Rocky Graziano - Do you think is fair to consider him just average....

Hell of a finisher. And I'll wait for Burt.

 

His wars are what made him. A very good fighter but would always lose to the true elites.

 

If you have one major, truly elite trait, have been the true champion of a division, have earned it by cutting down a significant opponent, have been taken seriously as a contender before and after, have floored the general consensus GOAT, have a good resume of wins, are a double-HOFer, you still may not be great, but you cannot be written off as average. That is not fair, to me. If you want to say he's not great, fine with me, I'm there with you, I think. If you want to say he's no elite boxer among HOFers, he isn't, that's true. But, yeah, he's a very good total package. No less than that, in my opinion. He didn't get into the HOF just because he's a fun, big name of his time. He was a fun, big name of his time because he was a serious fighter that forced serious fights against other serious fighters and sometimes crushed them. Truly, a lot of average fighters have standout, elite, major qualities, big power, big speed, amazing chin, but they can't put themselves into a regular position to make it count for anything. Graziano did. He had the will and wherewithal to deliver his elite trait like a sumbitch, on some very good fighters. He made his gift count.

 

Rocky Graziano was good. He took what he had and made it work. Great power, was awkward and had a big heart. Rocky had pretty decent speed for a slugger as well. He was effectively wild like Nolan Ryan.

He could be outboxed but a guy could never afford to relax or fall asleep against him because as Gil Clancy once said "he would be dangerous if he was fallng down".

 

I love Brawlers and Slugger types but I'm not crazy about Graziano, i know brawlers aren't supposed to have much finesse but he looked like a drunk tripping over his own feet trying to land that one bomb that started in California and landed (if at all) in Maine. He didnt have an Iron chin either which is a big trait with brawlers (at least to me) in my book you have to be able to give it AND take it. Unlike for example Tommy Morrison

 

I always think Stanley Ketchel would be the Rocky Graziano 2.0. The wildness, lack of defense, aggression and love to fight.

Rocky was a good fighter. No one wins a title without having skill and talent, and he beat some legit names in his career. Was he great? I doubt it, maybe with better training and more focus on defense and boxing than just setting up the one punch he could have been.

A legendary fighter, but not a great fighter.

 

Hya LR. Tis a pleasure to discuss non-political bullcrap so prevelant lately
on ESB...As posted before, I saw Rocky Graziano ringside from a prelim boy to
his fights with Tony Zale...Rocky was best at 154 pounds, and would be a threat to anyone for he had a grenade for a right hand and fought like a man posessed...Was he a great fighter. ? No, but he was very strong for his size and was always a danger for any opponent...Julian Jackson's name was mentioned as similar to Rocky...Maybe so, in great punching power, but the greatest fight of Rocky's career was against the Julian Jackson of his time, a Philly knockout artist named Billy Arnold who was called 'the new Joe louis ", who flattened about 43 of 45 bouts..I saw that fight at MSG and Rocky was an 8-1 underdog...Well Rocky took a battering in the first round { Rocky was OPEN ,but he had a strong set of whiskers],and
Billy Arnold hit like JJ, but Rocky took all those blasts until the second round when he unloaded his right hand on Billy Arnold's chin and soon kod Arnold...This fight made Rocky Graziano, a great ring attraction and a force to be reckoned with..I then saw rocky against a neighbor of mine Harold Green who flattened Joey Giardello in 6 rds later on in 1950...Green
out fought Rocky for a decision 2 times, but Rocky kod Green the last time they fought...So in answer to the question ,was Graziano a "great fighter"
I would say No because he was too open, had no defense to speak of , but
he had a great powerful right hand, was vicious in his attack, had loads of courage, and all these qualities would make him a threat to anyone at
Rocky's best...In a street fight I'd take Rocky over anyone of his weight..
Not a truly great fighter, but still the most exciting fighter I ever saw
when he was coming up...Cheers...

 

Rocky wasn't average ta anyone he tagged on the chin.

 

he was an extraordinary brawler with excellent power, he had quite a few flaws but a lot of strengths, power,heart,action

 

He was well managed and kept away from the best of his time while picking on smaller men until he got his shot at a past prime Zale who he went 1-2 against

No average fighter but not 1 of the best of his era and very much protected

 

Graziano wad greatly under rated...A hard puncher ..great heart and he fought alot of great fighter....Dude was an animal period

 

I agree 100%

He was manufactured. Put him in with LaMotta, Burley, Williams, Robinson, Cerdan, and a whole lot of other guys and he loses a lot more than he wins, if he wins any.

He managed to only win one out of three against Zale who was pretty well past his prime at that point and being heavily protected himself.

 

A very well known slugger of the late 1940s middleweight division. Predictable. Poor skills. Above average, but definitely I wouldn't call him the best of his era.