I've seen limited video of him. Very impressed!! Saw him working the speed bag in a video; wow! I think 6 of his losses came after The Rock II. Lost a SD in the first fight with 'Rock'; the only judge in that fight (forgot his name) gave Roland the decision. In the rematch he was fighting a good fight but didn't Rock (I love Marciano!) foul him mid-rounds in that scrap?...Which, obviously, hurt him. IMO opinion he had ALL the tools. What were his plusses? His minuses? Love watching this guy!
Plusses. Decent boxer with some durability and undoubted courage. Minuses .Avoided loads of contenders.Didnt really merit a title shot imo. The second Marciano fight. "Trying to knock the challenger out with one punch, the 29-year-old Marciano was over-eager and awkward. He lunged, butted, hit below the belt, on the break and after the bell. Once, he swung so wildly that he missed and slipped clumsily to the canvas. Outboxing the champion and avoiding his blows, LaStarza managed to win four of the first six rounds. In the seventh, Marciano changed his tactics, started aiming at LaStarza's body as well as his head in an attempt to wear the challenger down. He succeeded." The Associated Press reported: "Sliced around both eyes and bleeding from a cut on the bridge of his nose, the well-battered LaStarza took a tremendous beating in the last five rounds before Referee [url]Ruby Goldstein[/url] wisely stopped the slaughter." The referee took the sixth round away from Marciano for a low blow. Marciano knocked LaStarza through the ropes and onto the ring apron in the eleventh round. "I changed my style of fighting in the seventh round," Marciano said after the fight. "I was behind ... So instead of throwing my right so much I concentrated on hooks and combination punches."
He was extremely protected on the way up sadly. I wish he had fought better competition. His ring generalship and chin are top tier, he had a good jab, good footwork and good speed. He was building himself up to be the next Tunney but it never came to fruition. He was ruined by Marciano in their second fight. But before that he was a young heavyweight hopeful with good skills. Btw a prime Rex Layne would've beaten him
Past it Layne held him to an SD. If Layne had his original form and condition I think he would've won
Ranked guys he missed include; Thompson Savold Agramonte Payne Kahut Beshore Bivins Valentino Maxim Baker Walcott Charles Gardner Oma Sys Louis Dunlap Baksi Williams Valdes Walls Neuhaus Henry
A fine boxer with good mobility and speed, but more elite in any area. He lacked the power to keep people off of him, and wasn't quite fast enough to dance around and out point the other guy for 10-15 rounds without taking his share of punches. His best wins are over Layne who I think is over rated and Bucceroni, so he did beat some top ten fighters. He also lost his share and quickly faded after the 2nd Maricano fight. However he did give Marciano two tough fights. I had LaStatza slightly in the lead before Rocky started to foul and took the steam out of LaStarza.
He doesn't belong in the Top 500 all time heavies. Please. When your best pelt is a roadkill version of Rex Layne, I slot you behind Brian Neilsen.
