Rarely-mentioned Marciano ability

I'll be damned JG...I'm having a 'can't see the forest for the trees' moment...What makes Marciano a nightmare to fight (IMO) is the fact he has no patterns to pick up on...he pressures with wide looping punches, upstairs and downstairs, compact, inside punches right down the middle...he mixes his attack up very well...and the momentum of his offense, gets him out of the way for his opponents counters alot of the time...you can't coast at all with him in the ring. It would suck to fight someone like that. It's a combination of things, JG...I can't put my finger on it...:huh clueless.

 

I know that Goldman was initially impressed that Marciano, as awkward as he appeared, got leverage on his punches, putting his whole body into them, and Goldman was always careful not to ruin this asset.

 

He also noted how Marciano didn`t care where he hit his man. Be it on the shoulders, elbows, forearms or whatnot, Rocky didn`t care where he hit you as long as he hurt his man.

 

Good one. Everything about this guy, other than maybe durabiliy and mindset, points to being a journeyman or gatekeeper. The more I read and learn about him the greater his story is. Very underrated defense too..

 

One thing all of his opponents noted, which almost never gets mentioned today, was that he was very hard to hit. Louis, Moore, Charles and other ATG boxers all said that he was very hard to hit properly; it was one thing to connect a punch to Marciano, but a whole different matter to connect properly to his chin or temple. At least some articles from the time mention this, if I remember correctly. So I'll say Marciano's defensive skill.

That or his smelly body hair and the fact that if you beat him you'd either be shot by the Mafia or slaughtered by his fans in a riot. His short height and arms, perhaps, which helped him on the inside?

 

Was it his eyes? As bad as I remember seeing his face get cut up, I can't remember a time where he had vision problems as a result of facial damage.

 

Rocky was not a great gym fighter. Some trainers of the time said Rocky had an unsual lust for the rough stuff on fight night. The type of stuff that can not be taught. Cuts, knockdowns, being down on points, losing a point from a foul, or boos from the crowd could deter many fighters, but not Rocky.

Rocky could make the other guy make a heart check on his ability to over come, and keep coming. In some flimed fights, I think Rocky took the other guy's will because his own never faltered.

IMO, this is what made him special.

 

His ability to impose his will on whoever was in front of him.

 

My guess would be the ability to break his opponents MENTALLY, that when they came out of the ring vs the rock they were never the same again.

 

Rocky was a rythym breaker, a natural,who could hit and hurt you anywhere he hit you and he made you fight in his range.and he had killer instinct...Got me thinking..