Let's have a fun one. In our hypothetical what-if battles that take somewhere in the twilight zone, let's do two big contenders who never quite made it. Fred Fulton, the Rochester Plasterer, was a strapping 6'4.5 Southpaw who beat Sam Lanfgord, Willie Meehan, Gunboat Smith, Fireman Jimmy Flynn, and Carl Morris to come up 77 (68)-18. Unfortunately, he always came up short in the big ones, notably against Dempsey and Wills, and also has a lost to Morris. Very well regarded by history as a quality also-ran. His best fighting weight seemed to be about 212. Not as highly regarded was 6'4.5" Marciano and Walcott victim Johnny Shkor, the Fighting Sailor, at 31 (22)-19. However, he was a ranked top ten contender in '47 for his win over Tami Mauriello, and also managed victories over Ring Magazine top-ten guys Rusty Payne and Johnny Flynn. He also beat Johnny Allen who managed a win over Joe Walcott. By the time Marciano got to him, he was almost done, but put up a spirited effort and provided the Rock with an appropriate test for that level of experience. Shkor was thought of as a talented guy who lacked killer instinct, and admitted as much. His best weight seems to be about 220. So, anyone think Skhor could, as as occasionally did, put off the upset, or is is Fulton all the way?
Shkor was ranked in 47, trouble is he fought Marciano in1950, 3 years later , retired for 4 years, then came back for one fight and retired again.Its hard to get a line here what footage is available?
Shkor was a ranked, good fighter, but Fulton was being heralded as the next champ. You could bring up Fulton's car crash against Dempsey, but Shkor had a similar event against Walcott. Fulton clearly edges out Shkor, and KO's him in a close fight