I'm afraid I'm going to annoy SuzieQ with this one, but I suspect Wlad beats Marciano rather thoroughly. There's a point where extra size really does start to tell, even against the Rock. The same goes for Lewis. Thoughts? Feel free to prove me wrong.
The thing is - do you see Marciano being stopped in the first round? Or is it the first clean punch? Or is it two or three really big punches thrown in seperate exchanges? What is it? I ask because Rock is a tryer. There's a LOT said about how fighter's "don't try" against Wlad. The truth is, of course, he breaks them. He won't break Rocky. He has to knock him out ALL the way. Whilst he's waiting to be knocked out he'll be closing the distance and looking to land Q. So what do you see?
Rocky starts well but when he gets to close quarters he slips on the pile of **** Wlad has just dropped and severely sprains his ankle. Rocky tries to make a fight of it ,but hampered by being a stationary target he ships countless jabs ,after 9rds of one way traffic Wlad gets brave and lands some big stuff,in the 14th a cut and bleeding Marciano is saved by the referee .
I see Marciano's relatively slow footspeed and tiny reach making it difficult for him to even get beyond the jab. He's awkward and harder to hit than he looks, but he just isn't mobile enough to consistently get close enough to land punches on Klitschko. Over 12 rounds with modern gloves, his superior stamina and bodypunching wouldn't have as much effect. Finally, there's the mechanical difficulty of even landing a punch with a tiny reach against a 6'6" man. It can be done, but he'd have to throw ridiculously high overhand rights and lefts. I see either a straight right or left hook putting him down repeatedly and the ref stepping in to stop it at some point when it's clear that Rocky's getting nullified. Also, he's definitely a "tryer", but there's a difference between determination and stupidity when you're getting nailed with punches that hard. Surely he'd at least become more careful after being hit enough. He's not a fool, after all. On the bright side, it would be somewhat difficult to tie Rocky up on the inside. But imagine the exhausting effect of Klitschko leaning on Marciano while the latter is crouched and bent over.
It is pure speculation that Wlad wouldn't break Rocky. Nobody would have ever assumed that Ali would make Liston quit on his stool but he did. Very few people expected Wlad to break Brewster in the rematch but he did. Brewster seemed every bit the warrior Rocky was until that rematch. Rocky has never been in the ring with a 6'6 guy who is so difficult to hit and hits so hard as Wlad. If he doesn't land a clean punch for 5 - 6 rounds, which might very well happen, his warrior heart would be tested in a whole new way.
Right. All especially relevant against a guy who can fight as big as Wlad. But still, how long does Rocky last?
Speculation based upon proven heart. It is my opinion that Rocky was unbreakable (though obvioulsy not un-knockoutable).
Marciano is disadvantaged by his era, in terms of sports nutrition, sports science, supplements, etc etc Give him a world class nutritionist and sports scientist. Even give him appropriate steroids and lets be honest here 1 Klitschko has been caught cheating, its unlikely only 1 brother would be at it and boxing is the easiest sport to get away with using steroids. Holyfield has being highly implicated in steroids and it helped him go up to HW and revive his career after loses to Bowe/Moorer. Then you have a 210lb, stronger, more dynamic Marciano that is an even playing field
That depends on how long Wlad spends playing around with his extremely cautious "measuring" style that he uses in the first few rounds. Six or seven, perhaps. Maybe fewer if he figures out the crouch. A couple more if Rocky's chin was better than I think it is.
Wlads biggest weaknesses are Durability, Stamina, and Panic Attacks. Unfortunetley for Wladimir..Marcianos biggest strengths(Punching Power, Relentless pressure, and high volume of punches) are kryptonite to wlads biggest weaknesses. Marciano has the power to knock wlad out, the relentless pressure to force wlad to tire, and has the high volume of non stop punching and will to force wladimir into a panic attack like brewster and purrity did. Only few fighters in history have the tools to make wlad pay for these weaknesses and Marciano is one of them. Lately Wladimir Klitschko has not been taking on aggresive punchers. In fact the last one he did take on Crude Sam peter floored him 3 times. I like Rocky in this one by mid round-late stoppage. Rocky is a horrible matchup for Wladimir. The fight will start with Wlad coming in, but being extremley bewildered as marcianos comes in low at the crouch bending down and weaving at all angles frustrating the hell out of wlad who finds it much easier to land his jab on the men standing up. Marciano slowly makes his way inside as the fight progresses, a couple big shots on the chin followed by a suzy Q and wlad is down. Wlad gets up and marciano continues to pour on the pressure...now wlad is in panic mode he suddenly goes down again. Now he is huffing and buffing looking for air. He is lost. What is going on? he gets up one more time stumbles and the referee stops the fight.
Under those circumstances I'd probably go with Rocky, as long as he doesn't get too enamored with gaining power at the expense of stamina training.
For the record my 210lb ripped to the bone Marciano KOs Wlad late. Wlad's speed and jab wins him the early rounds desptie him being tentative. Marciano has to close the gap quicker than usual, and slips the jab to throw the right hand to the body, on the inside he throws lots of hooks to the ribs, stomach, chest, liver punches. By the 6th Wlad isn't liking the pace and looks to hold on and in the 8th Marciano begins to land his Suzie Q clean and its over
