If Marciano had come back against Ingemar Johansson in '59-'60?

The Rock might even have to be careful who he chose in his "tune-up" fight.
Roy "Cut & Shoot" Harris maybe??

 

If he'd been motivated and in shape, yes. But he wasn't and made the right decision to not attempt it.

 

Even though in his prime hed have battered Ingo ,by this time he'd have been stopped by him.Rock would have lost a lot probably .Maybe his jaw holds up but his face would have been mashed and cut .
Prediction ..Marciano L RSC 11

 

I think he would have been unable to produce that unrelenting pressure after such a layoff.Conditioning was 50% of Rocky's game I see a slower ,softer Marciano ,with depleted stamina.Ingo would push out his jab and skitter away from danger. Prime for prime Marciano murders him,but an older Rocky loses a decision, or gets stopped on cuts late.

 

Agreed.

That bad back of his and off a few years probably see's him get licked. It's a tightrope act a guy like Marciano has to walk to win his fights anyway. I don't think he's a guy walking the tightrope anymore and would be very vulnerable.

 

Ingo was not really a strong challenge but at 3-4 years older and being inactive, history tells us it did not work at that well for former champions. Also Marciano had the type of style that needed 100% fitness and stamina so with his last fight being in 1955 and 35-36 who knows what kind of condition Marciano was in. After training for a bit he decided that he didnt have the drive so Im sure he did not feel it. Marciano was smart and said that if Louis was not succesful he would not try

 

Marciano went into training secretly in 1959....but couldn't get into the kind of shape he wanted...or needed to be in. 49-0 was a lot better then 49-1

 

Marciano kind of answered this question by canceling his comeback.

He clearly couldn't regain anything like his previous form, and while that doesn't necessarily mean that he would have lost, it is probably fair to assume that he would have performed poorly.

 

If Marciano comes back in his usual great condition, then yes, even an older Marciano would KO Ingo. But that wouldn't have happened

 

Good post that pretty much answers the question in totality...not sure how much more can really be added.

 

I think Marciano gets inside that big right hand and grinds him into mush if he looked anything like the Rock that fought Moore. If.

 

The o would go.

 

Prime for prime he ruins him. Rocky after a four year layoff at an advanced age probably not. Never works out for fighters w a long layoff.

 

Mrkoolkevin's and mcvey's recent input in the Marciano thread have emphasized how much Marciano's fitness depended on the cumulative effect of training consistently for long periods of time.

If Marciano came back for Ingo, all that conditioning history he had in the bank for his 50s opponents wouldn't be there anymore. He'd just be a tough, stubborn, rough fighter with a hard punch.