Prime Joe Louis vs Rocky Marciano?

Rocky would not back down but prime Joe Louis beats him up really badly. Again, I rank Rocky very high on my ATG list because of what he accomplished. I also think there are multiple people who would beat him down in head to head confrontations. And I don’t think the two statements are at odds.

 

He was obviously inconsistent, which is not the same as losing fights. IT would hav ecost him more against Marciano than it did against Galento, Braddock, or Buddy Baer.

 

Your definition is nonsensical.Louis was fighting every month ,so some performances were not as good as others.Louis was knocked down by Galento ,Braddock, and Baer,but got up unruffled to dominate and stop them.

Marciano, fighting once or twice a year , was knocked down by 38 years old Walcott ,and 41 years old Moore, he admitted he blacked out against Moore and headed for the ropes expecting to receive a standing count which was waved for title fights.
Wouldn't it have cost him more if a prime Louis had been standing waiting to finish him when he got up?

Was Marciano inconsistant?

 

Louis KO in 8. Marciano is too hittable & slow of foot. Louis beats him to the punch more times than not, busting him up & eventually taking him out.

 

Oh Lord ! Not this again. Twenty five year old Louis parks little, short armed, wide open Rocky in the ringside seats inside four rounds. Que Italian Americans with no knowledge of Boxing whatsoever reacting like I have committed sacrilege.

 

Marciano still be undefeated, having "found away to win" those 7 fights

 

Did any fighter dance away when in trouble?

 

I rank Joe Louis #1 on my all time list because I consider him the best Heavyweight ever. I believe he would have beaten Rocky Marciano, prime vs. prime.

Rocky was never stopped but he was knocked down twice. Joe was stopped twice and knocked down ten times. In this fantasy fight I would not at all be surprised to see both of them knocked down at least one time each. I am going with Joe Louis by decision, in a modern type twelve round fight, in fairly close scoring, possibly by a Majority Decision. We could see Joe down twice and Rocky once in this, thereby keeping the scoring close.

Reading the comments on this site after watching such a fight would be very entertaining!

 

Pastor in the second round of the rematch got on his bike, moving laterally to offset Joe.
The other movers had their wind knocked out of them when Louis got them hurt so dancing was not an option (Ramage, Conn and Walcott).

 

Maybe they needed music to dance

 

Their corners should have brought a mandolin.

 

This is going to always be an interesting fight. People who downgrade Marciano by claiming he fought
"old men" don't recognize that some of them fought the fights of their lives against Marciano and still
lost (Walcott, Charles, even Moore). Second please look at ALL the fighters Louis fought and tell me which one
would Marciano not have been favored to beat. Answer - NONE.
Rocky will always present problems for Louis. His edges are he can take a better punch, and no one had his
endurance. Contrary to popular belief (as with Frazier) he was harder to hit than most people think,
fighters who fight out of a crouch and move their head are not easy to hit.
Louis will always present problems for Rocky, his ring generalship, his assortment of boxing skills,
his jab (when he can land it) would have troubled Rocky. But he had those skills when he fought Marciano
(although not at his peak) and as he said afterward "the Rock doesn't know a lot about the boxing book...but
what he landed was a whole lot of haymakers".
The way I see it when you put two great fighters who are punchers together you have to factor in 2 main things.
1) Who can take a better punch 2) Who has more endurance
I think Marciano had the edge. That doesn't mean Louis can't win he can. Any of the all-time greats can win
on a given night against any of the others. But in this matchup I trust Rocky's chin more than Louis and if they trade
bombs for several rounds I think Louis's tires faster at that pace.

 

Putting Uzcudun, Baer and braddock in the same sentence as Marciano is not sensible.

I put Joe over Rocky in any top 10, but H2H Rocky will usually but not always win. His defense was a hell of a lot better than some people think. If Schmeling could KO Joe, so could Rocky. But Joe. ould drop a bomb on Rocky as well.

I don't see a clear favorite here. I could see a win by either guy. 50/50.

 

You asked who Louis fought who would be favoured to beat Marciano. How about a Walcott in his prime, instead of the fading one who went within a whisker of beating Marciano anyway?

As for the fight, Louis in eight rounds on cuts. This fight is a massacre. I don’t think the Bomber misses a single punch. Completely different class of fighter to Marciano.

 

Uzcudun was the oldest fighter Louis fought, at 36 years old. Louis destroyed him in 4 rounds, giving him the only knockout of his career.
A 36 year old Uzcudun would have been right at home amongst Rocky's very best wins had he fought him.
There is a gulf of quality between Louis and Marciano, and there is no reason to think Rocky should be a favorite.
Louis has fought harder hitters, more durable men and better boxers. The only unique thing Marciano brings to the table is stamina, but the beating Rocky will have to endure will take the wind out of him.
Using Schmeling here to prove a point about Rocky just doesn't work. These are two completely different fighters and their fights against Louis show this clearly.

Schmeling used brilliant boxing and a lightning right hand to catch Louis between his jabs and hooks. He then used superb timing and distancing to prevent Louis's counters and keep himself in position to attack while minimizing damage received.
Rocky on the other hand barreled straight into Louis, ate the jab face first and brought his right overhand as Louis couldn't move out of the way. Louis realized this and for several rounds he jabbed at Rocky and moved backwards to avoid Rocky's swings. He lost because his legs were so shot he couldn't move his body after a few rounds. After Rocky closed in there was nothing Louis could do to him given his lack of punching power so Marciano could just dish out punishment until the referee broke them and put distance between them.
Louis dodged more Marciano right hands in 4 rounds then he did in 13 rounds against Max.