Rocky Marciano vs George Foreman

I have nothing against Marciano, but the fact is you just can't give him hypothetical wins over guys the likes of which he never faced. That's the downside of fighting in a weak era. He was 49-0 against mostly scrubs and over the hill fighters. Don't get me wrong he was tough and could hit like a freight train, and I think he'd be a top fighter in any era, but acting like he was invincible and would whip anyone in any era based on his resume is absurd.

Joe Louis was all but shot when he fought him, Marciano even admitted this. Charles and Walcott were far from unbeatable, both lost double digit fights in their career and were not exactly in their prime when they fought him anyway. Walcott was a lot like Kenny Norton, and you might say Charles was like smaller Evander Holyfield. Roland LaStarza sort of reminds me of Jerry Quarry. And that might be being generous to Marciano's opponents.

But there is no one on Marciano's resume that was like Foreman, Lewis, Holmes, Tyson, Klitschko, Ali, or Liston. That doesn't definitively say he couldn't have beaten any of those guys, but you can't just give Marciano those guys either unless he fought and beat someone similar, he didn't.

 

And calling them all time greats is being very generous even in their prime, with the exception of Joe Louis.

Marciano was in his prime in a very weak era, no question about it.

 

Walcott was like the Hopkins of the time. Very good all around technician and very smart fighter, a late bloomer too. Walcott was as good as Jimmy Young, tho Foreman was at his worst at that point when he faced Young. Rocky had some underrated skills, tho he did come forward, he almost always fought from a crouch, he was being offensive and defensive at the sametime. Aside from underrated power, he also had the best stamina of any heavyweight. If Foreman doesn't take him out early, he's getting chopped down by Rocky. Rocky had a better chin than Frazier too. Walcott was better than most if not all heavyweights today. Just look at the man fight. Don't even get me started on Charles. Call them light heavyweights or small heavyweights, whatever, but they'd whoop on most of these fighters today.

 

Almost every expert agrees Foreman was a terrible matchup for Marciano and all swarmers. If there is one ATG heavyweight that I would pick to go against him, it would be Foreman. With Liston or Lennox Lewis close behind.

And I agree Walcott was a great fighter, but he had a glass jaw. Marciano was not the only man to knock him out, he got knocked out by scrubs. He might have been better than Jimmy Young actually.

 

Questioning Charles' status as an ATG is absurdity. He's top 10 of all time P4P.

That being said, he did weigh only 190 pounds, as did Marciano. Pinning them against a 40 pounds heavier fighter who is also the biggest power-house in the history of the sport...

Ehh.......

 

Mismatch in my opinion. Rocky would get manhandled on the inside, pushed back and clubbed into submission. His tendency to lean to the right will see him caught with a sweeping foreman left hook and stopped.

 

Disagree.

I see Rocky lasting well into the third, maybe even part of the fourth.

 

I agree that stylistically, the matchup would favor Foreman, but if you're going to name all the opponents Rocky fought that were "worth mentioning," you should probably include the Mongoose, who is one of the top 10 greatest fighters of all time.

 

foreman ko´s him in two.....if rocky lasts that long. not much of a fight......more like ****....

 

rocky was a cruiserweight

 

1-3 years of being world heavyweight champines

 

Marciano would destroy Burger Squad

 

Flat footed no footwork slow Rocky would beat ALi Ali would dance to easy UD, Marciano is tailor made for ALi. Foot and hand speed is to much for Rocky to overcome, if he dreamed to be in punching range Ali would land jab...

 

cslb....they fought rounds in the ring over a period of a few weeks. look it up. It is a fact. noone, myself included, is like to change opinion on the winner. those that lived and saw both fighter often believed, and i am talking about those in the fight game, that Marciano would beat the fighters we are talking about.

 

Pulitzer winning writer Red Smith called Marciano, "the toughest, strongest, most completely dedicated fighter who ever wore gloves" adding "fear wasn't in his vocabulary and pain meant nothing." In July 1969 Marciano and Ali stepped into a gym in north miami and boxed 70 one minute rounds. In talking to Howard Cosell Ali said " I think he was better than Joe Frazier and you know what Joe did to me" and I don't know whether I could have beaten him with his style."
Point is, with all speculation, take into account what Ali said. Usually fantasy fights tend to involve more than a degree of bias, understandably, by those living in one era as opposed to those in another.