Joe Frazier vs. Rocky Marciano

Rocky averaged only 34 punches a round against Walcott. It wasn't until the Charles bout that he throw more punches.

Rocky did look very good against Layne. I talked to Harold Lederman about Layne and he said that he wasn't as good as they made him out to be. Matthews was another good fight, BUT he was a Light Heavyweight. Louis really didn't do that bad against Rocky, one judge had Rocky up by only 1 point, another had him up 2 points. I honestly thought he looked very good against Archie, besides the knockdown and the 2nd bout against Charles, not counting his nose getting split open.

 

I agree Walcott was a tiger that night and as Champ he was confident and tried to hold on to the title, the rematch was a mismatch but nobody ever survived Rocky in fight 2

 

I never said he couldn't punch BUT this picture hardly hurt Walcott. This was taken several rounds before the 13th.

Like I said, he had a Great right hand and it shows by looking at all these pictures, BUT you can do the same with other Great punchers as well. I have a hold basement full of such pictures.

Here's some of the pictures that are on the internet.

http://media.photobucket.com/image/rocky marciano/bokszone/rocky.jpg?o=14

http://media.photobucket.com/image/rocky marciano/KIngGarnett/rm-1.jpg?o=38

http://media.photobucket.com/image/...an00/Rocky Marciano pics/marciano222.jpg?o=79

http://media.photobucket.com/image/...cianofan00/Rocky Marciano pics/hit1.jpg?o=112

http://www.btvision.bt.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/8610.jpg

 

Ok, i'll admit that frazier was underated defensively but the fact remains that he would get nailed at some point. I could see him getting hit with one of those hellacious uppercuts and going down. If he got up he would go down again and stay down. It wouldn't take rock more than a few punches to hurt frazier because he would get hit coming in, doubling the impact of the punches. It's just a case of the bigger puncher with the better chin winning.

 

Rocky never got hit with anyone with the power of Frazier. Frazier was never counted out because he also had a huge heart. The only guy that over powered him was Foreman and Foreman would do the same to Rocky.

 

Wasn't Frazier only put down by Foreman and Bonevena?

 

Rocky was a strong guy for his size, but it took him several rounds to knock out 180-190lb. guys. I don't see where you are saying that he is this all-powerful guy. He wore guys down most of the time. Yes, the ko blows were spectacular, but that was after wearing the guys out. Frazier regularly knocked out legit 200lbers. I would have to think that Frazier hit just as hard, if not harder than Rocky. I'm pretty sure he was just as strong.

 

Yes, I noticed. Rocky's hand-speed in that fight was top-notch. And his hand-speed in his prime is underrated. Great combinations. Walcott was fighting a brilliant fight but it was close and Rocky was keeping at it.

He took tons of punishment too. Goldmill said Rocky was so in awe that he was fighting in a trance in the first round. Rocky agreed with this story. It was like he was running on his subconscious. Eventually, he got his act in gear. His chin in this fight proved to be something special. He just takes so many big bombs. He gets careless and moves forward pressing quite a bit. I honestly think the very aggressive fighters that are likely to get caught while pushing forward and likely not saying a shot have underrated chins, in contrast to the Tua's and Chuvalo's that sit tight and don't push if they're getting out-classed. While his chin was top-notch, his defense was good but since he was so anxious he was sometimes a bit open in this fight. Good performance, though.

 

Foreman was also the only guy who was a top notch banger that Frazier faced.Marciano faced more punchers, imo.

 

Good and true points .... it is a terrific match up . My biggest question mark is who excels over the distance ? I truly wonder how Marciano would hold up against the heavier Frazier's endless boby attack if Rocky did not get him out early ... I know he had great stamina but round after round trading with Frazier makes me wonder ...again, a great match up.

 

Do you think Frazier's body attack would be anywhere as effective as it was against Ali?
Marciano fought crouched over to his right ,with his forearm covering most of his body,he also was considerably shorter than Ali so less target to aim at.Bonavena took Frazier's bombs without flinching in two fights why couldnt MARCIANO?

 

Actually,no he didnt Frazier only kod 9 men,and only 2 of them were 200lbs +
Smith 9-4-1
Turnbow 6-3-1.the others were
Davis199lbs
Goss190lbs
Foster188lbs
Ziggy 190 1/2lbs
Jones 180lbs
Leslie 177lbs
Davis 199lbs
Goss190lbs
Jones 188lbs
Al the others were tkod and standing when beaten ,or retired by their corners.
Marciano knocked 22 men UNCONSCIOUS, Plus his tko wins.
When it comes to wearing guys down Frazier was more prone to that than Marciano,plus Frazier was essentially a one handed hitter, Marciano was two handed,and scored kos with both hands.

 

Good point Pete not only was Rocky's hand speed highly underrated, he threw a variety of punches from odd angles. I have seen him counter and beat many a quick fighter to the punch

Th thing with Rocky was that every punch was a Sunday punch, there was no window dressing or shoeshine punching

 

:good

 

A TKO is the same as a KO in my book. If the fighter is helpless and the referee knows he either wouldn't get up or if he did, he would get seriously injured, why let it go on. Also after the Griffith/Paret bout, the referees started to stop the bouts a lot sooner.

As far as the hand speed goes, look at both boxers at the same time, and you will see the difference.

Teddy Brenner, former matchmaker for Madison Square Garden, said "Frazier throws more punches and throws them faster than Marciano" (see McCallum 1974 p 343). Tedy saw them all, so he should know.

Also, Frazier faced and beat several good punchers, such as, Quarry (32 KO's in his 53 wins), Chuvalo (64 KO's in his 73 wins) and Bob Foster (46 KO's in his 56 wins) and he stopped them all.