Sonny Liston vs. Rocky Marciano, Who wins?

I was going to dispute the "weathering the early storm" point, but McGrain beat me to it.

Liston wasn't necessarily a fast starter, his fast starts against Patterson tend to stick out in people's mind.

Liston could punch all night if that's what it took and he would be bringing the heat for as long as he was upright (unless you want to pull the "heart" card and say that if Marciano stayed with him, he would begin to get discouraged and find a way to quit). But that's not him in his prime. Especially if he has someone in front of him that's trying to fight with him. He has a lot of faith in his power.

Cleveland Williams was beating his ass in the beginning of their first fight (maybe both fights, if I remember), but Liston hung in there, waiting for his turn to explode. When he did, things went wrong for Williams.

He also has more tools and versatility. He has better wheels than he's generally given credit for and is a true boxer-puncher.

Marciano can't be discounted here, but I think Liston has more to fall back on, even though it probably won't come to that. He would probably be wiser to box than war with Rocky, but he still beats him at his own game anyway.

Liston TKO 3-7

 

sonny liston batters rocky.sorry rock,just an awful match-up,can't see any swarmer having a chance against sonny

 

Yes, I have no doubt that the more versatile Sonny would be the one giving ground here. Rocky had immense physical strength, and a low center of gravity. Rex Layne based his entire plan on being able to force Marciano back, and failed miserably. We also have footage of Liston giving ground to Scrap Iron Johnson in a winning effort. Here, Rocky would indeed be boring in as Sonny probably tried to keep Marciano at the end of his punches. (I also expect that Liston would move back on Chuvalo, another block of granite.)

 

Sonny Liston can keep Marciano away with that pole like jab, which was probably very painful. It also helped that his reach was long. Liston was arguably the stronger of the two. I think it's a bad match up for Marciano.

 

If this goes into the late rounds, Marciano has a good chance at breaking him down.

 

absolutely, but it would be the key factor, probably liston would be too much for him. i think that this fight would not go more than 5 rounds.

 

Opinion has never changed. Liston in 4 or 5.

 

I have no terribly strong opinion on this one, save for that it's extremely unlikely to go the distance and if Marciano barks, he'll break Liston's jaw. If that happens, it's over in his favor.

 

Listons jab gives Rocky hell.
Liston by KO anywhere from round 8 onwards depending how much Rocky can brave on.

 

I think Marciano walking in against Liston would be notably more punishing for him than it was against Walcott, Charles or Archie Moore. Liston may not have been the counter-puncher that they were, but he was a smarter fighter than given credit for and had good timing in his punches, especially the uppercut. He had Patterson's movement pattern solved in minutes, though Marciano was obviously more unpredictable than Patterson if not possessing the fast speed and reflexes.

Rocky's chance is to smother Liston's attack and take his "heart" over a long, grueling fight, but I favour Liston to wear down and stop Marciano before he gets going.

The jab would bust Rocky up, but it was also important in setting up the power punches for Liston as his opponents tried to avoid the jab. The Liston-Patterson fights are a perfect example as Patterson tries to avoid the jab and gets rocked with uppercuts for his trouble.

 

i would favour liston to make a mess of rocky.rocky has no advantages at all here.

 

I see rocky having a hard time getting by Liston's 84 inch jab and uppercuts

 

first flush punch sonny nails rocky with rocky would be out for about 20 seconds before awakening with the help of smelling salts sonny is bigger more powerful and has better boxing skills sonny wins by first round kayo:think

 

:rofl Where's that list of lesser fighters that didn't happen to against Liston? I've got it here somewhere...

 

Well noted. However, I think this would be moreso true of Liston than Marciano, and I think people were forgetting this trueism as they were picking Liston to blow out Marciano in a few rounds.