You think Marciano beat them with skill? "Marciano got me with sheer bulldoggedness he wore me down." Archie Moore. "Marciano is a street fighter, an amateur ". Jersey Joe Walcott "Marciano was what I figured ,a street brawler".Joe Louis
You can either hit or you can't.Mac Foster ,Cleveland Williams , and Ron Lyle were heavy duty punchers.How many top men did they ko.Ditto Ernie Shavers, Jose Urtain,Roy Williams,Curtess Sheppard,Yvon Durelle. Possessing power is one thing, having the ability to land it is another. Lyle had a relatively brief amateur career and didn't turn pro until he was 30,he was essentially learning on the job.
David Haye was handily beaten by the best big men he faced. He didn't come close to dominating the division.
Also I am under the impression that cruiserweights like fighters in other weight classes dry out before fights and frequently enter the ring 220+. That would make them heavier fight time than Ali Holmes etc
Well if David Haye didn't dominate what chance would poor old Ali, Foreman and Holmes have? He had big muscles too.
You didn't specify dominated the division this is what you said. "It's been more than 20 years since an Ali sized heavyweight reached the top of the division" Haye held a version of the title within the last 20 years ,winning it from a guy who outweighed him by about100lbs and who stood a foot taller.
Holding a belt doesn't put you at the top of division in an era with numerous beltholders. Wladimir demonstrated his superiority over Haye in compelling fashion.
The fact that its been 21+ years and no Ali sized heavyweight has reached the top seems like pretty damning evidence. This has never happened before ever it seems the big guys are here to stay.
In Foremans 70s heyday fighters who were 240+ never made it into the top ten ever whereas now they fill the top 10 the dramatic difference in success also seems like pretty compelling evidence of improvement.
The point is the big heavyweights were overwhelmingly removed from contention. Marciano wanted a Valdez fight but 6'3 Nino lost 2 fights convincingly in 1955, one to 5'11 Archie Moore (2nd loss to Moore) then losing to 5"10 183lb Bob Satterfield (dropped for a 9 count in the 10th) Marciano fought his number 1 contender 5 out of 6 times only Kockel was #2nd after Marciano split nose fight vs Charles. Big guys like 6'2 Baker was beaten by (Moore KO 8) and Bob Satterfield (KOin 1) Valdez was beaten by 5"10 182lb Harold Johnson, 5"11 Archie Moore & 5'10 184lb Bob Satterfield. So my point was the better men were the smaller men should Marciano fought the BEST or the Biggest. I think for the most part he fought the best ( Marciano did Ko tall & Heavy men) Marciano was looking for fight 50 and 44th KO but when Valdez lost his 2nd shot at a possible bout when he was dominated by Satterfield that fight was not marketable and Satterfield was already KO'd in 2 by Charles & Ko'd by Moore among others the biggest were not the best and Marciano fought the best
Who says Marciano expressly wanted Valdes I've never read that? I repeat what other fighters did has no bearing on what Marciano did or might do.I'm not suggesting Marciano ducked anyone Im simply sayig he was never proven against young 200+ class heavyweights it wasn't his fault its just a fact.
During Hayes time at heavyweight Wladimir Klitschko was generally considered the best heavyweight in the world and then Tyson Fury and then Anthony Joshua
I said he was 185 lb when he fought Bonavena but after Bonavena fought at weights like 178 against Chuck Leslie, 185 when he fought Miguel Angel Paez, 179 ,182, he fought Foreman & Lyle at 195 and 197 & beat Urtain at 192 but he fought Herbert Wick at 184 after the 1st Foreman fight so my point is at 6' ft Peralta was still sometimes fighting in the just above lightheavyweight division to the todays Cruiserweight division under 200lbs
