Rocky Marciano has a very good case for #1...

"Schmeling would still have his wins against Stribling, Uzcudun, Hamas, and his robbery against Sharkey in his second fight"

Why would any of these prove he was better than, say, Tommy Loughran, who defeated all of these men and many more.

I would challenge that Louis beat better fighters. He certainly did beat more "good" fighters. But in the end, Louis and Ali also suffered defeats. Custer won more battles than Alexander the Great, but losses also matter.

Your claim that Louis and Ali won in more impressive fashion-true, except when they didn't or when they lost.

 

Remember that I rate Marciano #3 behind Ali and Louis. But the issue on the board is can a good case be made.

That said, Moore was 38 off the census info that has been posted on this board.

I don't know how green Louis was supposed to be. He had had 54 amateur fights and 27 professional fights and had beaten two former world champions who were still in their primes, as well as quite a number of ranked contenders.

There have been plenty of reports that Louis was poorly focused and overconfident going into the Schmeling bout. I repeat my point again. You are basically giving extra credit to Louis because he lost to Schmeling by spinning Schmeling as therefore a greater fighter than the rest of his career would justify. Walcott, who you claim was over the hill, came into the Marciano bout following a victory three months earlier over Ezzard Charles. Other than Louis, whom did Schmeling defeat at any point in his career who was as good as Charles.

The Jones fight came before his layoff.

"Who did Marciano fight past his prime?"--You say Ali was past his prime in the month he turned 29. So Marciano was past his prime for both Walcott fights, the second LaStarza fight, the two Charles fights, the Cockell fight, and the Moore fight. Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

 

I still think walcott has the clear edge. walcott beat Charles 2x, ray, murray, bivins, Johnson, baksi, maxim 2x, hoff, sheppard, reddish, gomez.

honestly charles ray murray johnson and bivins alone are head and shoulders above those you mention(with the exception of sharkey)

 

:good

 

I close friend of mine was best friends with Patterson, he told me before the Ali fight that Floyd had the style to beat Ali, I looked at him like he was crazy. When I saw the fight and the punches Floyd landed with an injured back, I looked at myself and scracted my head, My Friend told me that although he felt Patterson had the stlye to beat Ali. They avoided fighting Marciano because Rocky was a solid guy took a great shot and hit too Hard for Floyd, he was the wrong style for Floyd....Floyd used to get tense in the ring, anxiety but after the Liston loses and the humility, almost like Foreman, he came back more relaxed and was able to fight good punchers like a green Quarry,Ellis(tricky but hard right hand) and Bonevena( decent clubber)...Floyd learned to relax a little like Vlad is now learning to do...sometimes it comes with age.

 

A very good case for #1? What are you talking about...he IS number 1, THE BEST EVER! You people can fantasize all you want, but facts are facts. He never lost, and he destroyed (by destroy I mean put into retirement or put in the hospital) everyone that was put in front of him. He was also smart enough to retire at the right time, unlike all the other losers (they are losers because they aren't the best, haha) you mention in this thread.

 

keep dreaming people and keep on doing your worthless crap comparisons fogey. they mean **** all when you consider all the circumstances.

 

Yeah, because we all know Marciano's the best in the history of forever!

 

at fighting good fighters under 190 pounds he certainly was

 

Very few, if any, reputable sources have ever considered Rocky Marciano the greatest heavyweight champion ever. (The 1967 computer doesn't count.) Top 5 seems to me was a more-or-less general consensus back in the '70s when I was growing up.

Never having lost in 49 pro fights is an extraordinary achievement and only the truest and purest champion at heart can accomplish such a feat.

Now, looking at his opposition, I see the pattern of Marciano's being vulnerable to being decisioned by a strong boxer or boxer/puncher. LaStarza and Walcott, though coming close, couldn't pull it off; however, this by no means seems to me the resume of the greatest heavyweight ever. A LaStarza is no Ali or even Tunney. A 37-year-old Walcott is no Louis or even Langford. It doesn't add up to say Marciano was the best, a notion probably brought on by that wonderful "0" in his loss column.

I would say with all due respect Marciano is a bit overrated, a bit overly glorified because of his undefeated record. He certainly belongs among the greatest, but, under analysis, he doesn't look the part of the most dominant champion ever. If it is wins over all-time greats we seek, Rocky's record looks brilliant: he defeated three all-time greats in Walcott, Charles and Moore, but they were 37, 33 and 39, respectively, in a time when a 32-year-old heavyweight began to feel the effects of aging at the highest level. Rocky's other defenses against Cockell and LaStarza were very good, but they simply don't show me the dominance the best heavyweight ever must show. Cockell had lost 11 times and LaStarza, no Tony Tucker just in terms of physical equipment, lasted into the 11th round in this rematch.

Just in terms of dominance and skill demonstrated in the ring, not just fighting heart, I would say Ali showed a better level of both in his pre-exile reign, never having been cut or floored as Marciano was, over 9 defenses.

And with the advent of mammoth 'roided heavyweights, I think it unrealistic to believe the cruiserweight-light Marciano could finish them all off.

Rocky Marciano was great, even very great, but certainly not the greatest.

 

Not only that, he beat washed-up fighters really well too so back at you!

 

So you mean it's better for a fighter to be floored in his prime? Like Marciano was, against a LHW.

Which punchers did Marciano meet that was even remotely close to Liston, Foreman and Shavers in power?

When Floyd met Ali for the first time he was to fight at a world class level for another 7 years. How long did Walcott stay active at that level after losing to Marciano? And Moore was LHW champ, never HW champ.

I don't see why that era should seen as less competitive than Marciano's. Probably more or less the same.

Yeah, it's really lucky for Klitschko and all the other big guys that the 185 lbs fighters are all stuck at cruiserweight, nowadays.

 

He fought Ancient Archie, who has the most knockouts in history....and what happened to Archie? Thats right, Rocky beat the **** outta him. He also fought Joe Louis, the BEST heavyweight puncher ever.....and what happened to Joe? He got his **** ruined right through the ropes into retirement.

 

Actually it makes a lot of sense. Because Ali got his ass whooped by Rocky in their computer fight

You guys just face it. All this frustration will stop when you accept the fact that Rocky Marciano is the Greatest.

 

Are you ****ing insane?