If Marciano was a crude boxer, how come he outpointed Ezzard Charles over 15?

I don't find Marciano to be that crude. I find him crude-looking in his style but that doesn't mean looks didn't deceive.

 

marciano brought a lot more to the table than just being a slugger. he could counter, he could draw people in, he had genuine two handed power, he always knew where the target was, even his sloppy punches hurt and seemd to have heat seaking radar, he had untoppable work rate, he was very accurate, he landed wierd unusual shots when off balance, you couldnt land more than two consecutive shots on him without geting hit back. evrything he did hurt, there was no quit in him and you couldnt stay away from him. such an unusual fighter it realy isnt any wonder he caught so many conventionaly stylish boxers out. he even started looping punches with his head down not looking where they were going and would still land. the guy was clearly a nightmare to fight since there wasnt any order or rythem to folow in what he did, as they say he did evrything wrong and it worked.

 

Like I wrote, Charles had little left in his legs. I'm amazed he hung in like he did. I cannot imagine him absorbing the bombs of a Joe Louis or a Mike Tyson for 15, no way ...

 

Marciano's skills in the ring are perhaps more underrated than those of any other ATG discussed in this forum.

 

Easier said then Done, a real pressure fighter makes it hard to move against and you must take a break, Ali took a break along the ropes vs Frazier in the 11th and was hurt badly and Frazier never let up until the 15th rd KD. Marciano was on the tough and experienced Charles chest and forced him to fight his fight.

 

:good

:good

 

He was a great great puncher.

 

A past prime Charles gave Marciano hell in his 98th and 99th pro fights.

With that said, Marciano may have been able to beat a prime Charles anyway... maybe even Louis.

 

thx TGA

 

Wow. The slow motion clips with the very informative captions really illustrate how elusive Rocky could be.

Thanks for posting these wonderful clips, TGA and Jersey Joe. :good

 

Bet there wasnt too many who laughed

 

Hmmm...

 

I have no idea where people get the impression that Charles' bread and butter was defensive long range fighting. Even as a light heavyweight, he was primarly known for his quick two fisted attack and freakishly heavy hands. The only note worthy fighter he really beat with his legs was old stationary Joe Louis, a fight in which he was heavily criticitzed for showing too much respect for the legend and where the unfair "boring and ovelry cautious" labels mostly stem from. Some of them old articles are just brutally unfair at the time, writers just hated the guy. For instance the NY Times suggested nothing short of a knockout win against Ceaser Brion was a loss for "Cautious" Charles......Brion was an awkward big man who would only be stopped once in 48 fights at the tail end of his career despite facing just about everybody.

He was mostly a semi-aggressive boxer/counter puncher in his best heayvweight wins against Walcott, Ray, Wallace, Sattefield, and Layne. He stayed far away from the ropes, pressured behind a stiff jab at mid range, and countered effectively inside with his fast hooks while using lots of tricky upperbody and head movement that made him a hard target..hence the Cobra tag. All of this is present in the first Marciano fight, his ability to keep off the ropes, slip, and roll with the punches kept him on his feet for 15 rounds, though he still took a beating.

In the rematch, he bulked up and looked for an early knockout cause he wasn't confident he could eluded Rocky for 15 again. He got caught early and suffered a scary delayed knock down, got up and took a huge beating, and was frankly never the same again.


Not much talk of Ezzard's legs or defensive boxing, he could be cautious but he was always a puncher.


Just Prior to Louis against Breshore:

The fight was stopped because Beshore suffered a badly cauliflowered ear. Freddie had fought to the limit with all he had. Though badly punished at close range fighting, he never stepped back..Except for occasional rallies by Beshore, the match was decidedly one sided and lacking in thrills." (Nat Fleischer in The Ring, October 1950, page 3.) Beshore was not off of his feet in this fight and lived up to his reputation for toughness.


Vintage Light Heavyweight Charles:









"Hammer-fisted Ezzard Charles racked up a knockout over Elmer Ray today and called for a shot at light heavyweight champion Gus Lesnevich. The fast moving Charles hanged the aging Ray right out of heavyweight boxing with a left hook at 2:43 of the 9th stanza." -United Press

• Elmer Ray was the 2nd ranked heavyweight in the world going into this bout(Charles was outweighed by 18 lbs!)

They set a terrific pace.... Midway in the eighth round, Moore caught Charles with a terrific left hook and followed his advantage.... Charles was definitely on the verge of a kayo... but, to the surprise of everyone, he snapped out of his dazed condition, landed a volley of left hooks and then a perfect right cross." (The Ring, April 1948, page 51).
Per the AP report: "A crashing left and right dumped Moore to the floor. He struggled around on one knee trying to rise immediately and Charles then applied the finisher, another right. Moore grabbed feebly for the ring rope as Referee Jackie Davis finished his toll of 10, but couldn't reach his feet again for some 20 seconds--and then only with the help of his handlers." Tacoma News Tribune


Ezzard Charles, Cincinnati, knocked out Lloyd Marshall of Sacramento and Cleveland, in the 2nd round of a scheduled 10 rounder tonight at Crosley Field. The aggressor all the way, Charles, 173, floored Marshall, 168, three times in the 2nd heat, the end coming at 2:25. The Cincinnati Negro puncher opened up with a two-fisted attack at the outset and hurt his opponent with lefts and rights to the head in the first two minutes. A left hook to the head floored Marshall for the nine count as the 2nd round got under way, and he went down again, for the same count, almost immediately when Charles connected with a left hook to the stomach. A left to the jaw put out the lights for the California battler