How would marciano be viewed..

Maybe a lot of the high rating of Marciano (in different ways) is due to people thinking that he was so prolific, meaning that his unbeaten record really raises his status in both h2h and greatness departments. I know people like to bring up his subtle skills, and i may agree to a degree, but its possible.

 

Well chances are he would avenge his losses, Marciano was vicious in rematches. He would drop a spot or two but would still be comfortably in my top 8.

 

Minto KO1.

 

Your boxrec argument here isn't in very good perspective. 11 losses was nothing unusual or disgraceful in those days. It's only been in about the last 40 years that the norm has been for fighters to turn pro late after a lot of amateur experience with big management teams behind them and build up gleaming records the way they do now. It used to be a guy would suffer his share of beatings as a young man and would scrap his way to the top, learning as he went. The losses you refer to off of Cockell's record all happened in the late 1940s when he was 20 years old or under and still very much in the learning phase of his career. Moreover, boxrec is not a complete compendium of every professional fight that has taken place in the gloved era; if you talk to the people who actually run the site, they'll tell you they don't even have half of them just yet, and they would be especially likely not to list fights off obscure fighters' records- hence, the opponents' records you list above are likely incomplete. All of these fights were over seven years before Cockell fought Marciano.
When he faced Marciano, Cockell was on a 10-fight winning streak and had beaten several reputable opponents along the way. He may not have been a "world-beater," but he was a legitimate contender. Ali, Louis, Holmes, and nearly every other great champion faced opponents inferior to Cockell during their own title reigns. As a matter of fact, Marciano was FAR MORE consistent in facing the best challengers for his title on a fight-by-fight basis than virtually any other champion.

Six title defenses is not a mark which should be used to detract from a champion's legacy; in fact, only a handful of other champions (Louis, Holmes, Ali, Jeffries, Johnson, Charles, Burns, Lewis) have made more defenses of the legitimate world heavyweight championship than Marciano did, and those men did not face #1 and #2 contenders with anywhere near the consistency Marciano did- of Marciano's six title defenses, five were against current #1-ranked contenders, and the sixth (Cockell) was #2-ranked.

Jack Dempsey, George Foreman, Mike Tyson, Sonny Liston, Evander Holyfield, etc. all made fewer successful defenses of the linear heavyweight championship than Marciano did, and they all lost multiple times, but this hardly means they are not regarded as ranking among the all-time greats of the division.

 

I also think if marciano had lost, weill would have been less cautious and thrown marciano in against henry baker and valdez, giving marciano an already better resume to add on!

 

Even with a lost or 2, Marciano was still the man in the 50's like Louis was in the 40's(Didnt rein long in the 30 imo to be the MAN)
Like Dempsey was in the 20's
Ali in the 60's.
Or Tyson in the 80's.
He still makes my top ten even if he did lost. And would STILL be consider a great fighter. Maybe we have more questions answer if Marciano did lose.
What would it take to beat Marciano outside of Foreman strenght of couse.

He still be a ATG imo.

 

As MF, 6 title defenses are consider a LOT in the heavyweight ranks. Not that many got to the 6th title defense mark.
Only a few made it to double numbers(Burns, Ali, and Holmes.)
I talking lineal here of couse.

 

Excellent post Carmelo.....Marciano fought the best of his time...that is how you judge a fighter....AND....unlike others...he retired before his skills had eroded.
You can't continue on fighting when you have a style like The Rock...he left at the right time...and never mind the "if's"...Marciano never lost..49-0 43 KO's..

 

........the arguements can rage on.. with a simple comparison of all past and modern fighters, we still forget the aspects that alter CHANGE. Vast improvement has transpired in retrospect to any particular era. If a simple equasion is formatted correctly, the majority of notable champs pre-!937 would be lesser than HW/T contention material in the `70s- `80s. Thankfully, this evolution of the sport, via training basics, leaves room to compare and make comparisons, and offer a field of dreams as we revue all records and post comments on this forum. Its difficult to remain diplomatic, when posting comments on those we aspire to, yet, the same aspirations from the respondents, are as true as our own.

 

I've never seen this godlike status, certainly not in here. Marciano never tops anyones list of ATG Heavyweights that i know of, even tho the guy was never beat. I think he gets a lot less milage out of being undefeated than you think.

 

:good

:good Truth be told

 

Marciano had one of the greatest wills to win. He did not feel like anyone could beat him and had no fear for anyone. Saying IF is like saying IIF Ali got the short end of the stick vs Young, Norton,would it effect his legasy...it is what it is...a lot of people say he really lost those fights but still have Ali up there. Marciano was losing to Walcott in there 1st fight and no matter if it was a 12 or 15 rounder, Marciano was going to find a way to win. The greatest thing about him was that he had a powerfull will to win, great heart, great power and ring smarts and instinct and was patient when he smelled blood but not many escaped....If Marcino had a longer career and lost, it could not counter what he acomplished in the ring but the fact is he was smart enough to know his style demanded EXCELLENT condition, super hard work, and a he never let himself down by coming into the ring in poor condition. Marciano fought in his prime and got out when he felt he did not have the desire to kill himself in the gym anymore. He defended vs the # 1 contender 5 times and the # 2 contender once...If is not WAS or IS