70s Ali vs. Rocky Marciano

I am of the same opinion, tough and tenacious Rocky was indeed, and a very good chin, his renowned stamina and determination would take him deep into the fight for sure, and while the fight lasted Ali would be shipping a lot of punishment ( as he did in the early 70s ) but, and there is a but, Marciano would also have to take heavy, heavy, right crosses from the bigger heavier Ali, and that is the rub, later rather than sooner these punches would take their accumulative effect on Rocky, we can imagine his face swollen around the eyes, more than likely at least 1 cut, not that any of these setbacks bothered Marciano, by the 12/13 his face would be in a sorry state, and dare I say it, I wouldn't rule out a late stoppage ala Bonavena, just cannot see Rocky, try as he might, having his hand raised, but that's just me, others have the parallel view.
stay safe buddy.

 

Negative. 70s Ali needed rounds off to rest. He would hop around like old Ali for a round or two than need to rest a round or two. I don’t believe he had a whole fight hopping around like prime Ali in the 70s.

 

Marciano was never stopped on cuts. Don’t see an out of prime Ali doing it. Would take an absurd cut to stop a title fight n that wasn’t that common w Marciano. He had two fights of 49 that were almost stopped and one cut was on his nose a freak elbow shot

 

Did you watch Norton vs Ali 2 ? Ali was fleet footed for the entire duration of the fight. He was somewhat reminiscent of the his old self in the 60s, and its arguably the sharpest he looked in the 70s.

 

I’ve seen it a few times but don’t recall him being fleet of foot the whole fight. Next time I c it I’ll remember to look for that

 

In the 70's I think it most likely both the Simmons and Charles fights would have been stopped,the referees in both fights thought about doing just that .Marciano was cut in most of his important fights Walcott 1,Charles 1 & 2.Louis.Moore Schkor . Marciano had 2 cuts in the 2nd Charles fight the nose one and one by the eye.

 

The size issue always gets me with these. Ali would be 30-40lbs heavier, 5 inches taller, with an 11in reach advantage. That's not insurmountable against a lesser opponent, but Ali is not a lesser opponent. I have a hard time seeing how Ali wouldn't manage to use his physical advantages to pull off a win.

... and yeah I'm sure you can find quotes of Ali saying Marciano would beat him. That's just hero worship and a way of showing respect. You don't say you think you could beat some retired ATG you look up to, you tell everyone how tough he was and how you'd be afraid to face him.

 

In his quieter moments Ali usually showed respect for the heavyweights that came before him.

 

Sounds feasible. I would be confident of Ali beating Rocky up to,and including,the George Foreman fight. With Manila version I would give it a 50/50 call.

 

I actually rewatched the Thrilla last night. While diminished on some fronts, Ali was aggressive, tough as old boot leather, and really had some pop to those rights. I don't think that version of Ali, the way he fought that night, is easy for anyone to handle. He beat Frazier at his own game.

 

What kind of shape?....If Rocky gets tired like George Foreman?.....Marciano was the best conditioned fighter ever...great power...heart...stamina...chin...a "kill or be killed" attitude...where have you been? 1970's Ali was basically a punching bag...he never learned the finer points of boxing...he depended on his speed. He lost most of his speed by the 70's...and his usual plan was to lie on the ropes and hope his opponent punched himself out.! You think that's going to work with Marciano? Ali told Howard Cosell in 1976 that he didn't know if he could have beaten Rocky.

 

When I read things like this about Ali in the 70s I wonder, have you actually watched Ali's big fights from the 70s? Diminished some, yes. Using the rope-a-dope as a constant strategy? Absolutely not.

I recommend re-watching (or watching, if you haven't) Ali-Frazier 3. That fight is 1975, and he's fighting more as a pressure fighter than anything else throughout a large portion of the fight. On the front foot, advancing, relentlessly attacking Joe. Laying on the ropes hoping Joe gets tired? Absolutely not. I think you'll have a much greater opinion of late-career Ali from this fight.

 

I don't know why people have this misconception that Ali was a punch bag in the 70s, maybe in the later half of the 70s when he layed on the ropes. But in the beginning part of the 70s especially vs Norton the 2nd time, he showed the same qualities like speed, foot movement that he had in the 60s. Obviously Ali was not quite as good as he was in the 60s, but when he was motivated he could still turn in high quality performances using his speed and footwork, and the 2nd Norton fight is great example of that.

 

Marciano has virtually no chance against the 70's Ali. Rocky is one of the toughest men to ever hold the title and his conditioning was legendary but his only hope of victory is a KO and no 185 pound fighter who Emanual Steward called short, slow and clumsy is going to knock out Muhammed Ali. When Ali begins to set down on his shots he'll drop Rocky and then stop Marciano after cutting and swelling his face up badly.

 

Through the Foreman fight, those versions of Ali would bust up the Rock and stop him.