Holmes via close decision. This fight would be a war, and very gruelling to say the least. Both are great 15 round fighters.
VERY difficult fight to predict, for a couple of reasons: 1. Marciano's punching power would no doubt hurt Larry Holmes, but could he land? 2. Marciano was very smart, in that, against taller fighters he would actually crouch LOWER, thus, how would Holmes respond? Would he become overconfident because of the size advantage? 3. How would Marciano handle the weight differential? Would that, added with Holmes spectacular boxing skill and jab, spell the end of the night right there? 4. Holmes could cut opponents with his right hand- ask Bonecrusher Smith. Considering Marciano's track record (Ezzard Charles, a fighter somewhat similiar to Holmes in style), would he be susceptible to cuts? I'm going to pick Rocky Marciano via close, unpopular decision. I see the fight playing VERY similiar to Holmes-Shavers II. Marciano's STAMINA and Holmes HEART would equal a distance fight, and I would say Holmes would dominate early with his jab. But Marciano was no fool, he would respond by getting on the inside and working the body. After a vicious first ten rounds, I see Marciano dropping Holmes, at some point in the fight. By the late rounds, I see Marciano having a slight advantage on the cards, but I see Holmes rallying late, only to lose an unpopular decision.
I think Marciano WILL land on Holmes, as he did with Walcott, Charles and Moore. Now if Holmes takes the ten count is other matter, I think Marciano outworks Holmes for a UD in a close fight.
i cant see this being close. holmes was far more skilled and stylistically this is a bad fight for rocky to start with. holmes superior footspeed, handspeed, size and skilllevel wouuld be too much. his jab would carve up rockys face all night and his right hand would catch rocky coming in. somewhere between rounds seven and nine the doc would stop the fight. unless of course rocky gets dq´d beforehand. this would be a rude awakening for rocky when he meets a true modern great heavyweight.
Marciano by KO....Holmes always had problems with the right hand and Marciano had the BEST ever and I dont want to hear size as an issue...Holmes was KO'd 2 times in the amatuers by 5"10 1/2 Nick Wells and 5"103/4 Tyson in the pro's dropped by Shavers and Snipes and they had no follow-up...Marciano WOULD have a follow-up...Holmes down early...takes lead but Rocky goes into 2nd gear for late stop...I would bet heavy on this
Agreed. I really don't like the Holmes chances against the finishers. In this matchup, Rocky has a big edge in conditioning. Larry loved boxing from that pitchers mound and if the opponent lets him fight that way, he looks terrific. The pressure Marciano would apply for 15 rounds is about 300% more than he faced aginst the likes of Norton/Weaver/Witherspoon & those were tough bouts. The Marciano pressure and workrate exceeds that of Tyson as well & we know how Larry did in that one when he was the old guy facing pedigreed youth. The bodywork would slow the Holmes footwork down and once Larry has to stand his ground and exchange, the 2 handed Marciano assault for 3 minutes per round would just be too much to absorb. And Marciano was the rare breed that could fight cut or busted up and not change 1 iota. To me, this matchup is kind of like the mouse in the cage with the Python. He might live for awhile allright, but once the snake gets hungry, what can the mouse do in that cage?
To balance things out we have to rememebr it's not as if Marciano could not be outboxed, and Holmes heart, skill and durability IMO is better than those that troubled Marciano. Holmes, unlike many others is a great chance of taking his lead to the finish line. Larry also had a superb right uppercut which will present a threat of it's own. It's far from impossible that Holmes could present his own stoppage threat.
Marciano had a great right hand. I think if Larry can survive that right he might win on points but I look for Marciano to stop him between round nine and thirteen.