Marciano beating Joe Louis

Agreed. I like Holmes, such an arsehole but great value none the less, especially when you get to the core of him. I think among people of his own choice he'd be a decnet guy, as Bill attests.

 

Heavily favorite Louis got KO'd big time by Max Schmeling. He was knocked down and hurt many times in his career, and light-heavyweight Billy Conn gave Louis all he could handle for 13 rounds in 1941 when Louis was in his prime. Louis is one of the greatest ever but I'd bet on Marciano in the time machine match.

 

I think he would have got on well with a lot of his fans, including me, if he would have just toned things down a little.

The way it stands, he said what he said, all of us are responsible for our actions/words. If he is held down by history because of his mouth, that's the way it is - he said what he said.

I'll always respect him as a fighter much more so than I'll ever respect him as a person... even though I think he is a great deal different today than he once was.

 

I can't argue with much of that mate.

 

Larry just needs to know he was one of the greatest HW champs, bar none! At least that is the way I've always seen him... minus a comment of his or two

 

A few odds and ends. I think this is Marciano's best overall performance, which should not be confused with most significant victory! Rocky looked a bit quicker and more on the ball vs Louis than any of his other matches on film.

This was not the old brown bomber of old. Louis had lost his snap and power, but he was on a winning streak and became more technical oriented with age.

Louis had trouble vs swarming type of fighters on film, and said he hated to be crowded in the ring. He also hinted he would not have beaten Rocky in his prime.

While the ending was sad for Louis, I have a different view. Louis opted to take the warrior's path. He took a bad styles match up vs a young slugger. Louis did not quit. He was game until the very end.

 

I dont think Louis was Marciano's best showing on film. I give that honor to either the first Walcott fight, the first or 2nd Charles fights or perhaps the Archie Moore fight. Marciano was still green there, and would impove as time went on since the Louis fight.

 

Those were flash knockdowns that did not hurt Rocky. Louis got knocked down quite a few times in his career. Some people
don't understand that rocky was still learning in the Louis fight. Also, people don't understand that he was very different than most fighters due to his will, always throwing punches, never tiring throughout the whole fight & dictating the pace throughout his whole career. He was pure business in the ring, had no fear & was never hurt in the ring. His only fear was losing! Louis himself said prime for prime it would be a very tough fight. For people to say Rocky would get knocked out, by any fighter, is pure speculation. :yep

 

Good point about Rock Vs. Louis. IMO Rocky improved quite a bit after that fight. So you have two guys, one not quite entering his best in Rock, and one going down the backside of the mountain peak in Louis. So both were not @ their peaks, although I honestly think Louis was farther away than Rock, but how far is the great question for me.

The other night watched Rock vs. Charles #I on you tube again the other night. Watch Rock in the 15th round. I didn't count the punches, but it looked like about 100 and he was throwing heavy and he was landing. I was impressed. He had serious stamina.

 

After reviewing Marciano's fights, I have decided that he is very underrated!

 

Agreed, and the more they are viewed the better he looks

 

Rocky was on his way up..Louis was on his way down...the mantle has to be passed..it's happened all throughout the history of boxing...it's nothing new...

 

Somtimes I think Marciano did Louis a favour because he killed any notion in his mind that he could ever regain the title.

If Louis had carried on beating fighters like Bivins he would just have taken more damage and sooner or later he would have fought Walcott who would have crucified him.

 

How old was Archie Moore when Marciano beat him? Just saw Patterson getting some stick for beating ONLY an OLD Archie Moore. But Marciano seems to get great credit. I'm confused

 

Moore was 38-39 when Marciano fought him. Patterson fought Moore him a little more than a year after that, so that would mean the Archie Moore who fought Patterson was more than 50 years old in boxing years, 40 + 10 years added for the beating Marciano put on him.