Sailor Tom v Rocky Marciano???

Arguably. Bonavena actually liked to lay back against pressure fighters and while heavy-handed, never iced anyone with single punches.

Bonavena however weighed around the 205-210 pound mark while Sharkey weighed 175-180.

 

??

Come again?

Where exactly did you get this information? Because it is completely inaccurate. Gus Ruhlin was "around the 160 pound mark?

 

Are you saying that Choynski and McCoy weren't among his best knockouts?

 

Other than McCoy, which of the rated contenders that Sharkey beat were around the 160 pound mark?

 

Well Corbett was 182lbs, and Ruhlin would have been around 200.

Are these guys any smaller than the opponents Marciano proved himself against?

 

Almost iced Joe Frazier with a single punch. And what you're saying points to Rocky being the better finisher and greater fighter, not the stronger fighter.

 

Rated by whom?

Corbett lost on a DQ, although Sharkey was doing well at the time. He was not necessarily on the verge of a KO.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...&pg=1321,5723651&dq=tom+sharkey+corbett&hl=en

Ruhlin weighed 190 pounds. Avenged the loss on a KO against a younger Sharkey who was coming off 6 straight KO wins.

 

Almost is not quite accomplishing the fact. Frazier took his best in their rematch and muscled him around. Bonavena was actually doing well as a counter-fighter against Frazier and Chuvalo.

 

I am saying that Joe Choynski did not weight 160 pounds. He was closer to 170-175.

 

Rated by the scribes and boxing men of the day. If one does research on the era it becomes very clear who the top heavyweights were.

 

He had scaled 163 pounds in his previous fight, a whipping by the 5 feet tall, 147 pound Barbados Joe Walcott. Might as well have re-named him "Crystal" Joe for that chin of his.

 

A far cry from the 160 pounds you cited, yes? And once again, despite the KO streak Sharkey was considered to be all in after the Jeffries fight. You can't just Boxrec and think you're getting a clear idea of what was going on at the time.

 

I never once claimed that Ruhlin weighed 160 pounds. Choynski and McCoy did. Based on what exactly was Ruhlin rated a top heavyweight at the time he faced Tom Sharkey?

I'm not saying Sharkey wasn't done after Jeffries, but he was 26 years old and had fought for 7 years as a pro. Perhaps he just wasn't that great after all? His record pre-Jeffries wasn't that of an all-time greats either.

I'm saying he shouldn't be put on the same pedestal with Rocky Marciano, one of the greatest heavyweights of all time, who proved time and time again how great he was against hall of fame opponents.

 

Right here. Ruhlin was one of the best heavyweights of that era. And because The Ring magazine didn't exist back then one had to go by consensus of boxing writers, trainers, promoters and the fighters themselves. If there had been a de facto "Top 10" ratings list back then rest assured Ruhlin would have been on the list. Simple research into the era bears out that contention.