Larry Holmes Vs Rocky Marciano

Tough one. Real tough one. Close fight. Holmes jab and straight long punches will do a number on the rock, while rocky's overhand right and holmes bad habit of attempting to brawl when he got in trouble could spell doom for Larry.

 

holmes was a tough mean, *******. a great fighter with all the tools. larry had enough skills, durabilty and size for anyone. I rate holmes high. hes my #5 ATG heavyweight but marciano is my #3. I lean toward rocky only for the way Holmes could sometimes fade after starting too fast. peak Holmes always had the heart to brawl back from the jaws of defeat when in trouble against the likes of prater, weaver, snipes and shavers but rocky was more intense than those guys who took larry to the edge. Peak Holmes would start fast against rocky since thats what he did when he felt threatened. there is simply no quit in holmes though so i dont see marciano overwhelming him entirely. people forget rocky was hard to hit with 3 consecutive shots, even jabs. after 1 shot marciano either went low behind his elbows or broke the rythem with a reply. rocky would mark up for sure but it wouldnt hamper him. rock on points.

 

12 Rounds Holmes

15 Rounds Rocky

 

Holmes had the effective combination of height, reach, stamina and movement necessary to stay far enough from Rocky for 15 rounds to take the decision. If he stands still and tries to brawl at some point, Marciano could drop him, but Larry always had the capacity to recover and recuperate from mistakes like this at his best. He was a boxer first, and would not attempt to take Rocky out once he realized what kind of chin Marciano had. Walcott was outscoring him very well in their first match, and Holmes could minimize the amount of punishment Marciano typically inflicted on his opponent's arms, hips and other body parts which didn't count in the scoring, but wore them down.

Still, the fact remains that nobody was ever able to complete the job on Rocky, and he'd never stop coming. The Holmes of Shavers I and Cobb could manage to keep the appropriate distance for the scheduled limit if he didn't get careless and cocky.

 

Holmes by decision,left jab .

 

holmes by decision or stoppage.as mcvey says the jab is the key, and rocky would eat a lot of them

 

I doubt Holmes would be able to stop Marciano. The rock is too strong, durable, will powered, and well conditioned.

 

and small

 

Rocky in that crouch... weaving, rolling, dipping, ducking...he was alot harder to hit cleanly with a jab than it looked. Muhammad Ali told Angelo Dundee about this in private after sparring with a Old Marciano. Marciano is certainly used to facing good jabbers having fought Louis, Walcott, Layne, and Moore. Holmes at 6'3" seemed to me like he liked fighting taller fighters where he could really tee off with that jab. I don't know how comfortable it will be for him, if he has to jab really low on a 5'11 man in a crouch.

 

Holmes wasn't that big. Only 210lb. 25lb difference in the heavyweight is not too big a difference when pairing a puncher against a boxer. Holmes didn't hit that hard either. If your gonna stop Marciano, you better have a punch. That's all I have to say.

 

I like Marciano in this fight. A spirited battle but the right hand of the Rock was among the best of right hands and his hook was a good one as well and he threw them in so many forms. I see the fight going past the 10th rd. Holmes starts to get hit with some right hands bombs and the pace is slowing him down a sold right puts Larry down sometime from 10-15 and Marciano a much better finisher than Snipes and Shavers and a slower starter than Tyson, shows how killer instinct and stamina come into play. Spirited battle but I love Marciano in battle vs Holmes. Rhythym breaking at its finest. Marciano KO-10-15

 

This :deal

Holmes would do well but be broken down in the championship rounds.

 

It's tough to see Larry get broken down in championship rounds. The man's heart was so big. he fought some wars in the late rounds(like vs Ken Norton).

 

My inclination is to pick Holmes via decision, but who knows.