Rocky Marciano vs. Jack Johnson

I tend to agree with Seamus but I really wouldn't be surprised if either man won. A very close fight in my opinion.

 

You haven't offered anything .There's no check mate ,or check anything.

Why don't you just do as the thread requests and make a pick, then give your reasons for doing so?

 

The guy on the mike comments on the flab Layne is carrying. Layne was known to be soft in the belly, Marciano slowed him to a walk. Charles had no problem hitting Marciano inside,Layne did because his hands were too slow.

 

Based on what I have seen of Johnson on film he was advanced for his era, a strong man with athleticism but most of his opponents were basically less skilled than the Marciano era....Many watching the O'Brien fight call O'Brien the winner and he was what 162lbs ....I think out of the top 20 heavyweights today only 2 are under 30 with the majority being over 35 including the present Champ who is 38, so there is 35 years of age like Jeffries who was off for 6 years and there is the 32 like Charles or the 38 like Moore (who was on a 50-fight win streak-minus a dq & a disputed decision that he avenged or a Champion fit as a fiddle JJW

I dont see Johnson being able to handle the power of Marciano ( he was KO'd by Choynski and dropped by middleweight Ketchel but I think Marciano breaks him down for the stop...a rugged fight for sure and Johnson has some tricks and moves but this is a horse of a different color Oh excuse me a bird of a different feather

 

I dont think Ketchel legitimately dropped Johnson .

Johnson was around the same size as Choynsky when they fought.
The O Brien fight was a no dec, Johnson couldn't lose unless O Brien kod him, highly unlikely.

 

Layne was 193 which was as fit as he got. Later he was well over 200. He was never the rock hard and ripped sort. Maybe that was part of his downfall. However, Rocky was hurting him inside from round one. And it wasn't like Layne was unskilled in that sort of tussle.

Look, Layne is no Johnson, not in strength or overall boxing ability, but he was crafty and rough on the inside. Marciano ate him alive there. That was my only point.

I'll rewatch some Charles action with an eye on this match-up as I get the chance. Maybe even the flu will strike me down...

 

Layne by today's standards looks ripped, but he was considered a fatty then.

The premise some have made that Marciano would be King inside against Johnson is far from proven imo.I wouldn't be surprised if he struggles mightily .

At long range Rocky would have to rely on scoring with occasional looping punches, he aint outscoring Jack Johnson like that.

Marciano was as fit as a man can be and very strong for his size, but he would be up against another very strong man that nobody outmuscled,[and no they were not all little guys, far from it]A man adept at smothering and negating the others offence.

Frustrating the smaller man all the while ripping those uppercuts home.

If Johnson is holding Marciano's biceps Rocky is not punching, the referee would break them and the cycle would start again.

If Rocky lands clean with that right Jack goes down, but he was down before and knows what to do to stall and cover until his legs are back and his head clears. It may be heresy , but I don't think Marciano was a particularly effective finisher , he got the job done eventually, but smart guys messed him about [Walcott excepted.]

I think it would get messy and dirty with Marciano landing low a few times , boring in with his head and trying to roughhouse Jack and take him out of his stride as Flynn did .He would have more success , because he was a great deal better than Flynn, but he would be receiving punishment all the time. No matter how tough Marciano was his skin tissue was not quite as sturdy , he's going to bleed in this fight.
I see Johnson's uppercuts playing a hugely significant part in this fight.
By the end of the fight Marciano would hate Johnson's guts
Marciano's best bet might be to forget about that shaven head ,and golden smile,and target the body.

 

Johnson doesn't have the Chin to take Marciano's punches. Marciano had a much better work rate also. Only thing Johnson was better at was clinching, holding, wrestling, grabbing, etc.

 

Marciano was taken the distance by past prime Charles, twice by cagey defensive Lowry, 21 rds in two fights by Lastarza ,into the 9th by 42 years old Moore,and into the 13th by 37 years old Walcott.

Johnson went nearly 15 years after being stopped by Choynsky , before he was kod again by Willard when he was 37 ?
What exactly was wrong with his chin .IYO?

 

McVey, I agree, it's gotten hard for me to see Johnson's chin as genuinely problematic. I got to think it was at least decent. 15 years is a long time, and it's bookended, at one end, by a super-middle-sized Johnson with a lot to learn against a hard puncher, and at the other end by a 37-year old and dissipated Johnson in a 45-rounder against a durable opponent.