Heavyweight Tourney: Rd 3: Gene Tunney .Vs. Rocky Marciano

I agree

 

Good post Suzie, but there are a few with a personal agenda and bias when it comes to Marciano. I am glad to see Tunney get props but you are right about the Michael Spinks comparison, although IMO Tunney was better than Spinks. Tunney's 2 best fights at HVY were over a faded Dempsey and he was lucky to get past the LONG COUNT. Moore of 53-55 would be a tough opponent for Tunney and many to get past and he did clean up alot of the division. Ezzard of the Marciano fight also a very tough match for Gene.

 

Tunney dominated almost every second of two fight with Dempsey. If they were 15 rounders they both would have ended by stopage. He was far more dominate than Spinks was over Holmes. Tunney also had several fights in 1925 at heavyweight before fighting Dempsey.

You cannot compare Marciano to Greb. Greb was light years faster.

This being said I agree Tunney did not have a long enough resume at heavyweight to ward off all questions and that is why it is very debatable.

 

Question to SuzieQ. Do you really think there is a big difference between 175 pounds, and 185 pounds? The truth is during Marciano's reign as champion, the average top ten contender was maybe 10 pounds north of the light heavyweight limit, where Tunney was most certainly proven.

Tunney dominated his heavyweight opponents while he was in the division, but like I said the lines between the top fighters at light heavy and heavy in Rocky's days were blurred.

The way you write it, Tunney never fought top ten skilled 220+ plus guys. While this is true, neither did Marciano.

 

Mendoza, good points but I'm with SQ when it comes to opposition. Rocky definately fought better men. Tunney never even fought a black fighter in his entire career.

 

While this is true, I do not think Marciano fans can say Tunney is unproven vs. Heavyweights, when Maricano's best wins are over slightly past their prime guys who would be light heavies today ( Charles, and Moore ) and a cruiser weight in Walcott.

In fact I think Tunney title defense vs. Heeny at heavyweight would also be Rocky's heaviest title weight opponent! See how irreverent 10 pounds can be.

If we are talking about size in this match up, Tunney has a few inches in height, several inches in reach, and would likely weigh more. And Tunney would use all of the above, plus a huge edge on foot speed and outfighting to his advantage,

Tunney wanted to fight Harry Wills when Wills was on the decline. Wills did not want the match! I'm not sure if Tunney never fought a black fighter. While it could very well be true, what source said this? If your referring to Ring Magazine, they are often wrong. Tunney had 80+ fights, vs. at least 50 different men. To research the no-names and find out ethic orgin would be quite a task.

 

Yeah, and black fighters are great.

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Actually Heeney scaled 203 1/2lbs for Tunney [,his best weight was middle 190's]. Whilst Cockell scaled 205lbs for Cockell, of course it could be argued ,[as you have done with other Marciano opponents]. that Cockell, was a blown up light heavy .
Broadly speaking, I would agree with your points.

 

I love Greb but there is a large difference between Harry Greb and The Ezzard Chales of the Wallace, Satterfield and Marciano fights, I am sure that that would be the toughest opposition that Tunney had to deal with not to mention Chales and Moore and we bring up size again when it was Moore, Walcott and Charles and Lastarza that beat all the BIG guys of the era and Marciano beat them. Are we judging on who beat the best or the biggest. Marciano faced his #1 contender in 5 out of 6 fights so I guess they were rated number one because they were the best and not the biggest. Dempsey beat the biggest unified champ in Willard...Louis beat the next biggest in Carnera...what does that mean, its about beating the best in my opinion. Foreman was big but it was Doug Jones, Henry Copper and Joe Frazier that gave Ali hell, not Foreman and WHO was the biggest Tunney beat?

 

"Tunney never fought a black man in his entire career?"

Neither did Tommy Loughran ,anyone think his competition was weak?

 

Exactly which black men did he duck that weren't meanwhile taken care of by Sharkey?

I guess a Battling Siki fight would have been entertaining but the wasn't the Black Murderer's Row largely old and washed up during his championship heavyweight run?

 

Kid Norfolk.

Unforgiven: If a fighter today only fought white fighters would it be mentioned ? Possible ?

McVey: Weaker than it should have been.

 

Conversely, those black fighters' resumes suffer from not fighting the likes of Tunney and Loughran. The realities of the day cut both ways.

 

Gene Tunney UD/TKO12(cuts) Rocky Marciano

 

marciano.
tunney was no better than charles or wlacott. he was really KO'd by dempsey as everyone knows.
another standard fight for marciano who wins by stoppage.