Rocky Marciano vs Lennox Lewis

Great fresh topic that has never done before.

Really interested in hearing posters thoughts on how Marciano would do against a man with a 60 pound advantage.

Could a 6 inch height advantage and 60 pounds be the formula that beats Marciano?

 

I wanna know if anyone thinks that Marciano can slip the jab and knock Lewis out before the 6th round.

 

If Lewis had an off night I genuinely think Marciano could do it. Best vs best ... yeah, he's too small. Dempsey too

 

its a mismatch, get Rocky out of there and put him in with other 190lb fighters

 

That would be fair, actually. He'd do pretty damn well at that weight.

 

I remember fighting my first "good" taller fighter,,

the first thing I recall was realizing that he could sting me with his jab from distances that I wasn't used to being stung by a jab,,,

right away everything was different, I started over compensating just to stop getting tagged by his jab, things went downhill from there.

I got better as time went on but it was still never easier dealing with a skilled bigger dude with a longer reach.

If size didn't matter Floyd or Manny would of been Heavyweight champ all these years.

Hate to sound like a broken record but advantage Lewis.

 

I'll admit right at the start that Lewis has a huge advantage over Marciano from a style vantage point. Marciano never fought anyone like Lewis, but on the other hand, Lewis never fought a fighter as tough and determined as Marciano. The closest fighters Lewis ever fought to Marciano are Tua and Tyson. I think Marciano is better than both of them. To those who dispute that, your main argument is size and weight. What sways me is the fact that Tua lasted all 12 rounds with Lewis, and that was without having a clue on how to get inside and cut off the ring. Tyson took a beating after the first round with Lewis, and was happy doing so. I don't see Marciano following Lewis around the ring in a trance like Tua and just looking for one shot. I also don't see Marciano submitting to Lewis like Tyson did after one tough round. Marciano was better than Tua, and tougher than Tyson. Seeing Lewis being KO'd by McCall and Rahman with one punch, leads me to have no doubt that Marciano can knock Lewis out if he catches him. One thing is for sure, Marciano would never stop trying to get inside on Lewis. Lewis gets the nod over Marciano mainly based on size by most. The fact is Marciano was a better puncher with either hand than either McCall or Rahman, who both knocked Lewis dead. Denying this is plain and simple short sighted, and more of just focusing and being influenced by the size of today's heavyweights.

The sweet science.

 

I'd call it more a size advantage, equalish sizes Marciano tears him a new one.

 

Lewis was a product of his environment. A manufactured superheavyweight. They could not exist before. A tall guy with skill just could not retain so much functional strength under traditional training methods.

Put Lewis in the 1950s developing under those circumstances and he's not going to be Lennox Lewis like we remember him. That size is just not so beneficial and that's why the champions were the size they were.

People can scoff now at the puny heavyweight of that era and wonder how a modern SHW does against them but that is all one can do, wonder. The two types of heavyweight could never existed together.

 

I suppose it depends on whether you automatically assume that McCall and Rahman hit harder than Marciano because they are heavier than him by some margin. How can you measure power other than by the effect it has on opponents?

Would Marciano's best shot be enough to finish Lewis like it finished JJW? Could he even land such a shot?

I'm with you in that I don't think size is the be all and end all, but it has to be factored in with Marciano because he has no record of beating behemoths.

 

It's a very tricky subject, some people believe boxing hasn't evolved at all over the years, infact some believe it has regressed. But you have to ask yourself this, what would a Manny Steward have done with a fighter like Primo Carnera? I'd bet he would have been a hell of a lot better under his tutelage, would you agree? That kind of ****es over the myth that boxers and trainers haven't evolved. There have been giants since the start of boxing, the question is why haven't they always dominated....

 

Well I have an answer for all of it but it's not part of the mainstream view.

The mainstream view is that Big guys back in the day were one off freaks who could not fight. They were not athletes. Then the human race suddenly "magic up" a perfect scaled athlete who happened to be as big as carnera who can fight. A Muhammad Ali or Joe Louis just SHW size.

It's a fairytale. But it became the mainstream view. If it was true where has all the skill gone?

In my opinion the training changed to utilise body mass and strength to the extent it neutralized pace and skill. Just in time for the reduction in rounds and the introduction of larger gloves and everything else that handicapped pace and skill. It's funny how less clumsy giants look better fighting other giants.

If it was not true why is it that the heavyweight division least resembles boxing of the type displayed in all other weight classes?