Rocky Marciano vs. Sonny Liston

Cheers for this in-depth and insightful analysis.

 

Bad fight stylistically for Marciano. Marciano would get some shots in but ultimately would succumb to Liston.

 

This thread is (always) hilarious ... in reality , no one but Bummy would put a nickel on Marciano if this could actually happen .. the rest know it's a mismatch.

 

You can't judge Marciano by what you can see...

 

Liston too, for opposite reasons.

 

mismatch? :huh

I pick Liston, but NO one has an easy match against Marciano. The guy was boxing's ultimate animal.

 

But he won't shy away from telling you that Fitzsimmons has a chance against Marciano.

 

Such a tough match up. Liston wasn't as quick as Walcott, Charles, or Moore, yet Marciano was able to slip under their straight punches most of the time and get in where he can work.

I think Rocky would be able to get under Liston's jab most of the time, but the problem is what would happen when Liston's sledgehammer of a jab lands. It would most certainly stop Rocky from advancing, which is where Liston could work his other heavy blows in.

When inside, it'd be a fire fight, but I'd favor Marciano inside. Granted Liston was 6'1 compared to Marciano's 5'11, he was 215 to Marciano's 187, but I think their strength is comparable. Nobody pushed Marciano around when he didn't want to be pushed, including the 213lb Joe Louis. Say what you want about how faded Louis was in 1951, his strength and power were still there, it was his reflexes and speed that had faded. Marciano shoved Louis all over the place. Rex Layne, the strong slugger from Utah tried to muscle with Marciano but ultimately was forced back.

If Liston proved to be able to shove Marciano back consistently, he'd win the fight. If Marciano is able to at least hold Liston to a standstill in strength, the fight becomes far more interesting.

Everywhere Marciano landed, he did damage that lasted for the rest of the fight. When Liston landed, it was a very heavy thud that had big effects on oponents when he landed clean. In terms of 1 punch KO power, I give the edge to Marciano, but Liston had the more thudding blows.

Early on Liston would have a clear edge, but come the 5th, 6th round, Marciano would become more and more competitive.

I honestly have a very hard time picking the winner and think it's a toss up.

Foreman vs Marciano would be disasterous for the Rock though.

 

Why bill? Liston was better than Foreman

 

MUCH better

Rocky would have a much harder time hitting Liston than he would Foreman.

 

:good

 

Liston and foreman are prety close. Liston was more complete and harder to hit but in terms of acheivement Foreman was at least as effective.

 

I do think Marciano would bring out the doubt in Liston....guy was top dog pit bull

 

Styles. Foreman was more apt to go out and leave it all hang out in 5-6 rounds where as Liston paced himself more.

Foreman was stronger than Marciano and Liston imo and Foreman would use every bit of his strength to move Marciano back into a range where he could unload his big shots and force a stoppage. Unfortunately for guys who liked to move in low such as Frazier, Tyson, and Marciano, they would be litterally falling right into Foreman's hands and it would not end well for them.

Also, even Sonny had the harder jab, I think all around Foreman's was better. I don't have Liston's jab in the top 3 for an all around jab. Power wise, I do, but overall I do not.