Could Larry Holmes or Rocky Marciano beat Deontay Wilder?

Protected.
Charles
Walcott
Slade
Valdes
Bivins
Thompson
Valentino
Agramonte
Henry
Baker
Oma
Gardner
Sys
Louis
Baksi
Dunlap
Valdes
Satterfield
Neuhaus
Wallace
Walls
Jackson
All of whom he some how missed fighting.

 

But significantly bigger.

 

Yep I mentioned that he's more fat than the muscular, lean Walcott

 

I think you're underestimating how much space Wilder effectively covers when he's avoiding his opponents' attacks. It's deceptive because he's a very tall guy with long legs. Creates a lot of separation for a 5'10 fighter with a tiny 67" reach to overcome.

If you watch Marciano's actual fights, you'll see that most of his fights take place at mid-range while he's trying to find ways to close distance. This idea that Marciano just crouches and burrows into Wilder, zapping him of any offensive effectiveness is fantasy. Marciano was very hittable--he was fortunate that he didn't encounter opponents who had the size and speed to exploit his openings without sustaining damage themselves.

Not even close. Ali had a 5 inch reach and 3 inch height advantage over Frazier, Wilder has a 16-inch reach and a 8-inch height advantage over Marciano. And Frazier ate a LOT of punches closing distance on Ali in that fight, even though Ali fought more flat-footed than he had in his younger days.

 

And 4 inches taller ,with 4 inches more reach.

 

Complete different bone/muscle structure............Ortiz could never get below 200 in a price fight as a grown adult in the Pro ranks, a natural Heavyweight but in your world Foreman could fight below 200 no prob too

 

Good breakdown on Wilder but the problem is that Marciano's balance is every bit as bad as Wilder's. There would be plenty of openings for Wilder to land his right, a punch that is a wee bit heavier than Moore's or Walcott's. Look at Marciano's face after his fights. He got tagged quite a bit. On the other side, his reach is going to have him missing against such a tall target than can afford to stay so far out of range. I see Wilder getting more opportunities to turn the fight with one punch before Marciano can turn it with an accumulation.

 

Ortiz gets rid of bigger men while landing far fewer punches. He's very heavy-handed. The kind of guy whose jabs and hooks to the body hurt. I see Walcott's power as at least one level beneath his.

 

Marciano fought plenty of men larger than him and faster too, he was quite explosive with his dart and dash to get into the inside had he felt the need. Watch Marciano vs Walcott 1&2 and Marciano vs Matthews

Marciano was not a mid range fighter, the only time he really fought mostly mid range was in his fight against Moore

And slower with half the ring generalship

I have no ****ing clue what you meant here, of course Foreman and Ortiz aren't going to weigh less than 200lbs, they're 6'4" ffs. I think Ortiz's true prime weight was around 215-225

 

Never said he was a mid range fighter but as I mentioned when you watch the actual fights (as opposed to the highlights), you notice that Marciano still ends up in mid-range positions quite a bit. Watch those fights and pay attention to all the times that Marciano and his opponent are standing 3-4 feet apart as Marciano plots his path forward. Sometimes walking forward slowly with his guard relatively low. Now imagine that he's facing a 6'7, 83-inch reach guy with extremely powerful hands (and enough agility to back away from many of his rushes and enough strength to clinch when necessary). Those are all moments where Marciano would be in Wilder's optimal punching zone and far outside of his own.

 

The clear answer to that would be that Marciano would simply keep a longer distance so that Wilder's airplane propeller arms can't reach him while planning, and he'd probably infight like no tomorrow. If you watch the Louis and Layne fights, Marciano stays glued to the inside

It wouldn't be unreasonable to say Marciano is the physically stronger of the two, imo

As for your above comment, I fail to see how size affects your brain's ability to resist trauma. Especially with 1st round knockouts over men 2x in bodyweight in Boxing's history

 

And if he keeps a longer distance, it's that much harder for him to rush Wilder effectively. Either way, he has to cross through a pretty wide "danger zone" (where he can be hit but can't hit himself) before he can hope to score.

Layne pressed the infighting every bit as much as Marciano did and Old Man Louis didn't have a choice. Wilder is much faster and longer than that version of Louis. Doesn't seem like much of a comparison.

 

And the flip side to that coin is that once Marciano is on the inside, it's the danger zone for Wilder as he cannot brawl with such a short distance with his long arms

Mayhaps Marciano simply corners him? Wilder has been pressured before. Marciano could also take this to an attrition place and simply focus on defense and crowding until Wilder's inevitable gassing

 

So Wilder is gassing now........FFS, he had Fury almost out for the count in the 12th........that is some gassing.

Undefeated Laughbuster = out of 1639 posts, 1638 are about Marciano. Well done.

 

The only way that Wilder could beat Holmes, would be by stopping him, and I think that is very unlikely.

I think that realistically, we also have to favor Marciano over Wilder.

The argument that Wilder has a massive physical advantage over Marciano is nonsense.

Wilder weighed less in his previous fight, than Joe Louis did when he fought Marciano.

That is a very manageable weight disparity for a fighter like Marciano.

Height and reach alone are not going to be decisive against Marciano.