Rocky Marciano v George Foreman

An interesting quote of Ali before he fought Frazier:
"He's easy to hit, everybody hit him. They just can't keep hitting him, they tire out. They tire out hitting him".

Of course he was exaggerating and the irony is that he ended up just the same way, but i do think this illustrates (along with film, of course) that Frazier wasn't THAT hard to hit, but more of a long-run designed defense, to take him through rounds untill he could really take over. That doesn't work against a big puncher and Marciano doesn't use that kind of defense either.

 

Yes & no.

yes because boxing is boxing & is the most unpredictable of sports.

No because I believe foreman, size & style wise is all wrong for rocky.
If you want an indication of how this fight will go down, check out foreman v frazier in 1973.

 

At least you see both sides and can see the difference between Frazier and Marciano, in my mind the fight can go either way, Foreman had power but stamina issues and never had to face a brutal puncher like Marciano with that kind of stamina, that being said Marciano never faced a brutal puncher like Foreman, yet Walcott had extreme pinpoint power. Either way it would not be a blowout IMO :good

 

Can it really be argued that Walcott punched as hard as Foreman? Even for that one punch?

 

Let me put it this way: i would say "one best Walcott punch" has a higher probability to knock you out than "one best Foreman punch".
Foreman may punch harder, but Walcott's were very hard to TIME and see coming and that's what knocks you out. I suggest non-believers to watch Walcott-Charles III and see him knock Charles out cold with a single punch. Say what you want about Charles' durability, but he was only stopped once before (when he was 22) and only once after it (by an all time great puncher, Marciano), before he fell apart. Marciano and Marshall had to knock him down repetitively before being able to stop him. Walcott left him dead cold with one single uppercut. Charles is also the one man to go 15 rounds with Marciano.

Foreman never did that kind of damage. He had to beat them down with a lot of clubbing, bone-crushing hard punches. But for one punch, i think Walcott is the more dangerous man.

 

To each his own I guess, but can you provide other examples than just one fight over a former middleweight? I mean Michael Nunn Ko'd Sumbu Kalambay with a single punch, and Kalambay was a fighter who had never before, nor ever would again be KO'd in a career total of 64 fights. Nunn was not regarded as a ferocious one punch fighter, and nor would I rate his one punch abilities over Hagler or Hearns, purely on the basis of a single fight.

 

Marciano (Like my boy Frazier) is often IMO under rated on these boards. But this seems to be about as bad of a match-up as he could get. Foreman and Liston are about the the only 2 that I give him virtually no chance against. he may last slightly longer than Frazier I but the outcome will be the same. his only hope would be to change his philosophy like joe did in the 2nd Foreman fight...moving backwards, but that didn't really help Joes outcome a whole lot and I don't suspect it would help marcianio...and I suspect even less likely would be for him to adopt it. Foreman wins by KO in 5...rematch about the same. I like Rocky, I just don't bel;ieve he can win this fight!

 

Walcott's lack of agressiveness kept his KO ratio back a lot. Charles indeed was a former lightheavyweight, but so was Peralta who wasn't exactly destroyed by Foreman.

 

Few people KO'd Peralta, and Foreman fought him with only 15 pro fights under his belt.

 

If only Foreman had the chance to fight middleweights...

 

A few more ranked contenders would be a start even is some of them did start at middleweight.

 

Foreman was 6'3 and about 220. Most of Marciano opponent would easily make today's CW (or even LHW) limit, so comparing Marciano and Foreman is like comparing oranges to pears. You can make an argument for Marciano to be better P4P, but other than that I can't see him winning with George.

Foreman was almost 40 at this time. Imagine what could've happened to Rocky if he continues fighting into the 60's.

 

I agree...but I thought this was about marciano?

 

Well said :good