What If Marciano had suffered a loss to JJW?

@Seamus

 

If he loses Walcott likely avoids the rematch if he has any sense and he has to work his way back up the ratings and maybe doesn't get another title shot in his prime

As it was Marciano was only a champion for 3 years and was arguably only fighting at world level for 4 years. It would have been interesting if he fought at world level for a longer time period against different styles

That aside his championship competition is better than Johnson's, Jeffries and Dempsey's

 

Would have been another forgotten good contender like Povetkin or Tua etc. fine line between ATG and really good. Rocky always came through when behind. Charles 1 n 2 and Moore as well he had to dig.

 

Marciano already suffers from having a resume with a lack of fights against others greats at their peak. Those were the available opponents so I don’t blame him for that. A loss however would remove the retired undefeated aspect of his legacy which is one of its biggest strengths. It would also provide a bit of a reality check for some of his more devoted fans who see to think he could have laced up a pair of gloves and curb stomped any and all based on grit and determination.
Expect it to impact him for legacy as well. It’s not a shame to lose to JJW but so much of Rocky’s mystique lies in his being undefeated it would hurt his ranking.
I consider him a great. He benefits from his record but he would have been a handful for anyone around his size regardless of era.
Outside of the top 10 but just by a hair. Probably a more reasonable assessment of his true standing.

 

It would’ve killed Marciano’s career, since that was going to be his only shot at the title.

Walcott would’ve had little incentive to rematch Marciano and most of the other top heavyweight contenders would’ve frozen Marciano out, so he would be just another promising contender that failed to reach the top.

 

Walcott really deserved an easy defense before Marciano nevermind afterwards

 

So Jersey Joe gets up from the 13th round knockdown and makes it to the final bell? Had the fight continued for 15 rounds, and Walcott managed to win the decision, the way Rocky was coming on, I am guessing we would have seen a split decision. Jersey Joe would have given Rocky a rematch if the demand for it was high enough to make that the biggest money fight for Walcott out there. Then, if Rocky wins the title in the rematch, I do not see my opinion of Rocky Marciano changing much, if at all, as long as Rocky still does what he did after that.

 

Okay. In that case, I do not see my all time ranking of Rocky Marciano changing. Others may think differently.

 

Before the fight, Walcott was talking about going on a world tour, possibly culminating in a defence against British champion Johnny Williams in June 53. That would have meant Marciano would have a long wait for a second try. Of course, that's a plan that might have changed if people enjoyed the first fight enough that there was big money on offer for a rematch.

 

Rocky's two wins over Walcott are fantastic wins when you consider that he had recently knocked out ATGs Ezzard Charles and Harold Johnson.. that he was 38 is by the by to me.. he had just gotten some of the best wins of his career.. & you can't necessarily be sure younger Walcott probably would have won either, because younger Walcott lost to far lesser fighters than Rocky. Walcott was probably preserved a bit better than most too because he didn't have a very high fight frequency in comparison to a lot of his forebears.. over 23 years he had 70 fights.