What's your take on Marciano KO1 Walcott?

sorry to butt in

but that fight cracks me up when Benvenuti goes down from a slip and the towel gets thrown in so he runs and kicks it back out

 

My evidence is that Walcott was coming off a brutal KO loss, was 39 years of age and got blown away in one round by a man he nearly blew out in their first fight. He never fought again.

Your evidence is the lack of evidence contrary to your viewpoint, which is that Walcott was not significantly faded.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

 

I think Joe just had a flashback after being decked...maybe he just wasn't prepared to deal with being hit hard anymore..like a sponge can only soak up just so much...I think his subconcious just kind of derailed him or something, because I don't think it was truly a "ko punch" that Rocky hit him with...then when he got up he put up a front of indignation to more or less save face from what was basically a "quit job"..a sort of horizontal presursor to Duran's "no mas".

 

Those were three fights in three years. A KO loss and a 9 month layoff can do a lot to an old fighter.

Look at how Charles's career went after the Marciano fights. The same could be said for LaStarza or Layne. Soon these highly regarded fighters were no more than just average. I can't imagine Walcott going on to do anything after the Marciano losses, had he decided to fight on.

I wouldn't say they were identical circumstances. Walcott might have been an extra-ordinary old fighter but he was still nearly 40 years of age. Spinks was 31.

Perhaps you could compare the Spinks and Walcott fights, had Marciano KO'd Walcott in the first round of their first fight.

I'd like to know which old fighters have come back from KO losses such as this:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4fWf4jtQWU[/ame]

 

I give Don Curry no great credit for the stupid way Roger Stafford "warmed up" for their title match by praying on the floor. However, Marciano-Walcott II was a stunning upshift in gears from the way Rocky's recent bouts had begun.

For all the single punch first round knockouts he had earlier in his career, he had actually gotten something of a reputation as more of a slow starter when getting into world class competition. (He was known to take a nap before competing.) Dropping Walcott in one was a dramatic reversal from how things commenced the first time, and the Rock must have been considerably more wired in his dressing room than usual. (Too much caffeine perhaps?)

 

Personally, I would've given him a lot of credit for that.

I rate that as an impressive win for Monzon. In that case though, you could argue that Benvenuti showed wear and tear in his non-title loss in between those fights. However, I still think Monzon deserves more credit than he gets for blowing out Benvenuti far faster than anyone had at that or any other time in his career.

I think they're similar in that in both cases, you could potentially raise questions about the opponent's actual quality regardless of his status. Remember that while Spinks was the lineal champ, Walcott was still the #1 contender. Spinks wasn't as old in years as Walcott, but he had other mars against him. He was only semi-active at that time (at one point, there was some question over whether he might be retired or not) and hadn't been fighting any legitimately ranked fighters - and in fact, appeared to be avoiding them, including Tyson himself. The last time he had fought a ranked fighter, Holmes, he escaped with a very questionable decision. He also showed up for the Tyson fight at a career high weight, which was at least 10 pounds over his ideal HW weight.

 

must have been mad in tht dressung room

i can just see the focus on rocks face

Its impressive and the end wa inevitable but Benvenuti should have continued as he slipped. So that could change the whole outcome of the fight and in turn the credit of the win

 

Yes...physically the first time and mentally the second. An "ancient" 39 year old isn't supposed to bounce back from a thunderbolt like he was hit with in '52.

 

Nino may have been somewhat preturbed at the towel being thrown in and the ref's acknowledgement of it in stopping the fight, but really, it was a blessing for him, as Monzon was beginning to really tee off on him, and was going to damage Nino much sooner than he did the first time. The stoppage really prolonged Benvenuti's life and preserved his brain for the golden years that he's enjoying today.