Gene Tunney vs Rocky Marciano

The Rock by late rounds after round 7 after he gauges the runner.

 

I fail to see why Tunney could not last as long as C*ckell,Moore ,or Lastarza. Tunney backpedalled against Dempsey and it was the right strategy but he was not a"runner " in all his fights.

 

Moore was a boxing wizard ( not the kind with a pointy hat and magic stick )and tough in the pocket or anywhere who actually could punch. Lastaza I'm not going to give a opinion BC I haven't seen that fight on 10 years at least.

Looking at the actual match up , Marciano was a slow starter and slowly would get his distance, I would think Ali of 60's poses more challenge with similar movements. I believe Marciano holds his own win or lose with 60's Ali.

I don't believe Tunney is as talented or durable. I think Marciano k.o's him after 7.

 

Dempsey once said that Marciano reminded him of Gene Tunney. When pressed he said it was their conditioning that they had in common. Both Tunney and Marciano were dedicated and had endless stamina.

Over 15 rounds I think Rocky could wear him down with that pressure and power. Like Freddie Brown once said "this isn't like football because Rocky never gives you the ball!".

 

I think Gene wins on points. Tunney would have enough power to fight back when he had to, enough intelligence to avoid a brawl and outbox Rocky, and enough stamina and conditioning to not lose a war of attrition.

 

I agree he had the intelligence but that is hard to do. Rocky was hard to avoid in there.

 

Probably tunney

 

I look at it this way.. A prime Dempsey knocks out Tunney in both fights, and Tunney was prime or close to it in '26 and '27.. Dempsey was so close to gettin' there, landing, so many times ... and Prime Dempsey? Way faster and quicker, footwork and everything in 1919, I wouldn't want to be Tunney .. Even though, Tunney was a better all around boxer than the Rock ... I see a Prime Rock gettin' there too in the late rounds on Tunney

 

Marciano destroys him. Utterly destroys.

Tunney never beat a heavy remotely as effective as prime Rock. And Rock caught up to some pretty shifty and clever boxer types.

 

Marciano for sure, probably by decision.

 

C*ckell? Ali isn't relevant to this thread.Tunney was a damn sight harder to hit than Moore,Lastarza,Charles, or Walcott.

 

And some gave him an extremely interesting evening ,a 38 years old Walcott dropped him amd was leading in the 13th, Lastarza went the distance and lost a controversial decision.Lowry did it twice,C*ckell went into the ninth a 40 years old Moore did too,a past prime Charles went 15 with Rocky,yet Marciano destroys Tunney? I don't buy it!
Marciano never beat a young prime boxer who had the science and footwork of a Tunney,I wouldn't be surprised if Tunney boxed his ears off to take a decision.

 

Key factors here for me are the distance, ring size and leniency of the ref.

10 rounds favours Tunney imo; the longer the scheduled distance, the more I favour Marciano. Ditto the ring; the smaller the better for The Rock.

The stricter the ref, the worse for Marciano.

This one would be interesting with no neutral corner rule!

The likely scenario for me in a 15 rounder is that Marciano overhauls an early deficit to overcome Gene either by stoppage in the championship rounds or on points.

 

On the basis of that analysis, Haile Gebrselassie must have reminded him of Tunney as well. And he'd be right, they'd both last about the same amount of time against Marciano.