We all know that Rocky retired undefeated. But would he have been so fortunate had he have fought in the richest era of heavyweight boxing. It was called the 'Golden' era for a reason - as we have 3 of the greatest heavyweights of all-time in the same era - with a plethora of other tough & talented hw contenders. How does Marciano fare against: Ali Frazier Foreman Norton Holmes Lyle Shavers Quarry Bonavena Ellis Bugner Chuvalo Young Patterson M Foster B Foster
Ali Foreman Holmes Lyle Beat him Frazier would be 50/50. Norton has a shot. I'd give Quarry an outside chance.Shavers too. Ellis might out point him. Rocky beats Chuvalo,Bonavena.Patterson,Bugner Both Foster's. Young has a chance with him . He was a great fighter greater than most of them ,but a little guy who would be conceding a hell of a lot of physical advantages and these guys would be prime ,not past their sell by dates.
Ali-Loses by late TKO via cuts Frazier-loses in an ATG slugfest Foreman- early TKO loss Norton-Wins via brutal KO in a war Holmes-loses by late TKO via cuts Lyle-Loses via TKO Shavers-Could go either way but I lean towards Marciano at the moment because of Shavers' losses to less than stellar opponents and one round blow out to Quarry however Marciano's subpar defense means he catches some serious leather and I would not be surprised if Shavers put him away. Quarry-Tbh I think Quarry wins this. Marciano's reckless and wild-swings coming out of left field would play right into Quarry's hands. Of course, Marciano would force Quarry to fight at a pace that he's shown he's uncomfortable with so it's very possible Quarry tires out in the later rounds and is KO'd. Bonavena-Marciano UD or late TKO Ellis-Marciano mid round TKO Bugner-Marciano UD. Marciano would struggle to KO Bugner because of the massive size difference between the two but he should take a comfortable UD and may even drop Bugner. Chuvalo-Marciano late round TKO or even KO Young-tbh this could go either way. Marciano has the right style to beat Young, but may have been to slow to pull it off. But I feel in a 15 round fight Marciano would eventually catch up to him and KO him after being hopelessly behind on the cards. Patterson-This is not the same Patterson from a decade earlier whom I'd give a decent chance to. Mac Foster-Foster was nearly knocked out by an aging, shot (literally), and hopelessly over the hill Cleveland Williams in their 2nd fight who would have no chance (at this stage in his career at least) at beating Marciano so I'd have to say Marciano in an exciting but brief slugfest where Marciano is shaken a bit. Bob Foster- Marciano early and brutally. So Marciano would go 10-5 in my book which isn't bad at all, though he wouldn't have established himself as Numero Uno as he did in his own era. He would be more of a middle of the pack contender.
