Rocky Marciano vs. Ezzard Charles

Thus the fight has to be compete out there SOME were lol.

 

Looking at footage like this reaffirms my belief that Marciano would'nt be able to defeat the likes of Ali, Holmes, Holyfield, Vlad, Lennox et al. These men would be just too big and skilled for Rocky who would dwarfed next to them. How would Rocky get inside the jabs of these men or cope with the hand speed and combination punching not to mention the firepower and footwork? Charles basically stood right in front of Rocky the whole time and was only about six feet tall and 185 pounds himself. I'm not trying to belittle Marciano one bit. He's an all time great who accompished a whole lot with what he had in his own time and that's what matters, but I think footage like this must make even a diehard Marciano fan(Which I am) admit that he just does'nt have the size and speed to cope with the above mentioned HW's who had or have considerable advantages in height, weight, reach, speed and technique. Make Rocky the same size and of course it's a different story.

 

Good stuff.

As Broughton said, Ezzard wasn't exactly the one to get the job done against Marciano.

Great performance by Marciano, but I personally hold Ezzard in a better light than Marciano. He had almost 100 fights behind him at the time of the Marciano fight, almost twice as many as Marciano had in his entire career.

He was still the sole man to ever go 15 with Marciano.

Hell of a fighter.

 

Tyson and Fraizer were the same hight as Marciano, I think Marciano will be able to get in on Ali. Just as Fraizer did.

The fight shows Marciano cutting Charle's escape route. And Marciano hammering Charles from all coners of the ring once the Rock got in motion. Rocky would be hell to fight, Marciano thrown more punchings in round 15, than Joe Fraizer did vs Ali 1.

 

This is exactly how I see it. I also quesiton Charles tactics in this fight. If he would have boxed and moved instead willingly standing toe to toe, he would have done better.

 

I have also heard Marciano comment on the Walcott fight. Rocky was a good color guy.

 

Ezzard was a great fighter and Marciano figured him out and fought his fight towards the end of the fight. Marciano was 30, Charles 32 and from the looks of them in there they could have more than competed with any Champion before and after there time including Ali ( whose KD from 185lb Cooper and 5"11 Frazier shows that size and weight is just that) Charle tried to fight the fight Buster Douglas did vs Tyson but he was fighting the wrong guy that night and Marciano improved dramatically in rematches

 

He did commentary on a Basilio Robinson fight ,can,t remember which one ,very insightful,he had good ring sense .Is it possible Charles didnt have the confidence in his legs,to box on the retreat,or maybe he thought he had to take the play away from Marciano to get the dec,,I also thought he should have boxed more.

 

I thought Ali should've boxed and moved more against Frazier, too. Sometimes those things are easy to say from ringside, but anyone who has boxed will know the hell when your opponent isn't giving you a second to breath or an inch to move. Marciano and Frazier took boxers out of their gameplan and didn't allow them to work their favorite stuff.

By the way, Frazier had some of his best moments during FOTC when Ali was dancing. That's why he thought he could hide on the ropes and hope that Joe tired. Didn't happen, of course.

 

Great observation :good :good :good

 

Frazier was far more dynamic with his feet. He was one of the few that could catch up to and corner Ali. Maricano had slower footwork, and less punching range, which is a reason why he missed as often as he did. I do not think Marciano could have kept up with Charles if Charles employed a jab, grab, clinch, and push off strategy. This is what Ali did in the 2nd and 3rd Frazier fights, and it worked, minus his breaks on the ropes.

Both guys look tired here. Marciano himself says he was arm weary around 9 or 10, and glad to see the 15th round. Charles really slowed down toward the end. Marciano hit him a few times, but failed to finish him despite being told " He had a glass jaw "

The irony here is I view Rocky exactly as he does, and what he says falls closely in line with my own observations.

To be truthful Rocky looks very beatable in this fight. If Charles was younger ( Say the Charles who beat Walcott or Louis ) was in the ring, the decision could have gone the other way. What were the score cards by the way?

Having said that, you have to admire Rocky’s guts and determination.

 

For the most part, I agree with you. I'm a HUGE Marciano fan, but sometimes the size difference is a little too much.
But you know what?

If it takes a 6'5", 240 lb. man to beat Marciano, I can live with that. (Although I think he gives Ali a war and may win.)

For his size, the man was just a freak. I still don't think anyone under 190 lbs. could live with him.

 

Well, he tried that in the second fight and went nowhere fast. (Admittedly, that was after the gruelling first fight which no doubt took a lot out of Charles, who had had a long career up until that point, but still...)