Marciano would have a chance of losing to Louis,Ali,Dempsey,Lewis but a prime Marciano could beat them all also....Liston and Foreman had a chance but they never fought a relentless ,stamina filled puncher like Marciano with superheart...Marciano should not be underated
Does it come against Ali? Ali TKO14 A prime Ali lands an overwhelming number of punches, cuts Marciano and keeps him bleeding; not an easy fight in the least for Ali. Marciano makes it uncomfortable doing what he does best- pressure with heavy punching. Ali ties him up when he gets too close, and keeps picking away at range. Eventually, the cuts become too bad and the fight is stopped. P.S. If the fight isn't stopped on cuts, I can see Ali winning a clear decision, or Marciano winning via Walcott-esque eleventh hour knockout by the constant wearing down by pressure and accumulation of punishment. Does it come against Foreman? Foreman KO2 Foreman pushes him away and hammers him with hooks and uppercuts when Rocky gets close enough to get any of his own work done. Foreman finds his target, and the knockdowns begin. Rocky never really gets a chance to warm up and get anything going. Does it come against Frazier? I would believe any outcome.... What Marciano has on Frazier is that he uses both hands effectively. What Frazier has on Marciano is that he never cuts. This is probably my favorite all-time dream matchup; I go back and forth on outcomes and scenarios for winning. I am the least sure about this matchup than any of the others. If I have to make a pick, I'd say today that Frazier stops him late- like the 13th or so by doing more damage, and I believe Frazier could back Rocky up more than Rocky can back Frazier up. Does it come against Holmes? Homes TKO11 An aggressive Holmes probably does it faster, but he probably wouldn't be. Using heavy, accurate jabs and well placed rights, he pours in the firepower on The Rock. Rocky won't get that close to Holmes, or at least not for long enough to make it his fight. Probably stopped on cuts again, or knocked down midway, being rescued from taking further punishment. Does it come against megaTyson? Tyson KO4 I can see either winning this one, but Tyson is more likely to have it go his way. Tyson is a bigger, faster, more accurate, faster starter than The Rock. Tyson surprises Rocky with a first round knockdown by a counter left hook/right hand combination after a missed right by Marciano. Rocky is winning the fight on the inside, but Tyson holds and lands first coming in. Tyson breaks away from the inside game to fire his rapid fire combinations to the body and head. Multiple knockdowns bring a halt to the action. Honorable mention for very possible wins against Marciano: Dempsey- If he could get a knockdown early and finish him, that's his only chance. I just don't see Dempsey doing anything beyond scoring a first or second round knockdown before The Rock gets going. Louis- Very possible. Anyone can imagine how Louis could win this one. Liston- Liston very possibly could have beaten Marciano with his jab, heavy punching, and chin. Lewis- Too big. The jab, the cross, and the right uppercut spell trouble. Holyfield- Don't count him out based on the chin and heart.
Cockell was marcianos worst off night, you might as well judge holmes from his lucien rodriguez fight, why dont you watch marciano vs louis, marciano vs walcott I, or marciano vs Mathews too see marciano at his best
I find it ridiculous people are picking holmes and ali to stop rocky. Their is a far better chance of holmes and ali being stopped than rocky. i both these fights being close fights that goes the distance
Yeah, Marciano looked awful in that fight. Oddly enough, he still won If a guy can look that bad and still find a way to win, there must be something special about them.
Come on man, did you see the guy he was up against? You are right about one thing.....Rocky looked bad. That film should be burned.
One other thing, Cockell absorbed all kinds of shots numerous times over multiple rounds from Rocky. It was amazing that Rocky could not put Cockell away after hitting him with shot after shot after shot. Did Rocky lose his punch later on in his career? I just can't get over the fact that the same guy that hit Jersey Joe such a devastating shot could not do the same to Cockell after throwing everything but the kitchen sink at him. Maybe Cockell was an earlier version of Chuvalo. :hey
Most of Marciano's shots weren't landing cleanly in that fight. Kinda explains why a lot of us think he looked awful.
Are we talking a prime for prime match up? Marciano ws a basicly a cruserweigh vighting other cruserweights. For the record the only boxer under 200 lbs I would conseder picking over Marciano is Joe Louis. I beleve that he faced very good opistion in his career but I eouldn't pick him over the likes of Ali, Lewis and Tyson.
Ali stops him on cuts. To skilled of a boxer, too elusive, too fast an too strong for the one dimensonal Marciano. Ali has honestly delt with pressure worse than the kind that Marciano would bring. Marciano is too small and would be completely nullified when Ali keeps him at bay. Worse style match up yet for Marciano. Foreman TKO 2. Too big, too strong and too power for a guy thats is 5'10, 185LBs, didn't have great efense and would be directly in range of Foreman's shots. this fight would actually turn out to be worse than the Frazier fight because Frazier actually moved his head. I can see Marciano out lasting Frazier but wouln't be suprised to see it go the other way. Marciano had great condition and his crouch defense would do him good in this fight. He would slip some of Frazier's hooks and get some good body work in, the way he did with Archie Moore. He would slow him down and soften him up for the later rounds, possibly scoring a late stoppage. Larry would give Marciano a beautiful boxing lesson and stops him late. He wouldn't miss with his left snapping jab and his foot movement and his ring smarts would be too much for Rocky. Rocky matching well against any of the these bigger pure boxers with power and good chins is something that i don't see happening. Holmes by late TKO. It would either be Tyson early or Marciano late. Tyson would have a shot at stopping Marciano early with his blistering combinations, hand speed, upper body movement and power. I personally see Tyson scoring an early stoppage but wouldn't completely disgaree if someone choose Marciano late. Tyson had no heart and gets weaker as the rounds go on. if he keeps hiis head together the way he did in the Razor Ruddock fight and continue fighting even when being fought back, then he would get Rocky out of there. [/quote]
Ali - Ali UD 9-6 Frazier - Marciano UD 9-6 Foreman - Foreman KO3 Lewis - Lewis KO6 Dempsey - Marciano KO 10 (Marciano down in the first) Holmes - Marciano UD 9-6 Holyfield - Marciano UD 8-7 Bowe - Bowe UD 9-6 Tyson - Tyson KO2 Louis - Louis KO 8 Jack Johnson - hmmm not sure
The fighter most likely to hand Rocky his first loss would be Foreman, imo. This is the one I'm most sure about. I can see Marciano being competitive with an Ali, Holmes, Frazier...but Foreman? Nah. I just think when you've got two guys coming head on, the substantially bigger (and probably stronger) man has a distinct advantage. We saw what happened to a durable fighter like Frazier - blown away. Foreman was a force of nature against Frazier, and Rocky, although different to Joe in many areas, also was a short, come-forward guy like Joe. I hate to say it, but Foreman would be bouncing hooks and uppercuts off Rocky's face with the fight lasting as long as Marciano can take it. It would be overwhelming, and Marciano's legendary stamina and heart would not have a window to show themselves. He'd get some licks in, but it would not be enough to turn the tide of battle. Other guys like Lennox Lewis and W. Klitschko have to be (in my mind) considered big favorites too. They're massive men with good boxing skills. They have the strength to probably tie Marciano up, the power to knock him out with the right punch or combination of punches, and the overall ability to make life very tough on the much smaller man. It's their sheer size advantage that really clinches it for me but they are very good fighters too, and not some lumbering oaf.