Rocky Marciano vs Chris Byrd

Archie Moore and Joe Walcott were not better fighters in their late 30s, they only appear to be because they were having their best performances and wins.

 

Marciano was prime for every fight of his career, unlike his opponents he was uneffected by age, injury, and weight flucuations.

 

Charles was at his best as a light heavyweight, go figure he was more effective when most of his opponents were naturally smaller than him.

 

Charles wasn't a great heavyweight though, he just won the world title, defended it a bunch of times, and knocked out a bunch of contenders.

 

I'm saying he was more mobile ,quicker to get his punches off,and able to sustain his attacks longer. You say what you like.

 

Marciano opponents don't have experience, they have wear and tear.

 

Marciano didn't overcome a staggering 30 pound disadvantage against Joe Louis and 15 pounds against Walcott. Charles and Moore were not the same weight either.

When you fight Marciano, you only weigh as much as you did in your college years....and these guys didn't go to college.


Joe Louis was a 213 pound 190 pounder in the ring that night.

 

Rocky was an extremely well conditioned, hard hitting , driven, focused and intelligent fighter. He had a terrific chin and a huge heart. None of that is debatable .. that being said, he came around at a perfect time .. there is no disputing his career wins were against big names, dangerous but faded and ripe to be beaten by a younger, stronger, tougher man .. in addition, in my opinion, Charles, Walcott and Moore are all over rated by many, Charles and Moore at heavyweight and Walcott overall .. Louis was by far the best at his best at heavyweight but he was the most faded of the four when he fought Rocky ..

There is no doubt that Rocky strikes a tribal note for generations of American's , mostly white, for obvious reasons .. no harm no foul .. it is what it is .. boxing has always been a sport of races and ethnic origins .. the thirties and the forties saw an evolution in the sport where color lines faded and many black fighters, when given the opportunity dominated .. Rocky was a white heavyweight champion for a White America that was trying to hold on .. the interesting thing is how cycles bring changes .. with all the hard Eastern Eurpoean fighters in the sport today and for the past ten years it is no longer rare to see dominant white fighters proving that the sport is dominated by the poorest and hungriest groups, not based on any sort of racial superiority ..

As far as Rocky and Byrd , it is a tough fight for Rocky as Byrd is a cutie in the Jimmy Young/Pernell Whitaker mold, taller, faster with a much longer reach, the exact type of fighter than Rocky never fought in the opponent's physical prime .. he would very possibly outbox Rocky and take a safety first style decision ..

 

Are you serious? You can't say that!:yikes You can say Rocky could defy the laws of nature,you can troll incessantly like the fool above you, bubble and squeak ,but you cannot,cannot say that!
:nono Do the mods know about this?

 

Yes, Marciano wasn't the only heavyweight in history to reach the apex and remain undefeated as champion until final retirement, he was just the only one in history to come around at the perfect time when there was no man who could beat him. When will people see that?


You bring up many other not so interesting but interesting points I might address later, we'll see.

 

I couldn't agree less or more if I couldn't.

 

This has to be the most eloquently sarcastic thread I've ever read. Bravo, gents, bravo! Keep it up.

 

marciano has absolutely no chance at all because Bryd has the better resume and access to modern training, bigger muscles and most crucially, artificial weight.😤

 

Translated into:
" I don't want to play anymore so I'm taking my ball and going home":sad2

 

I can play ball.

I think Bryd in his actual form presented an awkward nights work for any giant fighter. It has been argued Lewis did not want to fight him. Bryd was good against giants. I think Mcline was 270lb and Bryd still beat him.

Bryd was tuned and trained to capitalize on overcoming size but testing the waters at a lower weight closer to his own natural size proved a disaster.

I dont think Ibeabuchi hit especially harder than Marciano I just think he was good enough for a muscular big man to hit Byrd with a sharp clean punch. I dont think it can be proved Ike being heavier than Rocky equates to him hitting harder or a more effective puncher at world level than Rocky was. How can it?

What can be proved is Bryd was effective at not getting caught clean most of the time by giants. Rocky was not a giant but he was an effective puncher at world level. So this is a tough fight for Bryd. He can't hurt Rocky but Rocky can hurt him.

15 rounds is a long way to go not getting hit by Rocky. It wont be easy but Marciano finds a way.