Which one of these past champions would have the hardest time today?

Johnson. Even if he was ahead of his time, gloved boxing was just very primitive back then due to a large transition of fight rules.

 

It's hard to say, really. At their fighting weights, both Rocky and Joe would be Cruiserweights, and they could definitely succeed there. And, Jack Johnson's game comes across as a bit of a hybrid of Chris Byrd and John Ruiz (good defense, counterpuncher, loves to clinch and is effective using it) from what I've read.

I'd probably have to go with Johnson because the size advantage he almost always had wouldn't be there, but that's not to say he couldn't have adapted either- just that he'd probably have the most to do compared to Frazier and Marciano.

 

Marciano.

He'd get DQ'ed often. Not saying his fouls were or weren't intentional, but he committed a lot of them, and roughing up his opponent was an integral part of how he fought. Brutal, unrelenting pressure.

Also, if the Ezzard/Marciano fight took place today it wouldn't even be a question or whether or not to stop it. No doubt, it would be. Rocky's toughness, one of his best attributes, wouldn't matter much when he's being stopped on horrible cuts and what not.

 

At his best, he was 210 or under, and usually at 205 or lower- and this was with an open weight limit. With the way weigh ins are done now, I think at least part of his career would've been spent at Cruiserweight.

 

Very good points.

 

Why would he? Fighters still get a away with tons of that **** today, i.e. Tyson, Holyfield, etc.

 

None of them and they'd be even better with modern sports sciences available to them

 

Marciano

Simply because if it were today, Johnson and Frazier would both defeat Marciano in the standards that now exist. Johnson would have a team around him and the ability to focus on boxing, taking great shape into each fight. With all the swirl of his life around him, I don't think Johnson ever had the opportunity to just be a professional fighter. A lot of this troubles wouldn't be an issue today.

Frazier, would simply be better managed and would have less competition to handle on his way up to the big stage. It's hard to know how much the cadre of 70's HW's could've really done, if they didn't have so many great talents taking so much out of them, fight after fight after fight. He'd have a fresher body and the skill to maintain it in ways that didn't exist back then. On top of that, he'd still have the great heart that usurped the toll his body took - with a solid, fresh physical base to back it up with.

Marciano, though, is going to be small and slow no matter what. He's going to benefit from the same things that Frazier would, but you can't make a good athlete great, they are what they are.

 

Johnson. Lacks much of the skill needed to compete with today's fighters who are better schooled and not so much the bar brawlers that extant footage proves his contemporaries were. Also, he would less often have great advantages in size and strength over his opponents.

I am assuming both Marciano and Frazier would be cruisers.

 

When I saw the title of this post I made a bet with myself that one of the three would be Johnson, surprise, surprise! Another agenda led thread M? I won't join this one.

 

Are you suggesting Marciano was not a great athlete? He was plenty fast for slicksters like LaStarza, Charles and Walcott. I will agree he does not cut it against the super heavies of today and is better measured against the cruisers. But he was certainly a tremendous athlete with unrivaled power, flexibility and stamina and very under-rated timing.