Which heavyweight champion’s legacy would be hurt the most by a 12 round format?

James J Jeffries

Though really, they fight to the rules. No doubt it the differences give advantages to certain styles etc., but you can't look just at how they were doing up to round X, and assume that's how it would have gone had it lasted that long.

 

@FOTC, I don´t have Frazier ahead after round 12. I believe he would have been rated lower drastically without that single win. As would the FOTC itself.

 

Not one of the choices, but the ultimate example would be Mike Weaver, who would be forgotten now if he had fought in the 12 round era.

 

Billy Conn was knocked out by Louis in the thirteenth round in 1941 after being ahead on the scorecards. Likewise Jersey Joe was up against Rocky when Marciano clocked him in the 13th round of their fight. The 13th round is truly the hard luck number at least for Walcott and Conn.

 

If Louis-Conn I and Marciano-Walcott I had been 12 round fights, I think there is every chance that Louis and Marciano score stoppages within the distance. Both were clutch performers, which is part of why they were great champions.

Playing the question with a straight bat though and taking the fights as W12 for Conn and Walcott, both Louis and Marciano would have had a significant dent in their legacy.

Louis would have been the first, and for a long time the only heavyweight champion to be unseated by the LHW champ. He would probably have regained the title in the inevitable rematch which would have restored some of the lustre, but the 25 defences and 11 year reign would be less notable with a break in between.

Marciano is really hard to quantify as the What If? scenario is less clear. If Walcott wins a clear but hard-fought decision, is there demand for an immediate rematch? If not, who does Walcott defend against, as there doesn't seem to be an overwhelming challenger? Surely a 5th fight with Charles is out of the question? If not Marciano, does someone else knock off the aging Walcott in the meantime?

I think 49-0 is a bigger part of Marciano's legacy than Louis' title reign being uninterrupted, but it really depends how Marciano recovers from the loss to Walcott.

 

Both would be hurt by 12 rounds but Marciano's legendary stamina would be damn near useless. A loss against Walcott would've been worse than a past prime Louis losing to Conn.

 

To be fair, Louis would've won his rematch too.