Rocky vs SHW champions

I actually think Rocky would have done better than people give him credit for.

Yes, he was a small guy and with a pathetic reach especially when compared to the superheavies. He faces a mountain to climb when trying to close the size disparity with skill.

But the argument could also be made that he would be a very awkward target given his crouching style, and that he had the power to make them feel his punches. I think that he'd have a good chance of gassing some guys out into the deeper rounds and still winning.

The most compelling argument for him to get some wins over SHW champions is that he was extremely consistent in his conditioning and in what he brought to the table. In these idealised 'prime vs prime' matchups where we take fighters at their best night and pitch them against each other, I agree that his chances are diminished.

But in real life a lot of these guys have inconsistent performances and even some real stinkers, where I could well see a machine like Marciano reel off a surprise win. There was quite and argument a while back about, for example, whether Marciano could have beaten Lewis if he had been in Levi Billup's place the night those two met. In my mind, yes, he certainly could have.

Some food for thought.

 

I once bought a bottle of "Rare Scottish Gold" for the equivalent of 2,5 pounds. ... yeah. :barf Maybe whiskey isn't for me.

 

Where is the ana logous heavyweight from the last 30 years who had any level of success in the division close to what Rocky experienced in his day?

 

Rocky is a legend in his own right, and he definately deserves that status. However, reading some of the post's on this thread I get the impression he's slowly turning into superman. I'm afraid to state the obvious, but size does matter in boxing. It's rare that you will see a smaller heavyweight against a giant heavyweight winning when their skill is on par. Reach and height will always play a massive part.

The modern day super heavys like Lewis, Bowe and the Klitschko's etc would end Rocky at some point. It doesn't matter how good his chin was, he never came up against super heavyweights. In today's sport he would be a light heavy, so to suggest a light heavy would beat one of the great super heavys is rather ludicrous. The laws of gravity decide this one.

 

Simply there hasn't really been. Closest guys that I can think of are Holyfield and Byrd in terms of size. But they were larger than Marciano. Then again, you could also make the case that there hasn't been a smaller "fire and guts" heavyweight in the mould of Rocky either.

 

From my experience, it really sucks being the dramatically smaller guy in the ring... I would imagine it would be even worse if one were slow and ponderous.

 

I think this is pretty close to perfection.

 

I'd favor Foreman.

He beats the rest,

 

I think Superheavyweights are a different division of boxers who rely on size. Nothing really supports a case for a smaller fighter against such over stacked odds like shorter distance, bigger gloves and modern training practice.

One way of looking at it is how many of these guys stand a chance if they were smaller than Rocky?

How about a Rocky born after 1970, what would he look like?

Another way of looking at it (and I think this is the fairest way) is how many beat Rocky if the superheavyweight in question was restricted only to 1950s training, diet, rules and equipment? This would dramatically alter the over all pace, weight and game plan for any taller man.

 

A better thread to make is why did it take so long for Super Heavyweights to rule the division, there's been Giants since the start of boxing afterall.

 

That's interesting.

 

Superheavies rely on size, weight and power but MUST control range and pace to do it.

I don't care what diet you put them on, The K's and Lewis aren't getting too small. In the end, they all put in hard camps in their careers and usually arrived at their ideal weights. I am sure Whitey & Co. thought that Marciano was peak at 186 or so, just as Waldo is peak at about 240. They are just vastly different sized athletes.

And in the near future, the superheavy dominance may recede for a time. Deontay and Fury both look to have holes in their games. We shall see.