Larry Holmes Vs Rocky Marciano

That is a wise inclination. Great fight. :good

 

holmes by deision to for me

 

Yep but never after feeling the heat of Marciano over 12 rounds. And never against a Marciano. That´s something he has never encountered. I rate Holmes very high and imo he is the contender with the best arguments for numero uno h2h but I think his heart would be a liability in this one.

 

So do I

 

Holmes would batter Marciano around for about 8 to 10 rds., then put him out of his misery. Excellent big man vs. good little man, not to hard to envision how this would've unfolded.

 

When he did, he nearly floored Ocasio for the count with a jab, and Jaws was as well prepared to deal with a great jab as any contender of the era possibly could have been after 20 rounds with Jimmy Young. Don't forget that Larry had plenty of experience sparring with Frazier as well. His jab was never more powerfully devastating than it was when he pounded Ocasio with it, and he looked perfectly comfortable in that situation. (In fact, this was one of the best overlooked performances of his career.)

Of course Marciano is on an entirely different level than Jaws, and he would be boring in while Ossie was forced to utilize a retreating crouch. A low crouch, in and of itself, didn't pose any great issue for Holmes. Larry's problem would be dealing with the man using that crouch.

 

Classic match-up! Here we have an all time great boxer/jabber against an all-time great swarmer/brawler...in their primes! Styles make fights, as they say. I'd go with the swarmer/brawler in this one. It would have been a great fight!!!

 

A wise man once said, "Laaa Holmes punch meh an' kick meh". That man was probably Laaa Holmes' best win.

A 200lb Spinks got the better of the Laaa Holmes, twice. Spinks being a guy i do not feel is a tougher fight stylistically for Laaa than Marciano is. Old Louis and Walcott did not have the firepower to deter Marciano, so i doubt Holmes would. However Laaa is tough and i do not see him being stopped. I think it definatley goes to a decision, with Marciano grinding out a UD. Both men bloodied.

 

Excellent Points

 

Both men in prime form? Geez this is a tough one. Neither guy gets stopped I feel. The jab and Holmes terrrific upperut are going to serve him well as is Rockys overhand right (which I feel Holmes will be able to avoid early on) and the Rocks body work. Have to think a bit on this one.

 

And that is why I think Marciano could take Larry. When tagged hard, Holmes liked to start going toe to toe, which he could do with the best of them, but doing this against Rocky is never good. Marciano could outslug just about anybody in a 15 round fight, Holmes included. A guy like Marciano has the perfect style to drag Larry into a brawl.

 

I see Holmes winning via decision. Rocky would be giving away too much height, reach and speed. Rocky could be tough to land on due to his crouch but he still has to come out of it to land on Larry and Larry won't be there to hit. I'm talking about the Larry of say Shavers I, the jab and move Larry when his legs were young and fast and so was his jab. 6'3" with an 80" reach and mobility and speed wins out over 5'10" with a 68" reach no matter how tough and well conditioned. Rocky's best chance would be to catch Larry napping with an overhand right but I don't see it happening against a prime Holmes. Rocky would be catching air and alot of hard fast jabs in return en route to a points loss or a late round stoppage due to cuts.

 

Holmes was KO'd by 5"10 Nick Wells 2 times in the amatuers and once by 5"10 Mike Tyson in the pro's The pace of this fight vs Marciano would be more torid than Norton and Marciano hit a lot harder than Norton.

Spinks was a little man compared to the power of Marciano. Marciano was not a small heavyweight puncher, he was a freak, despite his size he was one of the hardest punching single shot heavyweight ever and a 2-fisted one with Stamina

I think it would be a spirited fight but Marciano would wear him down and hurt Holmes very badly with the right hand, as the fight progressed I think Marciano's stamina and killer instinct would put Holmes in a position he was never in, huirt and tired. It would resemble the Tyson knock-out but only later after a tough fight.

 

Holmes's amateur fights show absolutely nothing. He was crap in the amateurs compared to how quickly he improved in the pros. Either way we both agree that Marciano would win, except I feel he would win a decision, not by KO.

 

I was responding to a post that Marciano was too small but I think Larry had problems with shorter guys. Not all of them but Tyson was one in the pros and Wells one at the end of his amatuer career. Ali also had trouble with shorter guys