And don't get me wrong, Tua was a hell of a FIGHTER but let's not make it seem like he couldn't be outboxed. He was a brawler plain and simple, with an all-time great left hook. If you use that criteria to determine whether someone could BOX , Morrison was the best boxer of the last 20 years.
There is some truth to that, however I don't see how you can conclude that Rocky would beat Rahman handily by reasoning that he couldn't box. Rocky had no where near Tua's power, aggressiveness and chin. And Rahman was handling him with ease. Marciano would have to knock him out to win. He's not going to outbox him.
I think the Holyfield-Rahman fight might be some indication on how Marciano would have done against him.
I think satterfield v baker is a fair indication of marciano v Bruno [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG8kmOgjSPY[/ame]
Tua might have had more single punch power, not really an accurate guage for that sort of thing, however "agressiveness" is preposterous. Tua was a turtle that was contempt with being outboxed in his shell until his power could hopefully bail him out. Even at his best against Ike, he gave away half the fight before even trying to put anything together, as he got lazier you saw efforts like Lewis, Byrd, and Rahman II where he showed absolutely no urgency. Marciano was a true swarmer, that applied constant effective pressure, capable of beating fighters like Charles on points.
In addition to being sturdier, I'm conviced Marciano probably hit harder than Satterfield. Charles and Layne took great shots from him but crumbled early when Maricano got to their chin.
Do you mean Satterfield? I'd say that Satterfield was the more dangerous puncher in the early rounds. He had Charles in trouble in round 1 while it took Marciano quite a while before he began to get to Charles in the late rounds. Layne was dropped in round 1 against Satterfield and stunned in most of the other rounds while Marciano took out a tiring Layne in the 6th.
Typo, Satterfield. :good Maricano dropped Charles early in the rematch with a short right that had him badly hurt and on the retreat for the rest of the fight, eventually stopping him. Charles was sharper and more cautious in their initial fight, he didn't want to go another 15 around, added more muscle and tried to counter more aggressively like he did to take Satterfield out. Rocky had trouble finding his range because of Layne's surprising early smothering tactics, he didn't land his best punch until the 6th, he may have been tiring but the punch took out his teeth and stopped him cold. Satterfield shocked Layne in that first round, and got to him clean throughout the fight but was unable to finish him before getting stopped himself. I can't see Layne taking that many clean shots from Rocky and ending the fight on his feet. Overall, I do think the quicker and more aggressive Satterfield was a faster starter.
As far as punching power is concerned there is no "might" about. And if you truly believe that Rocky can be anywhere near as aggressive against Ike as Tua was I have nothing else to say.
I think Charles was damaged goods in the rematch. Was anyone ever the same after fighting Marciano? Maybe the man in your avatar but that's about it. Walcott was done, Louis was done, LaStarza was done, Cockell, Vingo, Layne... Satterfield had great hitting power but otherwise he was chinny, wild in his attack, didn't have great stamina nor was he physically very strong. With one punch he seemed to his as hard as any man despite being under-sized for a heavyweight.
Charles was mentally damaged goods because he was forced to adapt a riskier approach out of the fear of going 15 with Marciano again. I would agree, Satterfield's power was freakish. Like a smaller Shavers, except with better wins, beyond his big knockouts he did scare Valdes and Johnson into decision loses, forcing them to run from his power.
-There is always a "might." -Tua just wasn't as aggressive as the Frazier, Dempsey, and Marciano type swarmers. He was very indifferent against boxers like Ike, Izon, Oleg, and Rahman before rallying to stop them. His efforts against Byrd, Rahman II, and Lewis were just embarressing, strong boxers but he didn't give them much to sweat about either.