George Foreman Vs Rocky Maricano

There is zero evidence that Marciano could weather the power of a 6'3" 224lbs , all time great puncher. He never faced anyone remotely fitting that desceription.

 

The Lyle, Ali and Young fights show you 2 things, that Foreman could get winded and in the Lyle fight it showed Foreman could be hit with right hands and hurt, if there is anyone that thinks Lyle was a puncher or a finisher in class of Marciano then no point going on but Lyle was not a great puncher, in the Quawi fight (although both men were past it) the 5'6 Quawi was able to land with right hands, Dwight could not punch near Marciano but it shows another angle of the Big/small match-up because everyone always compares Foreman vs Frazier.

This is a war with both men getting hit and using up a lot of energy early but Marciano was harder to hit without being countered than JF with that low crouch and 2 hands (powerful right) anyone that just compares Marciano to Frazier already has there mind set, Marciano was a different style & fighter

 

There are easier guys for raw, green George Foreman to beat than a prime Rocky Marciano.

Fraziers punch resistance had been severely reduced. Norton froze. 32 year old Ali schooled him. In 1972 George beat nothing but unrated guys with 76 losses then fought Frazier in Jan 1973. Before Frazier George was untested at even fair level. He did well to get Frazier when he did.

 

Foreman said Lyle was the hardest puncher he met. So I have to give that some import.

Marciano kod Walcott twice with one punch, Walcott was 37 and 38,and never especially durable .

Is Marciano's one punch power perhaps flattered a bit by these two results? It took him long enough to bludgeon Lastraza,Charles ,and Moore into submission.None of them had particularly concrete chins.
Could Lyle have kod a 37 & 38 years old Walcott?
A 34 years old Charles? A god knows how old Moore?
An overhyped Lastarza , who had been floored by 179lbs Rocky Jones, 9 months before Marciano slowly beat him into helplessness ?

An overmatched and overweight ****ell who had been stopped by middleweight king Turpin, and halted 6 times before he challenged Marciano, 3 times by middleweights ,once by a lhvy.

I think the answer is yes to all these questions.

Would Foreman necessarily go down if Rocky landed flush? He took Frazier's left hook without blinking.
Foreman effortlessly pushed Frazier back out to optimum punching range , would he have more difficulty in doing so to the smaller ,lighter Marciano? Frazier was quicker of hand and foot than Marciano yet he was destroyed.

We know Foreman can massacre a smaller crouching swarmer because he proved it.
We don't know that Marciano could absorb the punches of a 6'3" ,224lbs power puncher, usually called the heaviest hitter of all time , because he never faced one .:think

 

Frazier took George because he wanted him before he attained any seasoning. 32years old Ali would school Marciano too. Foremans pro title record compares very favourably with Marciano's.
I have to go, Grandaughter's birthday, barbecue bash.
I'll give it more input later.

 

Rocky never really faced a heavyweight other than old Louis.

 

Exactly. It may have backfired on Frazier but it left Foreman totally unprepared for championship level.

A fighter good enough to get through the first few rounds was always going to expose George, it wound up being Ali but you never know might have been the next guy, George was still raw. Young Foreman got to #1 without facing a lot of good heavyweights.

 

Foreman used his reach well on Frazier but not so well on Qawi, Forte, scrap iron Johnson.

Foreman was a marvellous talent. I never said he was ****, just raw and largely untested because he got all the way to #1 without fighting decent veterans like Patterson, Terrell or Liston. Quarry and Bonnavena were also missed out. These are the kind of fights that George could have had and the results would support a Marciano win better than the guys he did fight.

 

Even the fights being put forward in the case against Foreman don't make sense; a 20 year old novice Foreman going the distance with a journeyman (and winning every round); a 39 year 240lb Foreman against Qawi (a one-sided beat down culminating in a KO); Chuvalo, which was stopped after three one-sided rounds; Lyle another big slugger who was nothing like Rocky and would dwarf him, and still it ended with Lyle taking a count of 100.

It's odd that Sugar Ray Robinson or Carlos Monzon against Marciano would be considered mismatches (and they would be), yet Marciano vs Foreman is regarded as a competitive fight, despite there being an even greater size disparity. Not to mention Marciano having no track record to speak of against super-heavies, a style that isn't conducive to beating larger more powerful opponents, and up against Foreman, who would be among the most dangerous opponents for that type of fighter.

 

Joe Louis was within 2lb of George Foreman at his best and still a decent contender in his own right. about the level of a Trevor Berbick or Ray Mercer. Size did not bother Marciano. Johnny Shkor was even bigger. The size in itself was not alien to Marciano and there is evidence that Foreman did not find smaller guys particularly easier to beat than bigger ones.

George was a strong, talented handfull. Obviously his strength and raw aggression is problematic for any heavyweight. But at the time in his career where he was statistically at his best Foreman was more than a little unprepared for a tough competative fight at championship level.

Lesser short come forward fighters than Marciano could smother their way into the later rounds against George. Why not Marciano? Shouldn't Rockys prime ring form, durability,experience and two handed power count for something in the later rounds against a green youngster with a hot head and stamina issues?

 

Indeed the Frazier win is excelent but it needs to be taken into context with where Frazier was at that point in his career.

Every fighter Joe fought after TFOTC wobbled him and his outside game, punching on the way in, was never quite the same. Once he was inside Joe always could bang away like before but the absence of his earlier range restricted his defence by a large degree. If he's not landing on the way in he is not discouraging half the offence coming his way. The absence of a good right hand was also a problem for Joe since it was right hands that George was more susceptible to.

Foreman fought brilliantly against Frazier. He measured Joe and kept him on the end of punches. Pushed him back into firing range if he got too close which was easier to do with the squared footing of Frazier. It prevented Joe from defending himself adequately. Take nothing away from George that was a good win but it was not a champion at his best and nor was it Rocky Marciano.

Beating Bonnavena and Quarry like that would prove a lot more.

 

This sums up my feelings on the matter.

Regardless of whether Frazier was on the slide or that Norton froze, George well into his 40's was still knocking out solid fighters.
His punching power simply cannot be called into question at all, ever, and he knocked out little guys, big guys and everyone in between. If he starts to reach Marciano, Rocky's going to fall..no doubt about it whatsoever in my mind.

Rocco is not proven against someone as formidably imposing as George. Even taking away the size and style disadvantages he has, he would have to grind George down to win, as he usually did at the top level. That gives George time to get his own licks in, and he will. Marciano was not hard to find and he will get hit.

Can he grind George down without running into those huge uppercuts and hooks or can he do that while getting hit back by George? Neither scenario seems likely to me.

Whichever way we swing this, Marciano is fighting an uphill battle all the way.