Classic Fight: Rocky Marciano vs. Ezzard Charles I

I believe one of the key's to Marciano's win was Charles himself , this was his 97th professional fight and he was 2-2 in his previous 4. He may never have been able to fend Rocky off but a less worn version would have been MUCH harder for Marciano to take .

 

A younger Charles did have a hard fight with Rex Layne, so you never know how these things turn out. I am not even sure a younger Charles would of keep that pace with Marciano. Charles was doing pretty well before Rocky felt he was losing the fight around the 5th round and decided to toss caution to the wind and start tossing about 100 punchings a round. It is something very few fighters would overcome. You can see by round 15 that Charles face was a mess and puff up from the assault. Perhaps Charles nabs a few extral rounds to win a decision, but I would not make it a guarantee that younger Charles wins this. Very few fighters in history would of keep that pace for 8 or 9 rounds and yet Marciano was able to do it.

 

I just wanted to say that you're a champ for doing this in chronological order. Can't wait until 2027 to read your thread on Myung Woo Yuh vs Mario Demarco 1 lol.

 

The nose, the nose is next.

 

In the 15th round, "here it is, for the first time in 15 rounds charles' back touches the ropes".

 

It is very possible that a Charles who was a little younger & fresher would win.
But we cannot say with any confidence.

I think this situaton is similar to how I feel watching his last fight, with Archie Moore.
That was really a very *losebale* fight for him.
That is, the skill & evasiveness of The Old Mongoose made it look like he would win.
The vast majority of men in such a situation, being outboxed & without physical advantages, would at best lose a decision.

Rocky had that extra gear born of conditioning & determination.
Combine that with his raw power-& the intersection of the two is such huge VOLUME of power punches...
He was able to do what if you did not know the combatants looked unlikely before late in the fight.