Marciano vs. Walcott - Why is Marciano faulted...

The point that has always stood above this double-edged question is in Walcott's performance.

Our expectations of fighters deemed 'shot', 'past-prime', or 'sliding' in accordance to their capabilities certainly do not match the kind of fight 'Jersey' Joe gave the Rock.

Marciano shut the lid on Walcott's box of tricks for good.

 

Walcott was one of those fighters for whom it was difficult to nail down his "absolute prime" as such, despite being a very good fighter when at his best he was just terribly inconsistent at times (his losses sprinkled evenly through his entire career).

What he was is that rare example of a 'serene' late developer, who seemed to improve with age. When 'on it' he was a sight to behold and would prove a match for many.

 

I think that between the first Louis fight and the Marciano fight Walcott might have lost a little physicaly but at the same time improved some aspects of his game such as ofense.

To be honest I dont really know whether Walcott was at his best when he fought Marciano.

What I do know is that that version of Walcot would have beaten a lot of champions.

 

Very good points, especially the 1st one. :good

 

Considering the fact he nearly beat the only undefeated HW champ in history proves this to be a "no brainer."

 

Dont know why the Walcott fight should be used against Marciano. No one uses say Ali Fraizer 1 against Joe Fraizer for his greatness or even Jimmy Young vs Foreman or something like that.

I belive the way the fight play out should be used for Marciano as a great fighter, this fight answer some questions about the Rock never been answer before,

1, how he would react to being knockdown
2, His chin vs a puncher(And Walcott can punch when he was ON)
3, How he do in a 15 rounder(Ok it went 13 rounds lol)
4, how would the Rock far against a master boxer OVER the levels of say Kid Matthews so to speak.
5, Marciano's heart, how would he do if things were NOT going his way.

Lets say Marciano pass with flying colors. Walcott also was pretty much ON here also. He let open with combos, floor Marciano, show great boxing skill, even had the Rock reeling and hurt in round 11. SHOT fighters dont do that.

 

I don,t think Walcott at 37 was in his prime,imo he was just past it ,he was at his best against Louis,its just that his style and Rocky,s lack of it emphasised how cute Walcott was,Jersey Joe lost a hard fought 13 rounder by ko was never in the rematch ko1 and promptly retired ,I think he knew he was gone.Of course Marciano ruined a lot of fighters ,so that may be a factor,but I think Walcott ,like Charles and Moore was on the downslide,I dont buy this "Moore had a lot more wins argument",that just proves to me how much greater he was in his prime,rather like Sam Langford ,belting out Heavyweights when he was fat and half blind,Moore himself said he had no legs against Marciano.It could be argued ,and often is that Marcianos best wins were over men past their prime ,but thats the nature of the sport,age must give way to youth ,not Rocky,s fault.

 

It's really a shame Walcott did not get the financial backing he needed when he was a much younger man. The ability was always there. The same and energy to train properly was not. Walcott had a wife and several kids to support. He was working 60 to 80 hours a week as a union truck driver in Camden, New Jersey AND trying to train for a fight when he could get one. A lot of his early loses were just a case of him gasing out for lack of conditioning. Although he was always a marvelous physical specimen. He was even brought in as a sparring partner for Joe Louis around 1936 or so. Jersey Joe made the Brown Bomber look silly in their sessions and was summarily dismissed. This was a man with a heart of gold who was loved by both friend and foe. Marciano would often call Walcott and offer him the speaking engagements that he could not keep. He was often overbooked and Walcott was happy to fill in and get a nice amount of money for this. Walcott admitedly wept when he heard Rocky had perished in a plane crash in 1969.

 

Bear in mind that Walcott had beefighting profesional for decades, had many setbacks, and had always been motivated by that heavyweight crown just outside his reach.

After the two Marciano fights Walcott had made his pile, knew he was only going to go downhill and had achieved his dream of being world champion. Most champions loose a little focus after they have won the title.

Perhaps he just decided to get out with his health rather thantake fights agains world class oponents for ever diminishing returns.

 

IMO on film Walcott's footspeed decreased in the Marciano fight. it was considerably better in '47 when he fought Louis, which I think was his real prime.

 

I tend to agree.

Having said that he did improve some aspects of his game post Louis such as offense.

 

Walcott was easily winning their first bout until the KO so I think it is a fair assumption to say that he was more than capable up to that point in time. In the 2nd bout he was quickly destroyed, so it is a fair assumption to say that the KO punch in the 1st bout was the point at which his career suddenly hit a wall. Before that KO it appeared that Walcott would have still been more than capable. Sometimes one punch is all it takes particularly from someone like Marciano. Just My Opinion.

 

Good post. I also thought Walcott looked better in the Louis match. People lose speed and reflexes by the time they hit their 30s and Walcott was well into his by this point. Those attributes were a big part of Walcott's game and if they slip...he slips. While Walcott was still a top fighter he wasn't in his prime.

 

Marciano has set backs, Al refuse to train him when the Rock first started, a Manager that thown in a 3-0 Marciano vs a 26-0 Eddie Ross.
The bad Back that put him out of action for half a year, The he was 2 small to amount to anything. Though it all, Marciano battle the odds and came out on top.

He failed at Baseball also. Most White guys could relate to Marciano, as most black guys could relate to Ali.

 

Oh yeah and the human angel was there,

Being down, blinded and behind points vs Walcott.

The first blood bath with Charles 1 and over coming the cut nose in Charles 2(Which Ali or Fraizer never suffer) or bulling his way pass Archie Moore after being drop in round 2.