I think Sam Langford has the better record and was perhaps even greater than Rocky Marciano. But head-to-head with both at their absolute bests I wouldn't pick against Marciano in this one, it's gonna be a war and it could go either way. Sorry to sit on the fence with this one but I just cant pick a winner here. Just sit back and enjoy the fight.
Langford is the most hyped fighter on here and deservedly so. For a man of his size to possess the power he did is FREAKISH and his resume speaks for itself. The small footage we have of him; I'm unsold to be honest. Again, I think it's a case of his being great for his time. One thing is that Langford will be able to get great leverage with his wingspan and how will Rocky deal with being the taller man? I think Marciano is not great H2H due to his size and the fact he was hurt by smaller guys coming up. Unlike Ezzard Charles and Archie Moore, I don't believe Langford is all that good in a 'modern sense'. My gut reaction is that he will be stopped but it's not hard to judge how TOUGH he was regardless of ability; I'll give the benefit of the doubt due to his frankly scary resume and the fact he braved so many big guys. Marciano PTS
Marciano actually has a height/reach advantage, 5inches in height , Im going with the Rock in a backburner
Langford "early"? pass me whatever drugs your taking. Only 1-2 heavyweights in history are capable of taking out a fighter of Marcianos strength and durability out early and they are 6'2 + 200lb + ATG monsters. I cannot see a 5'6 180lb man being capable of doing that. Not that I say Langford wouldnt beat him, just that it damm well would not happen early. Its amazing how when Marciano gets matched up against foreman/liston people say "he is too small he will get killed!" so we match him up against much smaller 165-180lb fighters like Fitz, Langford, and Greb, and people say "marciano will get knocked out early" LOL
In their heavyweight primes, I am absolutely positive that I would NOT bet on this fight! I would love to watch it, though. :good
It's a great question and one that rightly shakes Marciano's backers to his boots. There was not much to like about Langford when you fought him; his power never left him, his chin was gold and his style was undeniable. You simply had to fight him off...and good luck with that one. Ted Spoon does not even see Dempsey or a young Louis giving Marciano as much trouble as Langford. He boxed with clean, solid and damaging shots, and then spilled in with numbers; active, involved and dangerous, always. Because Sam's neck was so tightly hunched-up to his shoulders he could get away with leading 'no-no's' like right uppercuts and cheekily avoid the flak. Don't get fixated on the poundage. The killer is that Langford was likely a better hitter than Rocky; just as heavy but with added snap and placement. Langford stepped in with his jab and then dared you to assume the position. When Marciano does, he would enter a new realm. The shorter man, the faster man, and the superior combination punching (which is imperative when the shoulders lock) tip this one for Langford. While Marciano does his damndest to bull Langford back and hit him where he can, faster and equally powerful salvoes will dangerously pour around and underneath him. Marciano was superb at pressing the issue, but his strength lay in gutting you over a period of time with subtle advances, activity and the mental issue of being crowded. It was great against boxers as his style scrunched up their blueprints for control, but Langford would oblige the hostility and inject his own ideas. Langford would expose Marciano to a higher grade of inside slugging, constantly stringing out the argument, getting under the swooping right and jumping back with a shot-gun jab to give himself space for the homers. The long arms, barrel chest and chin of Langford are going to do him nicely on the outside and up close for 15 or even 20 rounds if Marciano likes. And this is the point, it's hard to bet against Langford when he was so tested, and that's without mentioning the stylistic advantages he would work here. Langford via late TKO or Unanimous Decision after some lengthy tactical bombing.
Little Sam Langford with his 4 inches in reach his 44in chest .[same size as Liston's and 2 inches more than Rocky's], his gorilla like arms and shoulders. His superior boxing ability,his PROVEN KO POWER OVER MEN MUCH BIGGER THAN MARCIANO,men such as Wills, and Godfrey. Ok. Godfrey was young,but Langford was 38 and half blind. I admit it, I said Langford early, to get a rise out of some of you,but, consider this . Langford had 128 kos in 315 fights ,sure he had his share of losses ,and so would Rocky have had if he had 315 fights,over 24 years. How many hand cuff jobs were in Langfords resume ? We dont know, did he go easy on Ketchel ,looking for a title fight? Langford was under 5' 7in,Marciano 5' 10 1/2in,Rocky fought from a crouch and would be coming forward anyway. Cancelling out the height difference. Langford had 4 inches in reach on Rocky . Marciano had alltime power,so did Langford .Langford would probably come in between 188 and 198lbs,so no weight advantage for Rocky there. I submit that Langford was a better technician than Marciano ,faster with his punches and his equal inside. It may be heresy ,but I think this is a tossup fight.
This is a really entertaining "what-if" fight for me; I frankly have no clue how to call it because I've never seen Marciano in against a fighter he had a size advantage against. He may actually have been better against the taller guys since he fought low, but it's impossible to know for sure with no real history of him fighting exceptionally short fighters to back it up. I honestly can't say who I'd favor, and I think highly of both fighters.
Langfor is the most under-rated heavyweight on this site head to head and I am happy to put my name to that. If we were to match him against the top heavyweights of history in his prime we would see some huge upsets. Count on it.
One thing about handspeed. Marciano only had a 68 inch reach. The very fact he had short T rex arms means his arms had less distance to travel. This means though it appears slow at times, Rockys hands were actually fast because they were travelling a much shorter distance than fighters like langford with a 75 inch reach. We do not have good enough film of langford to comment on his handspeed.
I would hardly say that. We have numerous people picking him over marciano charles walcott johnson dempsey even louis all the time.
I think the numerous people you mention are a small nucleus who have read the Clay Moyle book. The average poster rates him somwhere among the heavyweights of the lower half of the top 20 head to head. Now how many people would pick him over Larry Holmes or Lennox Lewis or even Vitally Klitschko?
Sorry Suzie ,I dont accept your short arms explanation,short arms mean one thing ,you have to get close. Fighters with long reaches ,Ali 80in ,SRL74in ,SRR 72 1/2in, Roy Jones 74in. Langfords fights with Flynn,Lang , and Hague give me a pretty good impression of his hand speed ,and I would think it is faster than Rocky's.Ditto his foot speed.I think this fight could go either way,and might ruin both men. To my knowledge Marciano only fought one man shorter than himself,Cockell ,he didnt look so good in that one did he?
