Marciano vs Johansson?

Is there any actual proof of this or are we just supposed to believe it for no reason? I see Rocky in his prime failing to drop guys with body shots but we're supposed to believe that at 45 he dropped Ali with a body shot?

 

The body shot KD is an old yarn that few outside of Marciano diehards bother to entertain. Ali politely said that Marciano did hit hard to the body. However, it wasn't a fight. It was an acting job.

More to the point, Marciano was NO WHERE near to "fighting shape." He was a fat middle-aged guy who had done some conditioning so that he didn't entirely embarrass himself on film (though the toupee took care of that).

All that said, prime for prime, Marciano blows Ingo out of the water barring the perfect right hand. In 59 or 60 I make it a 60-40 fight in Ingo's favor. We know Marciano would get himself in the best shape possible. However, he had a bad back so what was possible by then might not have been enough. And without warm up bouts his timing would have been way off, a bad thing for an undersize fighter who needed to find openings and get in quick.

I know he had misgivings about his management when he quit. But I also think Marciano's style and efforts he put forth in his training had taken their toll. He was done, or very close to done, and he knew it.

 

This seems to come up once a year. It all depends on how good of shape Marciano can get into. Johansson had right hand, not much of left and not much speed or chin. Tough guy, strong, and Maricano being old anything can go wrong, so anything could have happened. We will never know.

 

Marcianos style wasn't made for a long ring career... and i don't see a comeback going well

 

I don't see it ending too well to be honest.

A five year come back against a huge puncher surely can't end well. I wouldn't rule Rocky out because in his I prime he'd be an absolute huge favourite. But if rocky did pull out the victory it would be a huge upset (just as huge as if ingo beat him prime for prime).

 

Marciano would have 2 chances to win. One is if Ingo failed to show up for the fight and Rocky wins by forfeit. The other chance is if Ingo drops dead of a heart attack in the ring. Otherwise, this fight is a joke. Rocky departs within 2 rounds after bouncing up and off the canvas a few times.

Prime for prime, I give Ingo a good chance to land that big right hand. He had trouble with Patterson's quickness but Rocky sure ain't no Floyd Patterson when it comes to quickness. Anybody who was dropped and nearly knocked senseless by ancient Archie Moore can certainly be KO'd by a puncher like Ingo.

 

Please tell me where Marciano was "nearly knocked senseless" by Archie Moore. He was down for a whopping 2 seconds and proceeded to give Moore a hellacious beating.

 

Yes. Its fair to say that a 70% Rocky Marciano was better than any version of Ingo.

If Marciano came back and took the fight he wouldve trained his ass off and been in the best possible shape.

Ingo was very limited. He could hit with the righthand but didnt have the best chin or the greatest conditioning. Unless Johanson lands a perfect shot early Rocky would always outlast him. Too much stamina and too much heart.

Rocky KO 3-5 as soons as he loosens up.

 

What are you talking about?

 

I'd give Ingemar a decent chance in a prime-for-prime match too.