"Frazier doesn't mark up badly, at all" Are you for real? Fraziers head looked like a black football after his fights with Ali,he had contusions all over his face! He was known to be prone to facial swelling! Marciano used to cut, but not swell up.
after that first fight ,frazier's head was as big as jeremy clarkson's though obviousy not as useless !!
I have never been able to seperate them but it would not be a draw, and I don't buy this stuff about Frazier being a one handed puncher meaning much, he certainly smashed a lot of two handed men.
No because Frazier was stunned or buckled by mid level punchers like Stander, or Bugner. Or badly hurt by a solid puncher in Bonevenna. Frazier might have the weakest chin of any all time top 15 heavyweight. Marciano hit much harder then these guys and was more active / ferocious. This content is protected In a match where fighters will stand and trade, durability and power mean a lot. I think Marciano has the edge on durability and power.
There's a difference between swelling and the horrific, possibly fight ending cuts Marciano routinely picked up. Marciano also never took a sustained, consistent beating like Frazier did in Ali III. Who's face wouldn't of swelled up after that?
Frazier the weakest chin? What about Joe Louis? He was down more than Frazier was and from a different array of fighters. Frazier was inexperienced when he fought Bonavena the first time. Frazier was never in any trouble against Stander or Bugner who were both beaten handidly.
Frazier was slightly taller, about 15Lbs heavier, and a bit quicker then Marciano. With that said, Joe was a sucker for a right hand, due to being essentially blind in his left eye, had no right hand to speak of, and didn't use the left Jab much. Joe really dosn't have much to keep Marciano off him, being essentaily a one handed fighter. Add to that, that Marciano was a 2 fisted puncher with power in both fists, with almost super human resolve and stamina, and could handle anything Frazier threw at him. I think Marciano grinds him down for a late round KO in a sensational brawl.
I've seen a lot of talk about size here, and I'm influenced by it as well. But is it really that big of a difference? Marciano was between 184-188 at his best. Frazier was around 205, or at times a lb or so less, at his. This is basically a cruiserweight fight, albeit a big cruiser against a small one. A lot of people also like to bring up the fact that some of Maciano's biggest wins, like Charles and Moore, are against light heavyweights. They like to say Marciano never faced a "big" guy. Smaller guys are, on average, quicker than larger opponents. It may be safe to say that Mariciano faced quicker opposition than a lot of heavyweights, and would not be offset that much by what we consider to be a fast "big" guy. I say most of this out of respect. I rank Marciano #6 all time, and he deserves a benefit of my doubt. Still, after watching: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcmMPBT8NAY and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JS7MaE99GBs&feature=related I can't picture Marciano winning this.
Back in 1963, a Boxing Mag. ran an article on all the Heavyweight Champions. The experts rated them on Power, Chin, Footwork, Jab, Hook, Right & Stamina. They had Rocky with a BEST rating in Power, Chin & Right, he got a fair rating in Jab and a Poor rating in both Footwork & Hook.
This is the first time I've ever seen anyone say that Joe Frazier had a "weak chin". I have Frazier winning this fight, not only because he is 20 lbs bigger but because I think Marciano would actually have a lot of trouble landing consistently on Frazier.