Primo Carnera vs Rocky Marciano

Rocky, blindfolded and with his right hand tied to his back, destroys Carnera easily

 

Rocky smashes him with a Suzy Q, or a left hook, or a shot to the ribs, or whatever he feels like.

 

Primo takes him out with his devastating uppercut , the crouching Marciano is made for it.Three rds ko for Carnera.

 

Marciano TKO late.

 

Marciano would wear Carnera down,and stop him anytime in between the seventh and the eleventh,imo. Primo may score a flash knockdown early.

 

Primo would be brutalized for many rounds before succumbing in an ugly, awkward, giant heap.

 

Carnera might prove a very difficult opponent for Rocky, he was massive, ridiculously strong, had heart and could box a bit too, but sooner or later he'd get hit on the chin and that would be that.

 

marciano and his manager go to prison for pre-meditated murder by decapitation!

 

Primo would hang in there for a while due to his great strength and decent ability, but the right hand of Rocky would find its mark too many times as in the Max Baer fight. Carnera hits the canvas several times until the referee calls the fight off.

 

Decent oppersition Rocky only fought an old joe louis over 200 pounds. Don Cockell weighin at 205, but he was a small light heavy with a thyroid problem, hence the fat condition (unusual for the times).

Carnera was huge nearly 6'6 and 265 pounds. The lack of natural dominate 210 6'2 fighter was the one of the two big things that bug me about rocky's reign. The other was the old fighters on the way down. Oh sorry I for got light heavies as well, okay one of the three big things that bugged me about Rocky's reign.

Carnera was not great. Not sure if he was to big for Rocky to get to (styles makes fights etc). I do believe Rocky would beat a host of Carnera conquerors though. Interesting fight actually. In the end I think rocky chops the tree down by hammering Carnera ribs. I do feel Rocky would be knocked down but perhaps not by a proper boxing shot.

I have seen Max Baer lunging in to get to Carnera jaw almost leaping up. Max baer was an uprightish 6'2 to 210 pound fighter. Rocky was a 5'10 185 pound crouching fighter who never faced a decent fighter over 6'1. I can not see rocky's normal overhand right getting to carnera chin without him first getting to carnera ribs.

Anybody seen clips of carnera being hurt to the body?

Do not get me wrong, rocky is way better than Carnera. It is just the size difference that stops it being a for gone conclusion.

 

Not as easy as it seems. Marciano never fought a guy where rocky had to punch up, to reach his opponents chin. Never ! Max Baer was 4-5 inches taller with a much larger wing span than Marciano had, and even Baer,couldn't keep the gigantic, and utterly
brave Da Preem, permamently on the canvas, for the 10 count.Only after ELEVEN knockdowns would the BRAVE referee stop the fight..It is entirely possible that the
massive 6ft.5" Carnera could jab, and run from Marciano for 15 rds, and win a decision
from Marciano.Carnera would not run out of gas, as he had more stamina and heart than
any giant since young Jess Willard. Marciano, a light favorite. Styles, make winners...

 

I think Marciano's shortness could actually be an advantage in this fight. Carnera would have to punch down at the crouching Rock, which would leave him all the more open when he missed. Once inside, Marciano would rough him up with punishing body blows. It might be hard for Marciano to land any meaningful head shots on the outside, but in the midrange he could definitely land a Layne-esque overhand right.

I don't think Max Baer had the 1 punch KO power that Marciano had. In terms of pure power in the right hand, Baer was more than likely right there with Rocky in terms of power, but I don't think he really had the punch knockout power. Rocky knocked numerous people unconcious with a single right hand, which even at heavyweight is a rare thing to be able to do consistently. Some people just seem to have 1 punch KO power and others don't. I believe Foreman and Shaveres both hit harder than Rocky, but they did not have the 1 punch ko power that Rocky had.

 

This fight is going to pose some new problems for Marciano, but lets face it, we have to give him the benefit of the doubt.

 

Burt, you have mentioned witnessing Marciano-Vingo from a distance of about 25 feet, and there is some footage of that war to provide something of a visual as to how he might look dealing with an opponent near Primo's height. Johnny Shkor seems to be the biggest opponent Rocky took on, at 6'4" and 220 pounds.

However, Primo is a different kettle of fish, somebody who could jab effectively from long range and had good mobility, where Vingo was filmed slugging it out with Rocky toe to toe and punch for punch. (Marciano himself indicated this in describing Vingo as his toughest fight. As you were there Burt, maybe you could shed more light on this. Did Carmine make any attempt to utilize his height, reach and skills to keep his distance?)

Even the super negative Paul Gallico conceded that Carnera could "apparently take punches to the body all the night long." With his endurance, that means it's not likely that even Marciano is going to wear him down by going underneath.

If Carnera had not sustained an ankle injury in the first round with Baer that was so severe as to require hospitalization, then he definitely would have gone the distance with Maxie, which would dramatically change Da Preem's historical standing during his abbreviated lifetime. Primo won all the filmed rounds where he kept his feet, and as it was being scored on a rounds basis, can we even be certain that Max would have won the title without Carnera's bad ankle handicapping him through the final ten contested rounds? (Remember, there were very serious questions about the Larruper's fitness going in.)

Yes, Marciano would drop him if Rocky connected solidly with a bomb from either hand, but nobody ever put Primo down for the count. After his long and pesky jab, Carnera's most potent weapon in this one would be the uppercut he won the title with, but I don't see him dropping Marciano.

Scoring this one on the rounds basis which both of them competed under could put tremendous pressure on Rocky to stop him, or carry the decision with a fight long work rate which HHascup has exposed as somewhat overrated. (I say "somewhat" because just about everything Marciano threw was still loaded with venom.) Yes, he can win a round with a single knockdown punch, but if Primo gets through three minutes remaining upright, then there may be a real question as to who wins. Carnera won many of the rounds he did against Baer with superior hand speed, combination punching, and a shorter delivery. He wore down the distance oriented Loughran with superior physical size, strength and stamina. He twice legitimately defeated the bull strong and steel chinned Uzcudun, who proved himself over 20 scorching desert rounds with Baer.

Uzcudun and Carnera weren't choir boys, and neither was Sharkey. Rocky's roughness poses no advantage here. This is likely going to be a very dirty contest. Marciano had immense physical strength for his size, augmented by that low center of gravity, but first he'd need to get close enough to try making use of it, then confront the physicality of a well proportioned former circus strongman who would outweigh him by nearly 100 pounds. Shkor (whose photographs show a lean form) gave Rocky some trouble with his size, strength and mauling tactics for four rounds. Primo was known to compete at over 50 pounds more than Shkor, and again, he did it over the championship distance in the Uzcudun rematch. In close quarters, or at long range with an 18" reach advantage, this poses very serious logistical issues for the Blockbuster, who needs to be able to tee off at mid range.

Of course Rocky should be favored. But with all the footage of Primo now available to everybody, it's obvious he was a far more serious entity at his best than Gallico and the critics mindlessly parroting him (like BRS) have previously led the public to believe. (Nat Fleischer's pre-fight analysis of Baer-Carnera painted a far more accurate picture of Primo than Gallico's after the fact dismissal, particularly with respect to Primo's speed advantage over Maxie.)