I'd be able to pick up on his power and grit and see that he could go places with it, but I'd never imagine him being able to defeat great boxers like Walcott and Charles. I'd expect their types to box circles around Rocky and make him look bad.
JG.... I never got to see Marcino's early sparring sessions. I never got to see Marciano's final years of sparring. In fact, I was born after he'd left this earth. You always ask the tough Q's JG!!!
HaHa.. a tough bugger he was JG. That's Mr. John Wren. The leading fight promoter of Australia at the turn of last century. A great man who rose from dirt floor poverty to establish a fortune in the same mould as H.D McIntosh. (Wren retained his fortune until the end) Thankfully McIntosh & Wren had a competetive nature towards each other. The world of boxing benefitted greatly from these two guys. Hope you've been keeping well JG. :good
Wasn't Marciano out of shape at the very start of his career? It might have been poetic licence but I remember one of the movies where the storyline was that he was not ready for the pro ranks at the very start of his career, barely won a fight then decided to get really fit. For myself, I would have thought Rocky had no chance to make it to the big leagues if I had seen him before his trainer could work with him.
He was dismissed in the gym as a ham-'n-egger -- a catcher, until those with a keen eye saw how shaken sparring partners were leaving the ring.
Never seen him spar but im sure even rockys biggest fans will say he wasnt the most polished fighter to live. He certainly made the most of what he had. Again its hypothetical but i would imagine not too many would have seen the potential of the rough diamond other than being white, a heavyweight, a good puncher with a yet unproven chin (im only saying that because obviously at the time he had yet to meet world class fighters, plus im thinking through the eyes of a potential trainer/manager) EDIT- his resilience, which was a big part of his make-up, would also not have been really considered at the time either. Well , certainly not to the extent that he had
