Marciano's overlooked defensive techniques (video)

Excellent video. I might have to rethink my feelings about how Marciano might have fared against the modern greats like Ali, Holmes etc.. He was a little more slippery on defense than alot of us were led to believe, plus he used his size, or lack of it to great advantage. Combine that with his power and durability and you have one formidable fighting machine.

 

This is a great video, beautifully put together - almost a Stanley Kubrick-like melding of music and motion!

I am also pleased Chris chose the Rock as the beneficiary of his artistic juices, as he is one of my favorite HWs...

However, changing your opinion on a fighter on the basis of a highlight video cannot be justified.

A carefully chosen few seconds from a lot of fights can paint any picture you want.

You could put such a highlight video together showing Patterson had a rock chin, absorbing punches from Liston, Johnansson and others without hitting the deck.

There is no way round it - you really have to watch the whole fight, with highlights being nothing more than acing on the cake. In Rocky's case, the whole fights are actually more impressive than the highlights, as they emphasize punch output, stamina and his will-to-win on top of the various treats in the videos...

Anyhow, great effort Chris. I know you have done Lewis and Marciano highlights on Youtube. Any others I dont know about?

If you have a spare few days I am sure you would get plenty of recommendations from the ESB board...

 

That vid lost all credibility at 3:04.

 

Watch his fights in slow-mo if you do not get it with Rock

 

Excellent...The Rock's defense was very subtle.....

 

Yeah, the Rock did indeed have some impressive defenisive ability, when so incline, and his counter-punching was incredibly underrated. While the highlights are certainly going to cast him in a favorable light, I'm certain that Chris could easily have clipped other highlights throughout his career where Marciano proved to be just as effective on defense. Yeah, he got hit, but one gets the impression that he didn't get nearly as much as some of his detractors would have us believe.

 

CP.
Your video made me want to look up some info on Charley Goldman, Rocky's trainer...This HOF trainer was quite the boxing strategist and knew what to employ that would work for his fighters..."If you have a tall fighter, make him taller...if you have a short fighter make him shorter"...I was reading an article from ESB re Goldman and Jack blackburn and their work with Marciano and Louis...
Archie Moore, before his fight with Marciano, thought he was susceptible to a left hook...but in the ring, he could not land the hook cleanly due to Marcinao's crouch...and when he changed position to land that punch, he found himself in Marciano's range...Moore was very surprised at Marcinao's defensive ability.
Again good work...very informative post!

 

It was a joke.

 

It's not like it's trying to show that Marciano was a defensive master, slipping shots like Toney or anything. Just that the guy was capable on occasion of slipping, feinting, parrying and countering rather than just being a "Cobb vs Holmes" kind of fighter.

 

Exactly. Marciano had some defense.

 

Great video ChrisPontius! This is why you rank so highly in the esteem of your fellow posters in the Classic Forum. A fresh and fair look at the underrated defensive abilities of a great who has been given very little credit by today's so called 'experts'. Way to go...very interesting.

 

Great video.

 

Good points, but I think highlights (especially when as well presented as this one) can be very useful in revealing aspects of a fighters game you might normally overlook. Most people probably look so hard at Rocky's offense they neglect to study his defense.

I think you are right to express reservations...somebody can post highlights of an evenly matched bout and make either fighter look like a runaway winner. The bottom line is that you have to trust the motives of the person presenting the hightlight reel...is he genuinely trying to further understanding, or is he a minister for propaganda?

In this case, I think we are getting the former.