Rocky Marciano Interview on Muhammad Ali vs Cleveland Williams

Nice.

I like Rocky and at least in that moment when it might not have been so appropriate to discuss the subject of “who wins”, I liked the way he averted being dragged into a discussion as to how he would fare against Ali.

Of course Rocky would’ve believed he could catch up with Muhammad. Any ATG worth his salt wouldn’t (and shouldn’t) think any other way.

Supreme confidence is a must.

 

Rocky was great. Humble and hard hitting.

 

Rocky always came over as a very humble gentleman.
That was a sensible assessment and complimentary to Ali.
He’s too humble to outright say he would beat Ali but of course he would have thought he could, that’s how all great champions are wired up.

 

I agree. Williams was also VERY confident going into the bout. He said it was fate, he was still alive, and had quite literally come back from the dead, and gotten the title shot that had alluded him his entire career. He felt like the stars were lining up for him to win the big one and pull the upset of a lifetime.

"I died three times on that operating table. If he didn't want me to fight, he'd have let me stay dead, because fighting's the only thing I know." Unfortunately Williams didn't realize, the only version of him that would've beaten this version of Ali was pre-shooing. But you know what they say, people can be so delusional sometimes. Pretty sad and pathetic.

 

Yep, there’s a fine line between delusion and the confidence that can actually can play a big part in getting you over the line.

There would’ve been quite a few people who thought Ali was delusional in believing that he could beat Foreman.

I guess Big Cat was looking at his unfortunate circumstances in the most positive light to motivate himself.

Sort of similar in the way that Buster Douglas processed the passing of his Mum - it could’ve broken him, but instead, it made him the fighter he was in Tokyo.

 

Doesn’t seem as if Marciano is aware of Williams’ true state. The most over-hyped performance in Boxing history.

 

Interesting to note that Rocky thought that Terrell's jab was as good as Ali's. He was not alone in thinking that. It might sound crazy today, but Terrell had a really, really good jab and had won his fights almost on that alone. That Ali just neutralised it is actually one of the most impressive things he did in the ring imo.