Would Jimmy Young have been one of marciano s hardest fights ?

Young lost to Ken Norton and had trouble with the pressure Norton imposed on him..

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BTW
Marciano would have subjected Young to a far more relentless attack than Norton did.

 

Young didn't have the pop in his punches that Charles had,Ezzard wasn't a dynamite puncher at heavyweight ,but he hit hard enough so that you thought about it before marching in . If its 15 rounds Young might not see the finish,12 and I think he does. Lastarza went 11 in this title bid ,Young was better than Roland.

 

I am going to get grief over this post. I feel a prime Jimmy Young could give Marciano a really tough fight, possibly win as well.
Young beat Foreman, Lyle (twice), gave Norton a very tough fight and fought to a draw with Earnie Shavers. When he was past his prime, Young gave Gerry Cooney a tough fight (Young was stopped on a cut) and also beat the very hard puncher Jeff Sims. Remember, Young was a great counter puncher and he had a quick straight right hand. Young also stood 6' 2" and weighed around 210 in his prime. He had a height/weight advantage over Marciano. Young used his speed and boxing savvy to great advantage against his opponents. In my humble opinion, Young was a superior fighter to guys like Roland LaStarza and a number of Marciano's opponents. Young's quick straight right hand would have been landed against Marciano and Young would have tied Marciano up on the inside. Young was a great counter puncher, the type of fighter that would have given Marciano a seriously tough fight.

 

Hi McVey, I agree that Charles had more pop that Young, but Young was taller, heavier and had a better defense than Charles. Charles slugged it out with Marciano. Young would have used his boxing savvy and boxed from a distance.

 

Two observations should be made.

The punchers that Young built his resume against, were not pressure fighters.

Stylistically they were better made for him, than Marciano would have been, or Frazier was for that matter.

Yes he was better than LaStarza, but he wasn't better than say Walcott.

He might well give Marciano a seriously tough fight as you predict, but if you put a gun to my head, I am going with Marciano.

 

sharkey fan, good post and all good points. Janitor, Cooney wasn't a pressure fighter? I think he was, and hit harder than rocky, and couldn't hurt a blind Jimmy Young. I agree that a guy who throws a lot of punches is a tough fight for Jimmy, like, rocky, frazier,even Leon spinks if he was non stop as he was against ali. But Young could beat anybody I think, possably anyways, although I don't know that the judges would give it to him

 

Hi Janitor, you have made some good points, particularly the pressure that Marciano would put on Young. Still, Young was only stopped twice, (early in his career) by Shavers (their 1st fight) and by Cooney (TKO -cut). Norton did pressure Young and also Norton had a great left jab. Rocky was, at most 5' 11" and in the 185-188 weight range. Rocky would be facing a 6' 2" 210 quick handed fighter with a great defense, very good stamina and a strong chin.

 

I completely agree with and endorse this post!

 

No, my friend, Norton did not beat Jimmy Young, and yessir, you are correct about Marciano beating Young.

 

You get no argument from me, except I'm only prepared to say that Young would have gone 15 with Rocky, would have survived to the end without ever hitting the canvas, and would have given Marciano a very hard, difficult fight. Young had a world class chin, and in those rare cases when his chin was tested by The Rock, he would have weathered the storm with flying colors IMO. Jimmy Young was a survivor, and he would have made it to the end, and Rocky would have wanted no more of him.

 

Thank you sir!

 

Jimmy had a different bag of tricks to deal with Marciano I'm sure.

 

Yes. I think Young might have even beaten Rocky Marciano in a 10 round match. 15 rounds, I'd favor Rocky based on his activity.

Young wasn't that fast, but he was defensive, slick, and with good head movement. And he could counter. A bit of a pure puncher's worst nightmare if you will.