rocky marciano vs sam langford

Look at the films of him standing next to Jim Flynn who was 5' 9" in change.

No one ever said the man was 5'8" , no way. Maybe 5'7" tops and thats on his best day. Either way, Marciano is made for him.

 

I've heard anything from 5'6 to 5'7 for Langford's height. Either way that's still very short for a heavyweight.

Against Rocky, who was about 5'10, he wouldn't be badly outreached though, not at all since Langford actually had long arms for his height while Marciano had short arms.

 

I'm surprised by how many people are voting for Marciano. I don't understand it.

 

The argument can be made. On the film I've seen, Sam didn't look particularly great on defense, kinda case where his offense was his defense. And saying that Rock hit harder than any opponent Sam ever faced would not be an overstatement. And there is that thing about the Rock never losing a professional bout.

 

For me its really difficult to compare the turn of the century fighters to say, the fighters post 30s and 40s as Fighting technique went up many levels. I know Sam Langford was ahead of his time but not that far ahead. Bottom line for his era I have Langford rated much higher than the Rock. Like atleast 15 notches above. But if we are gonna talk HTH im going with Marciano no doubt, and by knockout.

 

How would an old school trained athlete that went tons of rounds back in the heyday finish the stretch of a fight against Marciano? I feel even Marciano closes the show better. Fighters fight more rounds back then, but with the same sort of intensity or pace that Marciano did for 15? I just don't think so. I think Marciano overcomes within the second half of the fight. He may very well be losing for the first 8 rounds. I honestly don't know enough about Langford to make an accurate or honest assessment. Some say Langford was a p4p monster hitter, even hit harder than Rocky. Others would disagree. I don't know exactly...

 

Langford is one of the hardest punchers of all time.

P4P he hit harder than Marciano, and i don't believe Marciano hit that much harder than Sam Langford. I think it is debatable that Langford hit harder than Walcott and Moore who dropped Rocky. Langford might be 5'7" but he had a 76 inch reach to Rocky's 67 and was built like a brick shithouse. Rocky doesn't really have the physical advantages v Langford apart from a few inches in height, plus stamina is not a issue with Sam. Was a 184 pound Rocky really much stronger than a 175 pound Langford? Plus Rock was slow for his size while Langford was quicker.

 

Great match up. I think Langford has the edge on skills. Marciano, perhaps the edge on power. Rocky has the edge on height. Langford a surprising edge on reach. Chin might go to Langford. Both guys had 15+ round stamina.

While Marciano did beat slightly past their prime venisons of Charles and Walcott, it was his power that turned the tides. Langford has even skills, perhaps slightly below these two, but he has more power, and a far better chin, which takes away chances for a late inning home run by Marciano.

The best two punchers Rocky fought were Moore, and Walcott, but floored him. I think Langford hit harder than either of those two.

I'll go with Langford to win in a very good fight.

 

I'm going with Marciano by bruising, career ruining decision. It's hard to judge because there is so little clear footage of Langford, but his record speaks for itself. So does Marciano's though, and we do have footage of him proving his ability against extremely skilled boxers.

 

Dont think Reach is going to matter, both are going to stand toe to toe about, and thown punchings.

I think Rocky Marciano might just beat Langford in that type of fight.

Judgeing on the few films of Sam out there, he was a powerful slugger, and not of the Jack Johnson type imo.

 

That about sums it up.

Beyond all analysis, beyond our ability to compute and predict, beyond all skills of the "technical" sort that we imagine we can understand better, lies toughness and determination. It shows itself over time in its effects.

Those two guys from their own times in history had plenty of it. That is all we can say.

 

From what I read in Moyles book, Langford's chin sounded very solid. The first loss to Jeanette (by KO) was a corner stoppage when Langford had been punched blind; and some of his later KO's were similarly due to not being able to see (remember Sam was by then fully blind in one eye, and having trouble with his other eye). Wills did ice Sam, once.

 

Road to destruction for both fighters. Marciano gets the edge