Lewis and Marciano both get a bit of hammer in this month's Boxing Monthly

I was just watching a Madison Square Garden documentary about Marciano's biggest fights and he was praising Marciano to the skies. Then again he probably hadn't been brought there to tell people that Rocky fought old men and nobodies as he does in this article.

 

I second Fists of Fury's excellent post. The criticisms of Lewis were weird. He lacked an X quality I can't put my finger on? He was an underachiever? He outsized guys (are we talking p4p)? And then the ko defeats, certainly a partially valid criticism, but overlooking Flynn for Dempsey, and Martin (and Ali with one punch) for Liston.

It is amusing to note that Lewis is criticized for being big and Marciano for being small.

 

What a stupid thing to say. Sounds like some childish **** someone in the GF would say.

Does he actually go that "(not) far" and name some of the fighters he thinks would clearly beat Lewis?

 

He said something good about Rocky? He must have been ill. Actually, rating Marciano #6 is reasonable. Perhaps in his top ten video he was trying to lay the groundwork for rating Dempsey above him.

 

I can understand how Lewis gets criticism .. This was a guy that could only work to his own rythem .. He was a precise 12 round boxer and thats an important point, there is absolutely no chance in hell Lennox could go 15 rounds .. There was a moment in the 2nd Holyfield fight were his legacy was on the line in my opinion, it was the moment in the 7th or 8th round when he hurt Evander, Evander went to the ropes but Lewis kept pawing out that jab because he was so afraid at what might come back from Holy .. That for me was the critical point on what kind of fighter Lewis would be remembered for, and predictably he went for the safety first option and beat him on points ....
Lewis should never be compared to Holmes, i seen Holmes get dropped by a huge Shavers shot, Holmes got up and started trading like a true fighter, Lewis didnt have the courage to do that....
Lewis used his size to his advantage and was dominant but at some point a fighter has to prove hes a true fighter and Lewis never did that for me ....

Marciano is a top 6 Heavy of all time for me, a true fighter but perhaps behind, Ali, Louis, Johnson, Holmes, Dempsey .....

 

That's fair. I kind of want to jump on the cliche' "don't judge a man whose shoes or situation you've never been in." I won't, but I will say as how would you have handle that situation?

Right on the money. And I was thinking the same thing while watching that top ten video. Strangely enough, Bert Sugar weirdly criticizes and praises Marciano. He really tore up his resume and competition while doing nothing to criticize his beloved Dempsey. He talks about Dempsey being so popular and be in Holywood... is this his idea of greatness? I understand how you can give some credence to his legend and popularity but what was the "greatness in their own era" as he touted his criteria to be. He admits his bias toward a knockout puncher, too. The guy had Dempsey rated #1 up until the 1990's. With Marciano, he treats him like a brain dead primitive slugger. On his ringside he claims he "sees no science" to which a NY times reporter (Can't remember his name) retorts by saying "You need science." Duva agrees "that he was thinking the same thing." He gives zilch credit for Marciano on his ability to get inside, his in-fighting or any skills he possessed. He was just a brute that could walk through punches like in a Rocky movie and launch his Suzie Q and the end would be there for his opponents.

When he does praise him, he does so well though. He says something like, "A building could fall on Marciano and he would still keep punching." All and all ranking him #6 is fair enough.

I love Larry Holmes on the beginning of that DVD. He's hilarious.

 

Aside from the way he ruined Michael Grant's career and then tried to blame it on HBO, there's also his ridiculous fight predictions, which consistently come true in reverse.

 

Atlas is an idiot. Why do people listen to him?

 

no he dosent name any fighters hed think would beat Lewis

How did he ruin Grants career?

He does call a fight well and break down the fighters well.

 

Just shows what a waste of paper the Ring Mag is

 

there both good magazines

BM does some great articles like a while ago (maybe a year ago) they did one on the 'Lost Generation' of 80s Heavyweights it was really interesting.

 

Well, he literally picked every Wlad opponent to beat him, since and including Castillo to beat him, and that was in 2004.

Even his colleagues are making fun of him now. Back in december last year, when Povetkin had to pull out because of an ankle injury and Rahman substituted, the Showtime reporter interviewing him sort of started laughing and said "come on.... don't tell me you're picking Rahman", but he did.

It's actually amazing how he manages to pick the wrong guy in so many fights. Even when he did a "safe pick" when choosing Pavlik to beat Hopkins (who was a massive 4:1 favorite), it backfired bigtime.

If you'd simply pick the guy whose name comes first in the alphabet every time, you'd get much better results than following Atlas' advice.