buddy baer vs rocky marciano.....

This would look like Marciano-Skhor, Baer does well early mauling Marciano, but eventually we see Baer breaking down by rounds 7-8 and Marciano would finish him off. Marciano would pound away at his body/arms/shoulders all night until Buddy begins to drop his gaurd. A roundhouse overhand right knocks out Baer.

 

I'm picking Marciano by knockout, but it might get interesting as we really never saw him take on a man who had that much of a size advantage over him who could also punch as well.... He might get decked once, but I still think he prevails.

 

Marciano by KO over Buddy Baer...

 

Yes, your right.

I think the closest comparison we have is Marciano's fights with Johnny Shkor and Carmine Vingo. Vingo was 6'4 and by all reports(and eye witnesses...Burt saw him him fight live) Vingo was a puncher. I know his KO record suggests otherwise, but I have not read a newspaper article, or contemporary source who has described Vingo as anything but a puncher. He did give a young Marciano a very tough fight, but Marciano ruined his career.

Johnny Skhor was a rough brawler from Boston. Not a puncher, but a mauler. 6'5 220lb big strong guy. He wasn't world class like Baer, but he did stop highly rated Tami Mauriello. Marciano battered Skhor into submission.

Marciano definitely never fought a 6'7 250lb puncher, but I don't think Buddy had the boxing skills nor all around punching skills to really danger a 5'11 185lb ATG slugger/swarmer. Buddy simply wasn't good enough. His size and left hook would keep him in the fight for as long as he can last. He had an 84" reach to Marcianos 67", but Baer didn't fight from the outside, he liked to maul on the inside.

Baer actually did well vs shorter fighters. Galento got his **** rocked by Baer. Baer had a monster left hook and was very strong. He would give Marciano trouble early, but no doubt in my mind Rocky would break the big tree down.

 

Agreed..

As for carmen Vingo, I know nothing about him... But his stats and info reveal that he was 19-20 years old.. And at 6'4" and only 180 something pounds, probably looked like he was a fawn trying to stand on all four legs. He also had only 16 fights as opposed to Marciano's 24, and no wins of note.. So I'm not sure that using him as an example of how Rocky dealt with taller opponents says very much... But what do I know...

 

Vingo was actually one of the highest rated prospects in boxing in 1949. Picture a 19 year old 6'4 190lb fighter who can punch, has a good chin, and is wicked tough. Imagine what this kid would have looked like when he was 25 years old? Maybe grown into a solid 6'4 220lb, a very big fighter for that era. He showed against Marciano he had the punch and toughness to go places. Papers described Vingo has having a lot of potential to become something big, although they also said Vingo didn't care much for fighting and could have retired early. Charlie Goldman said "Vingo is plenty big and can punch". Reg Guterridge called Vingo a "big hitter". I believe Carmine Vingo's trainer was Whitey Bimstein. Marciano called the Vingo fight "one of the toughest of my career. I have never been hit so hard in my life".

Vingo-Marciano was actually a big fight. Not on the world class scene, but to see who was the best prospect around, it was an undercard fight in Madison Square Garden and it was the fight of the night. It was a war, back and forth. Marciano floored Vingo 4 times in the fight, but Vingo landed a few punches that drove Marciano backwards ringing his bell big time. Rocky eventually knocked Vingo out cold in the 6th round. It completely overshadowed the Main Event.

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As for Vingo looking like a "fawn", well he was only 20 years old. I'm sure in time he would have filled out. He doesn't look that frail, he had the build to put on quite a bit of muscle. In fact, I would go as far to say he carried his weight quite well in photos I have seen of him. He looked plenty big in one particular photo I have seen of him. I will try to dig it up. On a sidenote, Marciano looks like a chizzled tank in that picture at only 180 1/2lb.


From the 1949-12-30 United Press preview of the Marciano v. Vingo fight:

"Rocky Marciano, unbeaten Brockton Mass., heavyweight with 25 straight victories, faces Carmine (Bingo) Vingo of New York in the semi-final ten. Marciano has knocked out 23 of 25 opponents but he's meeting a

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in Vingo, who has won 16 of 17 starts"

 

Yeah that makes sense.. But was Vingo really a big puncher? Boxrec says he only had 7 kos in 16 wins, and had only stopped 1 of his previous 7 opponents. i can also see why he and Marciano was advertised as a big fight, but most likely because they were both Italian American prospects from the east coast, which probably had an appeal to local fight fans of that demographic. But Vingo's credentials don't really reflect that of a contender.

 

No, Vingo wasn't a contender. Just a highly touted young prospect, who the press was talking about along with Marciano, Lastarza, Henry, Baker, Layne, and Joe Lindsay. Had Vingo beaten Marciano, he would have gotten a main event with another italian american, Roland Lastarza, at the Garden so it was an important fight for both men.

That's what I thought, but I have about 4-5 sources that describe him nothing short of a puncher. Sometimes KO percentages can be deceiving. Hatchetman Sheppard went the distance A TON, a low KO percentage. He was described by most experts as the hardest hitter of the 1940s. Perhaps Vingo lacked finishing ability as a young kid?


Carmine Vingo is an enigma. Marciano ended his career, before we could have found out how good Carmine Vingo really was. Perhaps he would have been a career journeyman fighter, but maybe he would have gone on to challenge for the world title. We just don't know.

 

Thanks for the info on vingo.