Marciano vs. Carnera 15 Rds.

carnera was over 6'5" tall i believe,i have a pic of rocky marciano standing alongside of the wrestler yukon eric who was 6'2" tall and well over 300 and i'll tell you marciano is a very small man

 

Rocco and Russell have quite the rivalry going...reminds when CM Clay and Luigi used to go at it in almost every thread.

Yeah, I agree with Suzie here. The small, nimble fighters like Charles and Walcott were the type to give Marciano trouble. A large, slow target like Carnera is really just waiting to get hit.

 

Big Bums don't keep getting up when they are smashed to the floor by hitters of the caibre of Max Baer,but brave men try to.I'd like to see you take a couple of Baer's overhand rights Sister.Eleven rounds is a long time to have the **** punched out of you without quitting.

 

On the flip side of the coin Baer had a 81" reach which enabled him to close the distance better when he was given an opening for his right hand.

Carnera is going to get ground down eventualy here but it might not be as tidy as some people think.

 

Advocating for Carnera is the challenge here, so that's what I'll be aiming for. I would never want to be working Norton's corner against Frazier, as that would seem to be a no-win situation, with Ken's cross-armed defense and height leaving him wide open to Joe's hook downstairs. But working for Primo against Rocky offers some interesting possibilities.

First of all, if I was Primo, I'd insist on a 24'X24' ring, so I could capitalize on the obscene reach advantage I had. Carnera may have had the slowest hands of any heavyweight champion, but Rocky may have had the slowest feet. As big as Primo's feet were, his mobility was not bad, and I haven't seen any footage of him tripping over them. (Even with a fractured ankle against Baer, his movement isn't totally horrendous. If Carnera's ankle had not been fractured in the course of taking an early knockdown, then he would have lasted the distance with Baer. Nor would he have been dropped as many times as he was.)

If Rocky came within hitting distance, Carnera would need to use his height and physical strength for defensive purposes. Primo had experience taking on opponents as small as Marciano, while Rocky had none dealing with somebody of Carnera's size.

Could Primo force Rocky backwards, as Rex Layne failed to do, or was Marciano too strong, with his lower center of gravity?

Boxing is largely a matter of hitting without being hit in return. Carnera had the height, reach and jab to do that. Marciano had very badly underrated handspeed, and his overhand right could be as handy against Primo as it was with Vingo, another tall heavyweight. Carnera could take punishment to the body well, but he never faced anybody who delivered it like Rocky could.

While Carnera could be decked, keeping him down was another matter. Sharkey dropped him with a massive hook in their first meeting which he bounced back up from almost instantly (before alertly taking a knee to smartly obtain the benefit of a full count). Baer never came close to putting him down for a full count, and Gene Tunney rated the first right hand he decked Primo with as one of the two hardest right hands of the half century (along with the cross Louis put out Braddock with). Louis himself failed to keep him down for ten, and it was the referee who rescued him, hanging on the ropes. He decisioned Jim Maloney with a cracked rib.

Paolino Uzcudun was the same size as Marciano, had tremendous physical strength, and Carnera decisioned him twice.

Both Carnera and Marciano could play rough. Neither were choirboys. But Primo might be able to do it from a distance, backhanding and elbowing, while possibly keeping Rocky too far away to nail a low blow in retaliation. Carnera could wear down an opponent, and possessed good conditioning for a long haul. There wouldn't be any wearing down of Rock, as we all know.

Carnera might be well advised to try opening up Marciano's face. Might he be able to go the distance with Rocky? Louis feasted on other opponents his size, as did Dempsey. Although Marciano may well have been able to do likewise, he never had a consistent opportunity to do this. His short reach posed obvious handicaps against boxers not too terribly larger than himself. Primo would have outreached him by half a foot with each arm, an awesome advantage to possess. (To put this in perspective, Tommy Hearns had about 50% of the reach advantage over his shortest armed welterweight opponents that Carnera would have had over Rocky.)

The potential for some surprising intrigue is there.

 

Ive read that people who met marciano in real life was alot bigger than he seemed, that he was not that small. of course anyone standing next to a 300lb man would look small

 

theres short clip on youtube of marciano fighting a 6'4 young prospect carmine vingo, rockys short reach didnt prevent him from reaching up and putting much taller vingo into a coma

 

why late Kayo? louis knocked him out in 6, baer in 11, the pre 1953 slugger version of marciano who started out fast and strong finished his top opponents most in under 8 rounds. Leroy Haynes a good black fighter and finisher put out carnera in 3 rounds......i dont see why marciano cant do the same

 

A HUGE target for The Rock...too much power...stamina...and heart for Primo
to overcome...Marciano by KO in round 5...