If Rocky didn't retire when he did, who do you think would have been the first guy to beat him?

Guys who fight like Marciano do not age well into their 30's, looking at the rankings there are more than a couple who'd have probably upset Marciano at that time. His call to retire was perfect, would he be held in the same esteem today if he'd have been stopped by Patterson ,Ingo or a lesser fighter

 

I read one magazine article, where Rocky Marciano suggested that Charlie Powell might be the person to eventually dethrone him!

I am not going to comment on Roy Harris, but if he fought on long enough, you might have got a downright weird result!

 

Liston

 

I am going to say that fight number 50, would probably have been a bit of a disappointment.

Patterson would not have been in the picture when contracts had to be signed, and it would not have been obvious that he would be the power in the division in a years time.

This would have left a top five consisting mainly of men who had lost to either Marciano or Moore.

The options would likely have been a new name like Pastrano, or Jackson who was not a huge threat, or somebody like Valdez or Baker who was obviously on the way down.

 

I agree, there was no one around- and none of those fights that could be made would draw a great interest or money, which is what would have kept Rocky in the game.

I don't think 50-0 or 49-0 would have made much of a difference to Rocky because both were accomplishments in an era with no split titles and having fought the best of his era - no color line- no avoiding the best having fought his # 1 contender 5 out of 6 defenses but today 50-0 44 ko's a one fight nicer but Rocky was tired of Al Weil robbing him and with no big money around or contenders it was his time to relax.

 

I think it would have been Pastrano then Jackson then retirement.

Marciano would have won those fights but made harder work of them. Pastrano was a runner and Jackson quite gruelling. They probably make Rocky look bad.

If for whatever reason he continued beyond this then quite possibly Rocky would have fought the men Patterson fought and in that order. Maybe by the time of the Radmacher fight Patterson moves up to heavyweight and beats a severely fading Rocky.

I think Patterson was destined to be HW champion eventually. He was always good enough to beat Moore. The longer a great fighter goes on the worst he gets. Rocky would have deteriorated so bad and probably quite quickly. As he said himself two or three good fights left in me.

 

Based on his long run of form, it is hard to imagine him not slipping through somewhere!

 

Rocky would still be champion if he hadn’t retired.
The guy is unbeatable. End of.

 

In all fairness to Rocky Marciano, his style of fighting led to a 4 year reign of champion. He had some very grueling bouts, The first title winning bout against Jersey Joe Walcott, on Sept 23 1952, won by Marciano, KO 13. Both fights against Ezzard Charles, and his last title defense against Archie Moore, on Sept 21 1955, won by Rocky, KO 9. His crouching style allowed him to take massive punishment from his adversaries. Both Charley Goldman and Al Weill, a shrewd businessman knew this, and I am sure they saw the new crop of heavyweights on the horizon, which could pose a legitimate threat to Rocky Marciano. Also Marciano's wife Barbara and members of his family played a part in Rocky's decision to retire as champion in 1956.

 

definitely. It would have been a dangerous match for Marciano at that stage in his career especially. I’d personally favor Marciano prime for prime but in 1956 ? Not sure

 

I am honestly not sure that they had.

It is easy to see it in hindsight of course.

Floyd Patterson was not really on the radar yet, Ingemar Johansen was not being hailed as a future champion in the USA, and Sony Liston was still fighting four rounders.

Also I doubt that Rocky Marciano retiring undefeated, was high on Al Weill's list of priorities.

He would probably have matched him until he lost, then activated the rematch clause, before he called it a day!

 

You might be right Janitor, I truthfully do not know if they had automatic rematch clauses in those days. I know that in Muhammad Ali's first title reign from 1964-1967, after the Liston rematch, he mentioned after one of his title defenses, that he did not have any return bout clauses in his contracts. Ali said that he wanted to be a fighting champion, and would like to give everyone a chance. And in that era, people were not greedy like today.

 

Oh I agree. All managers in those days rolled the dice with their champions until there was nothing left to roll. Especially the way it was then. Even in the best of times a manger won’t see a return on his investment until the money fights start, but during that era the manager was squeezed by other partners who were forced upon them. Weill might of had 50% of Marciano but I bet he didn’t see much of that 50% once he paid the parasites he would have had to take on to further the careers of his fighters. That’s why he would have had no qualms about making the biggest fight and activate rematches even if his fighter was done.

 

Patterson and Liston both got immediate rematches, and I am not sure whether that was contracted, or merely done out of courtesy/sound financial practice.

I suspect that when somebody finally toppled Marciano, he could have got a rematch somehow!

 

I really enjoyed your post.