Yeah, we all know that this was a fight between a young predator and an aged, but still great, HW champion (no correction is necessary regarding this, I still consider Louis a great HW champion). One thing to consider... did Rocky really want to hit Louis? I think this fight would have ended long before it did, with a KO win for Marciano, if Marciano would have really wanted to deliver the goods to Louis. Rocky likely carried Louis a bit because he didn't want to embarass his hero... I think Rocky cried after the fight. So the question is... did Rocky just sort of let an aged Louis hang around for longer than was needed?
I don't think so. That would have been crazy considering, even old, Louis could still land the bomb @ any time.
No.This fight was the key to the big time and the "big money " for Marciano,Marciano may have liked and respected Louis ,but he loved and revered money more.
Asking Marciano to show compasion to another fighter in the ring would be like asking a bear to take a dump in the toilet.
I still think it is possible Marciano held back a little in this fight. Louis was the last guy on earth he wanted to fight and it isn't hard to see that playing into things going a little slower than they would have otherwise.
It is possible for Rocky to have had some compassion for Louis, but not likely. Louis still hit hard enough to hurt you, and Rocky still knocked him out. If he was carrying him, I would think he would have taken him the distance like Robinson did with Armstrong. That being said, I think that fight we know doesn't have much bearing on how it would have gone in both their primes. Louis was a shadow of himself. I can envision Louis knocking Rocky down early, maybe more than once, but he can't move like Walcott or Charles who saw later rounds. I think pressure gets him and The Rock gets him out of there somewhere in the mid to late rounds.
You seem to appreciate Marciano, which is cool! About the only problem I have is you thinking Rocky wouldn't have slown down a bit regarding Joe. Don't you think that crying after, and not wanting the fight before would have had at least a little impact on Marciano's mental state? If Rocky is human, you can damn sure bet it did. Rocky didn't even want to hit Louis...
If he held back, it was probably subconsciously. I think this illustrates the difference between a fighter and someone not born to it. Most of us aren't natural born fighters, so we can't really relate to battering someone when we don't want to. I don't think Rocky had that particular problem.
When Marciano got tagged by his brother Sonny in sparring he went all out to kill him Sonny had to grab him and shout in his face"Its Me Rock your brother Sonny".Marciano badly wanted the Louis fight it was the key to the title, remove Louis and he was in with Walcott.After the fight with Louis Marciano was regretful and full of praise for Louis,while the fight was on it was bombs away,as it should be.
Yes I see what you mean, instead of instead of finnishing the show earlier he gave Joe a prolonged beating causing him far more damage.
Probably an apocryphal story regarding the first part. I hardly think Marciano "badly" wanted to fight Louis........
How many "instead of" statements do you need to type? Quite the intelligent little turnip, aren't you? ****-off until you learn something about this subject... or until you learn something about the English language; whichever comes your way first.
I agree with you, because I knew he wept and apollogized to Louis after the fight, but once you start getting hit by Louis, well, noone wants to get hit by Louis for any longer than they need to. He may not have wanted to embarass Louis, if I can put it that way. My point is that he's a fighter, and once Marciano started smelling and tasting his own blood, he might not have had those feelings toward Louis on the front burner.