions fought predominantly lowly opponents. Foreman in his 33rd bout fought a 1-14 opponent koed 13 times. That’s five bouts away from fighting Frazier for the title.

 

He also did a small number of per-year title defenses compared to fighting champions like Louis, Charles, Ali, and the early reign of Holmes. He left without really cleaning up the division against contenders like Bob Baker, Nino Valdes, and others. He basically did the minimum number of defenses to achieve what might be called a "good" resume.

 

Both Baker and Nino had their chance but lost to Archie. And given that Marciano was only at the top for a blip by the time they got back into contention he was gone.

 

He also did a relatively small number of per year number of title defenses (as then prescribed by the NBA) compared to fighting champions who cleaned up the division like Louis, Charles, Ali, and the early reign of Holmes. He left quite a few worthy contenders on the table such as Nino Valdes, Bob Baker, and Clarence Henry which IMO prevents him from being able to claim a "great" resume as a title defender. As it was, his record as champion was the bare minimum to achieve what could legitimately be described as a "good" resume. Overall, of course, 49-0 is still a great accomplishment, and it shows he was smarter than most because he knew when to quit.

 

Louis, Charles, Holmes, and Ali did not limit themselves to the No. 1 or 2 contenders. They went out of their way to clean up the division. This Marciano did not do. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to clarify further!

 

Quite a few people have him a top 5 HW I don't think I would go that far.

Obviously a great fighter though and the unbeaten record deserves repect.

 

Marciano among leading historians is a top ten all time great heavyweight champion. Been rated that way since the 1950’s. Hard to fault that high level of praise.

 

Bad point. Nino Valdes was #1 contender for under a year. When McGrain and others make the claim that he was #1 after beating Charles, they are talking about Ring Magazine, which has nothing to do with who Marciano was actually obligated to fight.

Valdes wasn't a thing.

 

Dude fought 49 times but it wasn't till his 36th fight in facing Rex Layne that he met someone we don't necessarily know because of his association to Rocky. Face it, we wouldn't know LaStarza or Lowry existed if it weren't for Marciano. Also, of those 35 fight previous fights, 32 were fought in New England, almost all at the same arena in Providence. He was essentially a fairly protected circuit fighter. His final 13 fights, where his legacy is made, is a collection of old timers (whether by years or fights), lighter guys coming up, and a few no-hopers.

Really seems like a guy who was in the right place at the right time.