Larry Holmes vs Rocky Marciano

With all the respect for Walcott, Charles, and Moore. Marciano, simply never fought a big man with Holmes ability. Actually, Marciano never defended against any big man, and fought very few period. I'm taking the fighter with arguably the greatest jab in heavyweight history. Holmes stops Marciano on cuts.

 

Walcott called Marciano," a crude brawler with two left feet."

Louis said, "I didn't figure on any problems with Marciano.He was strong sure , but he fought like a street brawler.Figured I could outbox him anytime ."

" On October 26th 1951 I felt confident .I felt even more confident when I knew I had won three rounds out of the first five.Yeah! I was right he was a street brawler.He couldn't touch me when it came to boxing.Marciano was strong though ,I figured with a little more training he could do it all.
But right then in the ring I knew I was busting him up with my jabs.Everything was fine until the seventh round.
My age gave me away;all of a sudden my legs gave out.
They had to lift me off the stool for the bell in the eighth".

 

Ali was a far greater fighter than Marciano,however the difference between him and Holmes is appreciably smaller imo. Marciano was cut and banged up in most of his best fights, he had bad balance fell -over sometimes when he missed ,and was easy to tag with the jab .He was also comparatively slow of hand and foot .

I don't see these subtle skills you speak of and when asked to evaluate him neither did Louis, Walcott, Moore or the great trainer Manny Steward.

 

All those men felt they could hit Marciano at will. Watch their bouts and see how many shots they missed against the ever bobbing and weaving Marciano. There is a video on YouTube entitled the subtle skills of Marciano (or something to that effect). It will show you in slow motion detail his skills. Again....the only past hwt champion Ali felt might beat him was Rocky. "Just playing in the ring and I could not raise my arms he hit so hard"....."maybe he would win won and I would win one". That was a near 50 year old Rocky Ali was sparring with that impressed him so much.

 

Louis felt he could out box Marciano WHEN he was in there with him ,and he did until he ran out of gas.
I've seen it several times and I bought a super 8mm of Marciano back in the 60's, I'm familiar with how he looks in the ring.
Watch Marciano's fights and see how often he is tagged with jabs and by past prime fighters.
Ali was being gracious he would have crucified Marciano. Lastarza and Walcott out boxed him, even an ancient Louis took 3 of the first 5 rounds .
Marciano was 46 for the computer fight and Ali was as fat as him.I have it on dvd its fiction.

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But after the fight Joe Louis also said "this kid is tough enough to beat anyone. It hurt just to bump into him. He hits harder than scheming" and on another occasion Louis said he did not like being crowded.

 

That in no way contradicts his opinion of Marciano's skills as a boxer.
Louis said Schmeling hit him with dozens of right hands before he was kod whereas Marciano did the job with a few big shots when Louis was too tired to get out of the way..
Louis was coming into his prime when he fought Max and way beyond it when he fought Marciano . His punch resistance was severely diminished as was his stamina,power ,and reflexes. Posters may be discounting Holmes's right hand power ,while not on a par with Rocky's it may have been equal to a 39 years old Moore's,and a 38 years old Walcott?
I would not be astonished to see Rocky on the floor from a Holmes right cross.

 

But then Marciano would get up and make it one hell of a fight. Again Rocky was not the crude brawler you make him out to be. He was constantly slipping jabs, ducking, blocking and countering. At one time I thought as you do. I was wrong and you are wrong.

 

Marciano predominantly WAS a crude brawler easily hit. His main weapon was his grinding down opponents, and his ability to absorb punishment. Out of 49 fights you will see less than 5 write ups extolling the virtues of his skills and / or defencive abilities. Rather you will see how he battered guys arms, hips, bodies, anything until they finally submitted. It is fallacy to try to compare him with a slick boxer / puncher.

As for the fantasy match up with Ali. I find it laughable in this day and age anyone could possibly believe that was anything more serious than sparring. Ali was big mouthed, and out spoken but he wasn't a complete fool. He was aware that Marciano was a white, unbeaten Heavyweight who was a national hero to his countrymen, he was never going to be stupid enough to say Marciano couldn't have got near him in a real fight. Even Ali knew where, and when to draw the line.

 

Wrong. Ali made these comments years later during a wide world of sports interview where films of past greats were shown and he commented on his ability to beat them. The only past great he said could beat him was Marciano.

Many felt he was a crude and could not block a punch. ****ysis of him in action tells a different story. Certainly he was a puncher but he was constantly making his opponents miss and countering. Check YouTube concerning the slow motion ****ysis of his defensive capabilities.

 

Walcott was a pin point puncher who could drop or stop you with one punch, he was not an aggressive fighter but a smart slick boxer who could hit. Holmes could not match Walcotts power (Norton) and Larry was dropped by good right hand punchers like Shavers 6" and Snipes (inexperienced) Larry also avoided fighting the best of his era when they were at their best, he fought guys with 10 fights 13 fights, 14 fights and avoided unifying his title and never,ever rematched a tough fight. Larry benefited from WBC politics and a crooked promoter. I remember Larry getting taken out on a stretcher 2X vs 5"11 Nick Wells in the height of his amateur career and getting dropped and hurt badly by Duane Bobick so with these memories and his record at avoiding I can not see any reason to think he could survive Marciano (who fought the best of his era and rematched tough fights) I can not see Larry surviving the Marciano right hand nor the follow-up ,Marciano was a good finisher

Larry showed heart and improvement in the pro ranks and was my favorite of his era but not fighting Tate,Weaver,Thomas,Dokes,Coetzee,Page or rematching Norton,Williams,Witherspoon sends a red flag.

The Tyson fight is a good indication of what would have happened vs Marciano but (right hands) IMO the stoppage would be later on in the fight....Tyson may have been shorter than Marciano and may have had an inch or 2 in reach but Marciano was a late puncher and strong willed and afraid of no one, Holmes had a more calculated career

 

Holmes TKO 14 on cuts.

 

Two predictions in a 15 round fight.

1 ) Holmes via UD ( 10-5 in rounds ) or later round TKO after round 10.

2 ) After the fight, Holmes respect for Marciano would greatly increase.

Holmes was a highly skilled and fast boxer who could in-fight or out fight. When needed he had fast feet. Larry took a heck of a shot too, and had champion level toughness.

Holmes main weakness was sometimes he was open to a right hands ( Shavers and Snipes ). Rocky has a puncher's chance is multiplied a bit because he too had a good right hand. IMO Marciano could upset Holmes and would remain dangerous until stopped or the final bell rang.

 

Holmes was no infighter. Infighting with Marciano would be a very bad decision. Only way Holmes can win is by moving. Any other way he gets steamrolled.

 

Read the extent of his facial injuries in fights,look at the photos and films.
" I couldn't avoid Louis's jabs, I just had to take them "
Rocky Marciano. And that was an ancient Louis.