KOd Joshua, Fury, Usyk, and Wilder then retired, would he be ranked as greater or less great than Marciano?
Perhaps…but he would be about 42-44 by the time he achieved that. Due to how infrequently the top HWs fight and how difficult it is to make the big fights.
I agree. Of course, people will point out that Marciano KOd Joe Louis, Archie Moore, Walcott and Charles. I would say all of them were a bit past their best, except perhaps Walcott (despite his age). It's interesting to me because they'd have similar resumes relative to their era. I'd give it to Joyce though since these guys are younger.
It's hard for a guy with 19 fights to be considered an all-time great. However, that would be quite the gauntlet if Joyce would be able to do that. There are two reasons I would probably still rank Marciano a bit higher. 1. The small reason is that, as @JunlongXiFan noted about The Rock's opponents, all four of those guys Joyce would beat are also a bit long in the tooth. That's a bit of an equalizer. 2. The big reason is that the two things that make an all-time great are opponents beaten and accomplishments. Depending on the order beaten, Joyce may have no title defenses. If they are in the order stated he would have two defenses and only one as an undisputed champ. For me, the lack of defenses and, I suppose, the short career, would keep Joyce a little bit behind Marciano.
Fighters of that era will always be considered greater than the current era no matter what the current one's achieve. It's romanticism for the past despite those guys being much smaller, fighting smaller opponents and not having today's nutrition and scientific advantages.
He'd be greater. I always thought Marciano was kinda overrated. Im not even talking in a H2H sense. Just resume wise i was always hesitant to put him in the top 10
Marciano > Joyce. Charles, Walcott, Louis and Moore are big names historically. Fury, Usyk, Joshua and Wilder are in no top ten lists of their divisions bar Usyk at #1 cruiser. That said, perceptions change over time. Jack Johnson used to be #1 no questions asked in some circles at one time and now he's got a job getting on top ten at all. So it's not out of the question.
I don't rank Marciano that highly compared to most, wins title from an old champion, with only a 3 year reign with 6 defences of the title. Joyce would only be 19-0(18KO's) with only a 2 year reign at best with only 2 title defences if the Joshua fight is not for a title. Despite me not rating Marciano that highly, I'm not sure that really enough. There's something to be said about consistency over time and in this department Joyce is lacking, even when compared to Marciano's short reign. So I'd have Marciano over him but it would really only need a couple more years as champion and 4 more title defences over the likes of Ruiz, Hrgovic, Bakole, Sanchez etc and he'd have enough for me to rank over Marciano.
It's going to be funny when Joyce gets exposed by a a fast KO puncher. He's only getting slower by the year too. The guy is already middle-age. The handlers literally protected him so long they put him passed his used-by date. Either they know he's extremely limited or are utter clowns.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Joyce could do this. I just picked him because he has no losses and has never held a title before.
Joyce would beat 3 Marciano's in a night if he wanted then do a spinning kick flip over Tyson Fury's head.
I guess it all depends on how one views their respective opponents. I happen to think Rocky's top opposition forgot more about fighting than the current guys will ever know. But it would be hella impressive if JJ knocked those guys out! Do you consider fighting a whole lot more against more top ranked opposition in longer fights, to hold any advantages at all in accumulating fighting knowledge over today's boxing?