Which Heavyweight Champs Beat Rocky?

I agree with these points.

I think there are champions from other eras who deserve to start favourite against Marciano but I think it is foolish to part with much money. An old Marciano, had he continued, would have shown decline and like all faded stars would have lost to lesser foes just like anyone else.

It's difficult to predict anything disastrous happening to many great fighters in their absolute prime since most were not beaten in their prime. ALI against Williams. Who beats that guy? The same goes for Marciano. There is a reason why the world does not churn out more than one ATG in the same weight class at any one time.

 

And a 2000 Marciano, in a different era, probably around 205-10 vs. either of the Klits (put them back to 1952) and they're around 225 with far less musculature? And they'll ''smash him to bits?"
Eras FJ, eras. You simply can't compare the majority of the time.

 

But some eras are more competitive than others and do get more than one at a time. Jeffries' era had Johnson. Johnson's had Langford, Mcvey, and Jeannette. Dempsey's had Wills and Tunney. Louis' had Baer and Schmeling. Patterson's had Liston. Ali's had Frazier and Norton. Holmes' had Foreman, Teofilo Stevenson, Witherspoon. Tyson's had Holyfield, and Felix Savon. Lewis' had Bowe, and Ibeabuchi. Wlad Klitschko had Vitali. There is usually at least one other.

 

Well, I think the Williams that fought Holmes would have given Rocky a lot of problems. Similarly, guys like Tucker, Page, Spoon, Thomas, Tate etc. (Provided they were in form.)

In the 90's, a guy like Mercer wold have been a very tough fight for Rocky, imo.
Morrison, Ruddock, Damiani, Bruno...all tough fights for the much smaller Rocky.

Again, that is not to discredit the great man at all. But he would have had some really serious fights on his hands in the era of the big men.

 

I don't rate Marciano. If he'd lost one fight people would not talk about him to much. When he thought Louis in 1951 Louis said he could see opening but he wasn't quick enough to capitalize. A younger Louis would have knocked Marciano out in the later rounds. If he fought Ali he would be a mess after three rounds, same if he fought Holmes or Lewis or even Klitschko. Anyone with a long jab would mess Rocky's face up. I think a fight with Dempsey or Frazier could have been a classic but I still think Rocky would lose. The only thing he had going for him was heart and determination.

 

...Which goes a long, long way in this sport. He also had a mighty whack and a great chin, and legendary endurance. Underrated intelligence too. Not too bad, actually.

I think sometimes some people miss the point with Rocky. Even though he retired unbeaten he was not unbeatable.
Novices to the sport may think of him as some great, unbeatable monster but the reality is that he was just a ridiculously tenacious little anvil of a man with a never-say-die attitude.
But that's what makes him special for me. He's like the guy voted least likely to succeed in life by his classmates and then goes out to make millions years later.
And let's face it, it wasn't by fluke.

 

I just think if he had met a prime Louis, Walcott or Charles then it would be a different story today. He was lucky in the first Walcott fight. He was behind on all the scorecards when they both threw right hands, Rocky's landed first, properly the best looking punch ever. I just think if you put him in with the best he wouldn't look too good!

 

That was hardly the first hard punch Rocky landed against Joe. Was Louis lucky against Conn?

 

Louis was lucky against Conn because he was so worn out from eighteen title defences in four years because World War Two was coming. No other Champion had that schedule ever.

 

You make your own luck in boxing. The harder you work the luckier you get. Nobody worked harder than Marciano.

 

Era comparisons! Era comparisons! Enough $%^&*# already!!!