Rocky Marciano with Ali's competition: Does he stay undefeated?

Styles make fights, and Rocky is tailor made to be mauled by those two.

 

Yes, he had a bad back and that's why he retired early and abandoned the attempt at a comeback against Ingemar Johanson. There's no way in hell Rocky remains an elite world class fighter in his late 30's.

 

Plenty of fighters would maul, bully, and beat the crap out of Rocky from pillar to post. From the 60's and 70's, Liston and Foreman are two fighters who would demolish him. Rocky would be a bull attempting to fight elephants.

 

This man was barely ever hurt and beat the ***** out of many fighters, retired some even. As no fighter is unbeatable and some got lucky just to never meet their master, maul is definitely not the way Rocky would lose.

Was there a way or not are just theories. Such things are always said about the older compared to the newer.

Blah...

 

Yes, fighters who weren't George Foreman or Sonny Liston. Walcott isn't Liston, Moore isn't Foreman, 137 years old Louis sure isn't close to them either. So yes, Rocky gets mauled.

Foreman and Liston are, by FAR, the strongest and most powerful men Rocky faced. It's not his fault, the cards are unbelievably stacked against him in these matchups.

 

So Rocky is 32 years old when he faces George Foreman and he's giving up six inches in height and twelve inches in reach, and he's facing the hardest puncher in the history of the sport? How do you think it goes?

 

There are people who I think Rocky beats in the 60's, 70's, even the 80's and 90's. But Liston and Foreman are probably 2 of the worst possible opponents for Rocky. It's a terrible matchup.

Nice rebuttal!

Correction: he is dead when he faces George Foreman.

 

He racks up double-digit losses.

Rocky was only a pro for like seven years. Against Ali's opponents, he would've retired in 67/68 because of a bad back. The 70s would've been a train wreck for him. I don't even know if fat, bald, bad-back Marciano could've taken Bob Foster in '72. (Moore put Rocky down, after all.)

Worst case scenario, he could've ended up with a win-loss record similar to Bert Cooper's.

 

The thirty two year old Rocky is 32 years old, has been boxing at the professional level for 14 years, and is giving up twelve inches in reach, six inches in height, and thirty five pounds of muscle to the biggest puncher in the history of the sport when he faces George Foreman. Wow.

 

Rocky Marciano may have hit some roadblocks against Muhammad Ali's opponents in his first title reign, 1964-1967. Imagine Marciano against the likes of Sonny Liston, George Chuvalo, Karl Mildenberger, and Ernie Terrell?

 

Liston rag dolls him. Patterson beats him. Terrell beats him. Quarry beats him. Frazier breaks him in two. Foster stops him. Norton, Foreman, Lyle stop him.​

 

@RockyJim is going to take exception.

 

As for Holmes...don't get me started. Please start. Are you seriously suggesting Marciano could beat Holmes?

 

Well, yeah. Holmes ducked the best of his generation, and certainly never faced anyone who could throw a hundred power punches in the 15th round of a fight.

 

Holmes when life and death with Renaldo Snipes and Carl Williams. He wasn't that good, which is why he ducked the best of his era. Somehow his pitiful legacy of fighting little guys for big money--his words, not mine--has been completely re-written.