How does he do against the top HWs of the early 30s? Do you see him winning the HW title and defending it? Who would be his toughest opponents?
He probably finds it a bit tougher, not because the era was tougher, but because he would have got a tougher draw.
Lol. Tougher... An era of smaller guys and big bums yes sure... Liston could not ko machen he would play with baer. Guys like sharkey,carnera,braddock,schmeling etc..were not a great thing
Appears that Machen was superior to Nino Valdez. Fight 1: 1956-04-16 : Eddie Machen 193 lbs beat Nino Valdes 212 lbs by UD in round 10 of 10 Location: Cow Palace, Daly City, California, USA Referee: Jack Downey 55½-54½ Judge: Fred Apostoli 56-54 Judge: Toby Irwin 56-53½ "Young Eddie Machen cut Nino Valdez, #3 in the world heavyweight ranks, down to size in taking an upset unanimous decision before a wildly partisan crowd of about 6,000 at the Cow Palace. The 23 year old from Redding, Calif., inflicted only slight damage on the big Cuban but piled up enough points to win on all three official cards." -Associated Press Unofficial scorecards AP - 55 1/2-54 1/2 Valdez UP - 57-53 Machen San Mateo Times - 55-55 Draw Fight #2 1956-07-11 : Eddie Machen 192 lbs beat Nino Valdes 216½ lbs by KO in round 8 of 10 Location: Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida, USA Referee: Bill Regan 67-66 Judge: Gus Jacobson 67-64 Judge: Fred Aaronson 63-66 "Eddie Machen, from Redding, Calif., bent Valdez like a jackknife with a thudding right to the stomach in the 8th round. Ten seconds later Nino, lying on his side, was counted out for the first time in his career." -Associated Press Post fight comment: "The kid's still green. He's got alot to learn. When I think he's ready for bigger fights, I'll get them for him." -Sid Flaherty, Machen's manager
Schmeling would be a potential test for him. Sharkey on an "on" night could also be a test. I think he'd decision Max Baer, unless he showed up like he did vs Johannson. Then he gets poleaxed by Max Baer.
