Rocky Marciano vs Evander Holyfield

Moore was behind on all cards when he pulled out the punch that stopped Johnson.Johnson also dropped him in that fight. Moore himself says his legs were not there ,I'll take his word on it.
I should have thought it was an established fact that no athlete is at their physical peak when they are around 40.Apparently some dispute this?

 

I think it's important to note that Moore claimed to not have legs for 5 years prior to Marciano. This would include the vast majority of his most successful legacy building run. So what he claimed to be "no legs" was something that didn't really look all that bad on film and didn't seem to really hold him back.

Moore really wasn't a runner anyway, he used educated foot work, lots of upperbody movement, and quick/powerful hands.
Footage of a young pre-ulcer surgery Moore vs Richards show an athletically gifted but far more crude fighter. He may have "had legs" than but I don't think he was as great an overall fighter.

 

I think its important to note the word "probably ",in Moore's quote.

 

The problem re Louis and Moore is because they were still getting results against the younger guys ,some interpret this as evidence they were in or near their primes.I interpret it as evidence of how great they actually were when in their primes years earlier.
Is Hopkins prime now? He is still a rated fighter still capable of beating some of the newer crop. What exactly does that say ? How about Wlad? Is he prime still,or is the division moribund with poor depth?

 

-He was actually 3 months away from his 39th birthday.

-That's a bit unreasonable and could even go both ways. This being Marciano's final fight, and next to ****ell one of his more sluggish and sloppiest Championship Year Performances. Surely, we can go back and find a younger "better version" Marciano to take on Moore.

 

The Moore/Louis ****ogy is laughable trolling.

And I challenge you to actually find a seirous post arguing Louis was at/near his prime during the comeback. Not even chokelab who gets the brunt of the push back even argues that. Two recent threads on the subject and nobody has claimed that. You on the other hand bring it up over and over, exercising imaginary demons.

No. But like Moore he peaked as an overall fighter in his late 30s and had some of his best all time great performances even beyond 40.

 

Yes I agree, Moore's style took many years to develop and fine tune. In his autobiography he talked of points in his career where he would say stuff like "I had not quite perfected my style at this time" at prety advanced moments within his career. He clearly adapted into a more advanced and efficient fighter at a time where physically he might have been better earlier ...although in actual fighting terms he was better older. Clearly Moore won fights as an old man he might have lost as a young man.

 

Moore had a long battle with scales as he aged he gained weight most of us do anyone who seriously contends he was prime when around 40 ,[his mother said he was 2 years older than he claimed,] is living in an unreal world.

 

You challenge me ? You're a joke.
Get over your bias towards me , you're coming across as a petty idiot. Choklab is a decent poster who has his opinions same as the rest of us, we often disagree, but he is open to argument , and big enough to admit when he is wrong. You are just an insignificant buffoon with a grudge fixation.

 

I agree 100%, a relentless grinder who never stops coming for you, who has a fantastic fitness level and hits as hard in the last round as the first.This equals an absolute nightmare for the aging boxer to contend with.Marciano ruined guys, once through the ringer with him very few were much good afterwards.

 

That's because you are not going to find anyone claiming Louis was prime in the 1950s, so why continue to crusade against these non-existant phantoms?

 

A significantly younger HW Moore doesn't exist. Is there any version of Moore from 1950-1954 that we can reasonably conclude is going to reverse the result against Marciano?

Is there any version of Moore in all history that is going to be favored to beat Marciano?