Prime Marciano vs. 36 year old Holyfield

Marciano

 

Marciano
Probably by knockout.

 

Interesting matchup

Holyfield at 36 was showing noticable signs of deterioration in the areas of reflexes, power, and stamina in the later rounds. He also didn't seem to show as much enthusiasm as he did in his earlier days against Dokes, Stewart, Douglas and Bowe. Neverthless, he was still very competitive and managed to win fragments of the title and took a very formidable Lewis the distance, then split a 3 fight series with John Ruiz later.

Marciano in 1951, was begining to get the attention of a lot of fans and experts. He had won all of his professional fights, and by this time was around 28 years old? He had some good learning experiences and defeated some very good fighters particularly in Roland Lastarza and Rex Layne. Rocky had demonstrated that he was not only a one of a kind puncher, but a durable fighter who could go the distance and come back when behind on points. Additionally, he had a swarming style that few heavyweights had ever truly employed, that would later be emulated by such fighters as Joe Frazier and Mike Tyson.

THE MATCHUP

By this point in his career, Evander Holyfield had already demonstrated that he could handle fighters who lowered their center of gravity and moved in close to try and crowd their opponents. Mike Tyson and Burt Cooper were examples of such fighers. In additon, he showed that he was still capable at age 36 of going the distance and taking hard shots from world class heavyweights, while returning the favor where he could. Marciano was a very formidable opponent and would have been a threat to Evander at his advanced age. Marciano however, was still in the learning process of his career, and even when he peaked later against the Walcotts and Charles' of the world would still struggle to beat older men. What's more, he would likely be facing a slightly larger and stronger fighter in Holyfield than that of Walcott, Charles or Louis. Rocky was deadly on the inside, but Evander had shown numerous times that he could neutralize the inside attacks of the shorter swarmer types. He also had the upper body strength to wrestle with Marciano in the clinches that Louis might not have had in 1951. Antother small factor is that Holyfield had a rather accurate and solid left hook-a punch that commonly troubled marciano. It also usually took a much larger boxer/puncher type to get the better of Holyfield even at a later age. Lastly, I see quite a bit of clashing of heads in this matchup, weather intentional or accidental. If such an occurence were to happen, Marciano would likely get the shorter end of the stick, and possibly sustain one or multiple cuts.

I make no convictions about who takes this one, but my inclination is to go with Holyfield by a razor thin decision in a 10 or 12 round fight. If the bout was scheduled for 15, I might give the edge to Marciano, because by age 36 it had been quite some time since Holyfield had gone to such lengths.

 

that's some good analysis, however Charles was much younger then Evander and Walcott trickier overall.

 

They say that all being equal a fight generaly goes to the person who wants it the most.

This would be the first time that either man had been in with sombody who wanted it as much as them.

I would expect to see something intense.

 

Why I think Holyfield wins a UD

Strength/Size - 217lbs of ripped muscle versus 180lbs of ripped muscle - Holyfield can back Marciano up, push him back in clinches

Reach/Height - 78inch versus 68? 6'2 versus 5'11

Jabbing - Holyfield can jab Marciano from range easily, if Marciano moves inside the bigger Holy can push him back

Speed - Holyfields greater speed & reach means he can beat Marciano to the punch most of the night

High workrate - not as high as prime or as high as MArcianos but Holyfield had a higher workrate than Marciano was used to from his opponents. It would be quality versus quantity with Marciano throwing more and landing less

Power - Holyfield had very good power, maybe a bigger puncher than Marciano had taken - thats up for debate

Movement - Holyfield is the better mover and boxer.

Holyfield wouldn't have it all his all way and Marcianos relentless assaults would get him some rounds. 8-4 Holyfield UD or 9-6 in a 15rounder

 

Marciano- KO, easily. Holyfield at this age couldn´t go succesfully the pace Rocky went...

 

The X factor here is Holyfield's head. Marciano's face was prone to cuts, and if there is one thing you can count on in a Holyfield fight it's that he's gonna be dishing out some head lovin' :good

 

Is everything race BS with you? As far as I'm concerned you should get kicked from the forum

 

I don't remember these physical advantages helping Holyfield very much for his matchup with teeny, weeny little Bobby Czyz who was 16 years and 6 losses into his pro career, and normally operated as a Light Heavy.

Granted Holyfield won, but how did the fight pan out? What actually happened when they stepped in the ring? The fight stats do not tell the whole story. I remember how surprised everyone was at how awful Holyfield looked against such as small, over the hill, limited opponent who was shot and right at the end of his career.

Your analysis is naive. There is so much more to boxing than one guy being taller and having longer arms than another.

We could just do a tale of the tape and leave it at that. Then noone would ever get hurt.

Greatest boxer of all time? Arnold Schwarzenegger, obviously. I mean, have you seen how big his guns were in 'Pumping Iron.'

1996 Czyz is not even 5% the fighter Marciano was.

 

Marciano by KO.

 

I actualy think that the cruiserweight Holyfield would have a better chance against Marciano than the heavyweight version.

The atributes he will really need here are workrate, speed and stamina not strength.

 

Excellent analysis, although I'd give Marciano a good shot at winning the last 3 rounds in a 15 rounder to win. In a 12 rounder, I don't think Holyfield's stamina would be a problem: he tired when big men like Lewis, Foreman and Bowe pushed him around, not when fighting boxers 35 lbs lighter.