Rocky Marciano vs Evander Holyfield

Please dont twist my words. I didn't say that they were greater. I said that they were bigger than Byrd, then i said that Byrd was bigger than Marciano. :good

 

And that means? Williamson is perhaps prettier than Marciano, should we also mention it? Is it important?

 

One should never let such an individual get to him. At the end of the day it's only a boxing forum. Play them, ignore them, let others school them but never let them ruin your enjoyment or frustrate you. Go have a laff at him in the James Tillis thread

 

:yep


:thumbsup

 

This is coming from a poster that actually tried to convince me that Tyson ranked among the best heavyweightts of all time, when has never beat a great fighter that was in thier prime. Its simply hiliarious for the simple fact that every time he has stepped up and competed with the elites, he has been exposed for not having any heart. Do not get me wrong, Tyson was very exciting and good fighter to watch and the way he was brought up and matched was great. But please, never in a million years will you ever convince me that he is great.

 

What i like the most is seeing you put your foot deeper and deeper into your mouth with me barely having to do anything but post a sentence here and a sentence there to encourage it.

Mate, i love ya

 

Holyfield always reminded me of Ezzard Charles except with that little bit extra.So it would have been a great fight..But id give Rock the slight edge because he was in even beter shape than Holyfield which is hard to imagine and i think could keep his power longer than Holyfield ...Would be a great fight

 

As for the fight, i labour badly in trying to pick a winner in this one. I loved Evanders dismantling of Tyson, but wonder if a Marciano might come on for longer and with more variety that that version Tyson. Holyfields penchant to trade makes this bout both exciting and open IMO.

 

Great matchup. Holy had height, reach, speed, solid power, great chin, wonderful toughness. However, I still think this is a tough style matchup for Evander. Although Bowe was much bigger, he showed what style would give Evander the most troubles - nonstop consistent attack, lots of punches, and work the body. That's exactly what Rocky did. He came forward all the time, threw all the time, hit the body, and he crouched down low and made you reach down to him, and then he countered and stepped in as you punched at him. He could keep it up for all 15 rounds. Big question mark regarding how Evander would deal with that over the long haul.

 

Holyfield's career had many chapters whereas Marciano's was more consistent and brief. Holyfield had many brilliant fights and some lackluster ones mixed in there too.

People were saying Holyfield was over the hill back in 1995. That he had been in too many wars. Then he shocks the world and beats Tyson the following year. In 1997, he looked sensational in dismantling Micheal Moorer and reversing a prior loss. He clearly lost the first Lennox Lewis fight and is given a draw. Then Holyfield comes back in the rematch and possibly wins it and is given a loss by the judges.

Like I said, so many peaks and valleys in his legendary career. Okay, back to the question. I feel the Holy of the 1990-92 period or the 1996-97 period would beat Marciano. The men of Marciano's time were superb boxers but had no where near Holyfield's strength, chin, punching power. I know Holyfield did not have a million knockouts like Archie Moore. I know he is not known as a huge banger but seeing his fights I think he could have a huge effect on someone about 190lbs. ala Marciano. I don't see Holyfield starching the Rock but there are many ways he could win. He could stay outside and outbox Marciano, keeping him at a distance with his jab. He could stop him on cuts. He could get in the trenches and bang with him (obviously the most risky stategy). All in all though I like Holyfield to win here.

 

That is what makes Holyfield's career so amazing. That he consistently fought men who were naturally much larger and heavier than himself and beat most of them. These were not relative stiffs like Willard or Carnera. These were hugely athletic and skilled big men. Fighters like Bowe, Foreman, Lewis, etc. Marciano, Dempsey, Louis fought some really big guys but they had inferior skills to the big men Holyfield fought and beat.

 

Is holyfield on roids or before he bulked up though?

 

Holyfield was 2-3-1 with 0KOs and one stoppage loss against Bowe, Holyfield, and Lewis combined. One of those wins was over the ancient Foreman who still managed to make him look pretty bad, the other win being the second fight of a trilogy where he got mashed in the first fight and stopped in the third.

I don't think he beat "most" of the "hugely athletic and skilled big men" he fought. Throw in Tyson (who isn't THAT much bigger than Marciano) and he's 4-3-1, but if we're going that far we ought to just call a spade a spade and give him a loss for Lewis I, bringing him to 4-4.

Don't get me wrong, Holyfield, was a great fighter, but he was terribly inconsistent at heavyweight.