Larry Holmes vs Rocky Marciano

No what you are writing makes zero sense. Marciano was nothing more than a crude brawler who relied on his punch power. Take that away, which McCall would in spades, and what is left?

Even the majority of Marciano fanatics on here are not seriously claiming Marciano hit either as fast or hard as Tyson. ( who once again has hit McCall with thousands of shots to no avail )

You seem to be, and I am saying that makes zero sense. There is no way Marciano could knock out a guy like McCall, thus dramatically reducing his chances of winning, never mind someone as skillful in his prime as Holmes, who was also pretty solid in the whiskers department.

Furthermore I am stating I believe McCall to be a better fighter than Applegate, Lowry, and Mogard, 3 guys who Marciano couldn't knock out, and give Oliver a decent chance of winning.

 

I'm sorry, but the people that think Rocky would even be competitive must either be smoking something strong or are overrating someone that fought before color TV.

Rocky has the same reach as Manny Pacquiao. LOL

Holmes had an all time great jab and has a 14 inch reach advantage. This is a joke.

 

Foxy. Consider yourself lost. Tyson never fought McCall aside from sparring. He hit McCall so hard to the body he quit. Mccall does not rate with any ATG hwt. Holmes at a very advanced age gave him all he could handle. I'm no huge Marciano fan but anyone making false claims about his ability is way off the mark. At one time I thought like you do but I then took the time to watch him fight (as I had with Dempsey, Johnson and Louis). I look back then and realize I was completely wrong. Rocky was as great as they come. If you think of him as only a crude slugger you are wrong plain and simple.

 

Height, reach, size does not mean you win. If that were the case Rocky would have been 0-49 not 49-0.

 

If your opponent is 4 inches taller, has a 14 inch reach advantage. Along with an all-time great jab and superior boxing skills, it means you lose.

 

Untrue. You don't understand boxing or its history. A novice comment. As an example you ignore Holmes dropped his left jab and was open for Rockys best punch. And NO just because Holmes was bigger or taller or had longer reach does not mean Marciano won't hit him with that punch. Marciano knew how to fight bigger men very well.

 

A great big man, usually beats a great little man. That isn't a novice comment. That is common sense.

Had Rocky been a great boxer, it could be different. But he was just a brawler that had some decent power. Dude was in the right place at the right time.

 

Trouble is....he was not "just a brawler". Holmes was open for his best punch and Rocky like Frazier was not easy to hit with a jab as you think. A low fighting great hwt who is a great bob and weaver can negate height and reach advantages as well as minimize a great jab. This is seen clearly in Ali Feazier 1 and if you watch carefully during Walcott marciano1.

 

Rocky was not a great HW. He's only considered to be great because he never had to fight top competition in their prime. Right place, right time.

He would not negate the jab of Holmes. Not often enough to win.

Stop talking about Rocky like he was some mythical boxer. He was in the position he was in due to the HW division being super shallow, due to the best boxers being past their primes and ripe for the picking.

 

You could not be more wrong. Suggest you get to know Rocky as a fighter by watching him fight. I had your opinion until I did the work necessary to know what I was talking about. Now I understand that any person calling Rocky just a brawler does not understand him as a fighter.

 

I've watched plenty of his fights. He was not impressive at all. He was slow, unathletic, and lacked technique, compared to best HW's that came after him.

 

Untrue. Keep watching.

 

I think I'll stick to Georgie Benton's opinion when he stated that any 160 pound man could knock out any other man.

Bigger men do on average hit harder but some smaller men hit ridiculously hard. I have unfortunate first hand knowledge of this. The elite big men are going to crack like no one's business but the increase in actual power from 185 to 215 is not overwhelming on a shot by shot basis... on average. What does suck that EVERY SHOT hurts more whether thrown with bad intent or as a feeler... It's an attrition kind of thing. The damage racks up a lot quicker. And getting smothered and hustled by bigger guys is inevitable. You HAVE to move to avoid being worn out in quick measure.

I don't see Marciano having the skill that is necessary to beat an elite big heavy. He didn't move well enough and couldn't really fight in retreat.

 

He fought four current , former or future World Champions Louis ,Charles ,Walcott and Moore ,and imho he would have defeated easily Patterson and probable Liston ,against S.L he would never have displayed the fear of Patterson or the arrogance of Clay .

 

Liston would've murdered Rocky.

The former champs he fought were all past it when he fought them. Moore was 39 and Joe was older then, than he was when he died. :deal