is rocky marciano totally underrated in this forum?

In a word: no.

[/thread]

 

There is some level of hatred for Marciano and Dempsey in this forum by a few posters. At the same time this also does exist for Ali. As time goes by historical revisionism becomes more pronounced. what was black becomes white and what was white becomes black....at least to some extent.

 

I think you're right and I think a lot of it has to do with his being white.
In the final analysis it doesn't really matter what the forum thinks about him. He was what he was.
Ali had a great quote about Marciano. It went something like "It's one thing to talk about fighting Marciano- it's another thing to get in the ring with him".

 

Alis comments always steer me on the right path when I try assessing Marciano. Rocky was the one past champion who he felt could beat him. He stated....if we fought several times I would win one and he would win one. Also....he hit so hard in the ring sparring just playing and I could not hold my arms up they were so sore and bruised. Marciano as did Dempsey and Frazier had the style to beat Ali. Not to say they would beat prime Ali but all would have given him tough tests.

 

I rate him #1 all times greatest in every aspect of not only boxing, not only athletics, but every potential, realm and manifestation of the physical, mental and spiritual...

and I am still underrating him.

 

Careful there, H, or burt's gonna be all over you

 

He was sublime. Ineffable. At once a portent and a throwback.

 

Most people on here are knowledgeable enough to decide for themselves but even when knowledge has been absorbed and you still decide someone is overrated it is as irritating as hell to hear that fighter being raved about. More so if you decide that it is only snotty, privlaged, ass wipe kids who are boosting the white race. Once that comes into it I can really feel for the level of irritation and sence of injustice that must make one experience.

However, once a sensible case can be made for the marciano legacy, free from lazy, ignorant prejudice backed up with facts, real arguments and knowledge of the landscape of his times there should be less cause for outrage. Sometimes however the well meaning outrage has set in so deeply that the outrage itself blinds people from even being able to consider an argument for marciano. It becomes less about underrating Marciano and more about REJECTING the possibility of considering an argument for Marciano.

There are those out there who will promote lesser champions than Marciano simply by looking no further than a tape measure but by and large most of the forum rightly aknowledge all great fighters.

 

Louis and Marciano are underrated by most, Dempsey is totally underrated...a lot has to do with size and in Marciano and Dempsey s case "How could they be so good because they were white" funny but Eddie Chambers who beat big men like Sam Peter and 6'7 Dimentrenko and others shaped him self down to Cruiser weight and was dominated by a 5"8 guy so quality of the big men and super-heavyweights can be overrated (although the Klitschko's are not ordinary) Chris Byrd also dominated many of the big guys and when he moved down was brutally KO'd (some say he was drained could be true but skill and speed factor in in the lower classes)

I was not always a believer in Marciano I grew up with Ali, Liston,Foreman, but he grew on me, his size was always a factor he was 5"11, short arms and in old fashioned condition but people that really knew the game convinced me of his subtle genius and the brilliance of Charlie Goldman and how he molded a diamond in the rough. Marciano did have many virtues determination, courage and very high intelligence

Louis was a master power punching combination guy who sometimes took many chances but he was very Great, Dempsey was the best of his time and more explosive than his predecessors but the young guys judge him by today's measurements

I learned from the old guys how good JD was and respect many of the old timers opinions.

Guys like Marciano,Louis,Langford and Dempsey,Frazier were great some for longer than others but take a snapshot of their primes and they compete at the top- always

I sometimes go the opposite direction because of the ridiculous comments by posters like Louis,Marciano,Dempsey would be stopped in one round....Some of the bias and stupidity is obvious but like i said we learn something new everyday but its very hard to go back in time with modern cameras,film etc. so we get a better picture from those who have been eyewitness ....Great is Great but a lot of these guys have opinions and they were only hatched a few years ago

A lot of the the young guys have there generation prejudices, some hate Marciano because he was white others because they love Big

 

He was voted the number 3 greatest hw of all time by this forum, that's hardly being underrated is it?

 

Maricano was great.

-Took the title by KO from a Hall of Famer.
-Held the title for four years KO'ing 3 hall of famers not including Joe Louis.
-Took on all comers.

Why does this bother people so much? He would have been a great fighter today. I don't care how much these guys weight. They are over weight. I just looked at the top ten heavyweights and they all look overweight. Greb beat fighters cosiderably bigger than him and so did Maricano. Today's overweight Divison would not be a considerably task for this great champion.

 

Most fans are biased toward fighters of their own ethnicity, however I don't think no one hates Marciano because his is white. More like they downplay his achievements when compared to black greats.

 

Isn't there is a lot of black/white on this forum lately?

Maricano beat up and put down black and white fighters. Black and White are not ethnicities, they are politics catagories that really only historically matter in the US. Rocky is from Italian stock, not white and Joe Louis is of African blood not black. If I was of German blood I would have as much claim on Rocco Francis Marchegiano as a fighter or Zambian origins.

I know that it is easy and acceptable to for us to call ourselves black or white but, when the conversation becomes intelligent I think it is better to drop those catagories and talk about what happened in the ring unless the topic is concerning the race of the fighters specifically i.e "Jack Demspey and the Color line" which IMO is a totally acceptable to conversation to have.

BTW, I am black and I rank Marciano over Tyson and a few other great heavyweights.

 

So many of you guys -- real fans, young and old, have strong opinions of Marciano. How I wish you guys could've have seen the Rock train 'n fight live...Some of my most treasured memories.