Could ANYONE Have Outboxed Marciano?

I would say Ali ,Holmes,Tunney ,would probably out box Rocky but to out fight him ------maybeDempsey,Louis,Jeffries,Foreman ,Liston.Bottom line he is no picnic for any heavy weight.

 

Outboxed for a while but could anyone outbox Marciano for 15 rounds and sustain the pace and punishment the man dished out,Ali fought a good pace vs Frazier in the 1st fight but tired,I think Ali has a chance but not likely,Holmes could never get off the floor from the right hand that Marciano would hit him with and survive, Tunney recovered the best after the long count and has a chance but a slim one, Marciano was a more weardown damage type of fighter and he could break the best rythym fighters rythym

 

Ali outboxs him...easy

Foreman walks right through him (a la Foreman/Joe Frazier)...easy

Marciano was 185 pounds; i don't think he would get to Lewis (Manny Steward era).

I think Ibeabucchi beats him.

I'll say a prime Holmes jabs to win a UD.

And a prime Louis, not a faded Louis, would have beaten him.

I'd love to see Earnie Shavers/Marciano...not gonna pick a winner, but i'd love to see it.

I don't think RJJ would have a shot...he'd be swarmed 15 rounds and Glen Johnson already exposed him with that style.

 

Ezzard was not a middleweight, he was a lightheayvweight, he gain up to 188 or so pounds. Charles may have started out as a middleweight because Charles started boxing as a skinny teenager. Ali was a lightheavyweight before he turn pro. When guys get older, they feel out more. Ali feel out to be a 200 pounder, and Charles a 178 pounder about. We cant go and say Joe Fraizer beat a lightheavyweight(Ali)

 

Corbett wasn't as savvy at staying out of range, though. He falls into the clinch repeatedly against Fitzsimmons, and his technique controlling Courtney and McCoy is too close-range to work against Marciano. Corbett may have been cleverer in the clinch, but Marciano's mauling, impetuous style would have given him a nightmare.

 

If Walcott had not been cut, he would have won the first match with Marciano. If Rocky had not dropped LaStarza in their first meeting, he would have sustained his first professional loss. If his first bout with Charles had been scheduled for the modern contemptible limit of 12 rounds, Ezz would have regained the HW Title in their initial contest.

If, if, if....the fact remains that as it happened, nobody did succeed in gaining an official verdict over Rocky. Sure, Corbett, Jack Johnson, Tunney, Ali and Holmes could have stayed far enough away for 15 rounds to swing a decision win, but nobody was able to do it when Rocky was in the same ring with them, and that's all that matters.

 

Well, Fitz was able to start shoving him around on the inside after he got tired in the later rounds, and Sharkey roughed him up badly (though Sharkey was one of the dirtiest fighters in history). He would have been better technically on the inside than Marciano, but I just don't see his stamina and durability lasting him through to the end--see Sharkey, Fitz for examples.

Of course, on the flip side he survived a green Jeffries and a shot John L. Sullivan...but Jeffries' workrate would have been far below Rocky's, and John L. was too old to keep the fight up. So I'd still have to go with Marciano via (T)KO at some point later in the fight. It would probably be easier than the Charles or Walcott fights.

 

I belive if Fitz could do the trick, so can Rocky. I agree with Crosstrainer that Marciano stops Corbett, I think around the 11th round. Once Corbett starts slowing down, I think Marciano starts banging away were ever he can hit of couse. Marciano has the power, and UNDERATED speed to get Corbett out of there.

 

I belive Marciano gets to Holmes when Holmes lowers his guard in the later rounds. Holmes lack the displine in that department. And having your hands lower vs Marciano would be a welcome over hand right. I think the Rock gives about any one hell imo. No way does Holmes or Ali just walk over Marciano like some posters are claiming. Could go either way. And it will be one of thsos brutal affairs.