Was the Joe Louis vs Marciano underrated?

He was still a good fighter but past his best. Not much else to say

 

How old was Marciano?

 

Marciano's resume is very underrated. He beat alot of contenders as well as ATG fighters, and most of them several times. I'm not really even a big fan of him but he did beat several of my favorite fighters from that era.

 

He was still excellent but no longer the ATG level. He has six wins against quality competition, including Jimmy Bivins and Lee Savold.

The main thing is he had some problem with his right arm, so the big power and combos were not there. He had become more of a boxer, controlling fights with the jab, and sometimes mixing in a powerful hook.

 

Exactly.
He fought with pure toughness and rawness, can you imagine if he had started boxing young like most do..

 

Savold wasn't "quality competition" when Louis beat him. Thats like saying Holmes win against Ali was against a good opponent, when its only the name, that makes that win great.

 

He was washed up. Not Marciano's fault, he got the job done.

 

That fight always makes me believe that Louis would have always had massive problems with Marciano. Style wise Marciano was all wrong for him and the way Louis fought him was all wrong IMO. Louis was the taller man with the longer reach and the better boxer. But throughout that fight he was actually bringing himself down to Marciano's level making it more of a fight in Marciano’s favor. Was he older yes?
Was he fighting for money? Yes
Were his legs not what they once were? Yes
Was he still Joe Louis and had significant wins prior to the fight? Yes

So prime for prime to pick a winner you’d have to believe Joe would be most dangerous in the first 6 rounds and have the best opportunities to win. After that he gets broken down. I’m basing it off of the Marciano and Walcott fight and the Marciano Charles fights. Especially Walcott who was a master boxer and way more mobile then Joe and he was eventually caught up to. Joe himself admitted even in his prime Marciano would have been hell. Great fighters all of them and RIP to them

 

After Rocky's death Joe Louis said that marciano was the greatest champion of that century. I tend to agree, u may not, i dont care ... there's been no one like him before or since and that is a mark of true greatness.. yes I know everybody loves Ali but lets be honest Rocky was little more than a middleweight stature wise.. I don't think there's much size difference with GGG for example.. he also had a very short career yet achieved remarkable things & developed a unique style that was incredibly effective .. & pound-for-pound speaking his power is right up there with anyone ever.. Marciano and Holyfield are my two favourite 'heavyweights' p4p of all-time .. there's just something different about watching Marciano on that old black and white footage, it's hard to put your finger on but he's just one of of the individuals I think about when I think about why I love and got into this sport. Hes the GOAT for me. Sure there are more skilled and more accomplished Fighters but that's just my preference.

 

I know exactly what you mean.

Maybe it's because he ate so many punches yet never stopped marching forward throwing haymakers. The guy was a machine and a really nice bloke too boot.

 

Louis was shot to pieces, his right hand was firing blanks and his jab alone couldn't keep Marciano off him though he did tattoo Marciano's face with it. I've always thought a prime Louis would bust up Marciano and stop him as Marciano was a slow starter, Moore dropped him early as did Walcott so it's not a unreasonable to think Joe hurts him early and unlike those two Louis is a premium finisher in heavyweight history.

 

He was coming off a win against Bruce Woodcoock. Solid opponent.