Razor Ruddock vs Rocky Marciano

Ruddock would be "too big a bite" for Marciano; figuratively and literally.

 

Correct.

Michael Spinks pretty much had a "iron" chin and never touched the canvas in 31 fights including vs sharp puncher Holmes and big puncher Cooney until he ran into a genuine elite Heavyweight puncher in Tyson.

Marciano never outboxed anybody , he outslugged smallish guys with superior conditioning while eating a ton of shots as evidenced by his face afterwards, he could not even get away from the Ghost of Joe Louis's jab.........

Ruddock does not have to find him , Marciano will walk right into Ruddocks wheel house and then it is going to be lights out eventually plus I bet Marciano's punching power is severely handicapped vs genuine talented Big guys.

Proof ? Michael Moorer, a Light Heavy KO artist , a average banger at best at Heavyweight.

Trivia, how many 185 pounds guys are currently fighting at Heavyweight ?

 

Funny enough at 6'3" and 225 lbs, some people would try to call him a "small heavyweight" if he fought today like they do with Usyk.

 

You have just illustrated why Marciano would be crushed by Ruddock.Marciano,as you have pointed out,took horrific punishment from two aging comparatively small men.
Yes Walcott and Charles were both great fighters but do you honestly think they could punch
anywhere near as hard as Ruddock ? Of course not.
By the way please don't keep digging up that tired old narrative about Marciano's heart.Of course Marciano had courage and determination but so did Ruddock !

 

This. The competition was much tougher back then, since the heavyweight division wasn’t split in half with the cruiserweight division.

Also, Marciano getting dropped by Moore and Walcott, who both dropped or stopped guys Ruddock’s size are larger doesn’t mean much. What matters is Marciano got up, recovered, and won the fights.

That said Walcott and Moore would both most likely stop Ruddock, who was often wide open to counters and not the most adaptable fighter once he got hurt. Making one too many mistakes against Walcott or Moore could result in a knockout loss for any heavyweight regardless of their size.

 

To be honest with you Ali was probably more hurt against Henry Cooper than Marciano was against Walcott or Moor.

Spoiler alert, he didn't just fold when Liston hit him, as you are extrapolating that Marciano would against Ruddock.

This means that Ali was more proven against this type of puncher, but it absolutely doesn't mean that Marciano couldn't take the punches of this type of puncher.

That is a more reasonable position.

No., but I am also not confident that it wouldn't.

 

I would say that you are greatly over valuing power and body mass as attributes.

They will not in and of themselves ensure success in any era.

Now it is all well and good saying that thee was nobody like Tyson or Lewis in Marciano's era, but there are guys like Ruddock in every era.

A fighter like Walcott is in some respects a more dangerous puncher than a man lie Ruddock.

 

I am sure that a promotor in the 50s could have found a fighter of the dimensions of Ruddock, with a solid punch, if those were the only qualifications needed for beating him.

As for his style not translating well against bigger fighters, that is only true up to a point.

He was a very good infighter, and very busy, and in some ways a bigger opponent would have played to his strengths.

 

I didn't say we know for sure Rocky folds against Ruddock. I'm saying in the frankly staggering absence of Rocky taking punches from 210+ heavies, we can't be sure he would be able to.

We can't assume Rocky could just because he was never KOd and has a decent chin facing 185-195 punchers. Do you assume any light heavyweight or cruiserweight with a good chin can survive bombs from 220+ heavies?

At least you can admit that.

Ok well guess what? The weight gap between the Rocky and Ruddock is even wider than the gap between Hagler and Foster (45+ lbs!).

Do you think Hagler's "iron chin" holds up against elite cruiserweight hitters such as Marco Huck or Qawi...?

 

Marciano was tough and rugged

 

Ruddock would be toast in the 50s

 

Sometimes it is possible for lighter men to punch harder than heavier men. For example, 190 pound Dempsey is widely touted as a harder puncher than 215 pound Muhammad Ali. In fact, Marciano is touted as a harder puncher than 215 pound Larry Holmes.

 

Joe Louis was dropped by Tami Mauriello and Jersey Joe Walcott. Would Louis be decapitated by Ruddock?