Walcott vs. Marciano II...

I think to suggest that the fight was anything other than on the level is out of order.
Walcott failed to beat the count by a split second. Why is a good question.

First, it must be established that Walcott was hit with a thudding right hand, a right hand many watching in cinemas didn't even see thanks to the camera angle. Different camera angles do show a hard right hand landing. The referee also said afterwards that Joe was hit with a good right hand, and Rocky said it 'packed some beef.'

Now the crucial question is: Could Walcott have gotten up, and if so, why didn't he?
My feeling is that, although stunned and dropped legitimately, he perhaps could have beaten the count. It's been reported that Walcott was waiting for his corner to tell him to get up, and his corner actually messed things up by telling Walcott to get up too late.
You can actually see him looking over at his corner as the ref is counting.

Perhaps Walcott erred in that, instead of looking to his corner, he should have been paying more attention to the ref's count, whose count after all, was the only one that mattered.
Another factor was the position in which he took the count - sitting on his ass. Why didn't he get to one knee? In the position he was in, he could have got up at 'nine', and still technically failed to beat the count, as he would still be rising off the deck as the ref counted 'ten.' (Walcott actually only began to rise at 'ten.')

Muhammad Ali once said that time seems to slow down when you're groggy and hurt, and perhaps this is a typical example. Walcott, dazed and a little out of it, looks to his corner for the count whilst seated on his butt - two cardinal mistakes that he might have not committed had he been fully in control of his senses.
His corner tells him to rise, but Walcott's still a bit dazed and responds a second too late.
Legitimate KO.

 

Fighters who spring up at 11 always crack me up. For the most part, they can get up at 10, but chose to take the count.

I beleive Walcott after he was knocked down elected not to get up. Walcott says he blacked out, but he does not look dazed to me.

 

I'm hearin' ya on this one. Even better when they start protesting and abusing the poor ref.

 

White America did not keep Marciano as Champion, his 2 fisted attack, heart,stamina and will to win did....If the White America had a racist interest in it like You claim, Liston and Ali would have never been Champ.......THIS ONE ONE OF THE MOST TRANSPARENT AND STUPID RESPONSES I HAVE READ AND IT IS A CASE OF THE POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK AND THAT WAS A STUPID RACIST REMARK

 

By The Way It Was A Powerfull. Well Timed Right Uppercut That Hurt Walcott And The Reminder Of The Relentless Pursuit Of Marciano, His Painfull Punching.....if Walcott Beat The Count Or Not Is A Mute Point Because Marciano Always Got Better In Rematches And The End Was Near

 

What seems to be often forgotting, is that unlike thsos earlier champs, like Dempsey or Jeffiries, Marciano hid behide no color bar. The top black fighters got there title shots. There was no Harry Wills waiting for nearly 7 plus years for his title shot. Marciano was able to knock Charles, Moore and Walcott off the top rankings.

 

Three brief rhetorical questions and a statement of fact with no affectation whatsoever really constitute a vitriolic attack, eh?

 

Actually, I think you need to relax. It's not so much that I am projecting animosity as it is that you're reading it into my posts. Look at how sensitive your reaction is to a relatively mild answer like mine- I didn't say anything that was overtly offensive or aggressive ("Conspiratorial much?" is the closest I came- surely your skin isn't that thin). Your replies have shown far more aggression and animosity than anything I've said has. I admit I find it annoying to see conspiracy theories like this repetitiously forwarded when a simple cursory examination of the facts can so plainly refute it (it's easily visible on the film that Walcott does not beat the count, and can be proven by freeze-frame if one really can't tell in normal time, and the entire idea doesn't make sense in the first place as I outlined in my first post), but I hardly responded in a manner analogous to "breathing down people's necks like I've got ****** mad cow disease."

 

Nothing in this world is safe from political forces and conspiracies however I think this fight was mostly a case of Walcott not really wanting to continue. He got knocked out cold in their first fight and gets knocked dowwn in the first round in the rematch. He couldn't have been very confident at that point.

 

You see, you're reading this whole "fanatical, bloodthirsty 'How dare you'" into my post. I posed two rhetorical questions in the first two sentences which highlighted the fact that the idea you appeared to have brought into discussion was not a reasonable one, added a "Conspiratorial much?" which was really pretty warranted, given the unreasonability of the theory, and said, "But no, Walcott didn't beat the count," which is a matter of fact. There is a mild dose of sarcasm/rhetoric in there meant to highlight the implausibility of the idea you were apparently implying in the first post, but nothing "fanatical, bloodthirsty," or as to say "How dare you?"

In the opening post of this thread, what you wrote was "Did Walcott really not beat the count? Was there fear that Walcott knew what he had to do the second time around and he could potentially be a threat to Marciano's title reign and record? Eh?" Hence, the question as you posed it at the start of the thread was whether or not Walcott beat the count and was robbed out of favoritism to Marciano. Since: A. Walcott being knocked down for a nine-and-a-half count would not have been a readily foreseeable occurence, and B. it is readily visible on the film that he isn't up until after "10" anyway, the idea is pretty obviously implausible, and I was mildly- mildly, mind you- ribbing in my response. Admittedly, I find it somewhat annoying that you seem to have such a fixation on the idea that Marciano, a fighter who worked and fought hard through every step of his career, numerous times won with circumstances stacked against him, and, unlike most of the white champions who preceded him, drew absolutely no color lines, fighting the best regardless of color and even giving dangerous black opponents rematches, was somehow a product of racism, cowardly maneuvering or both. I expect most fighters' fans would find such behavior aggravating, particularly towards a champion who showed as much dedication, courage and integrity as Marciano. But I have not "breathed down your neck like I had ****** mad cow disease," made rampant conspiracy-theory allegations, expressed overt hostility or responded in a "fanatical, bloodthirsty" manner- rather, you have read such things into a response which was fairly unremarkable and non-objectionable in nature. Since you obviously take this sort of thingbadly, in the future, I will be careful not to use even that level of criticism towards you.

 

The fight was defintley legit, a controversial dissapointing ending, but there was no fake. Marciano hit him with a real good right hand