49 Win 49–0 Archie Moore This content is protected , 1:19 Sep 21, 1955 48 Win 48–0 Don Cockell This content is protected , 0:54 May 16, 1955 47 Win 47–0 Ezzard Charles This content is protected , 2:36 Sep 17, 1954 46 Win 46–0 Ezzard Charles This content is protected Jun 17, 1954 45 Win 45–0 Roland La Starza This content is protected Sep 24, 1953 44 Win 44–0 Jersey Joe Walcott This content is protected , 2:25 May 15, 1953 43 Win 43–0 Jersey Joe Walcott This content is protected , 0:43 Sep 23, 1952 38 Win 38–0 Joe Louis This content is protected Oct 26, 1951 ...quicker? Rocky beat those title fighters plus Joe Louis in a total of 74 rounds, which is an avarage of 9.25 rounds. Who do you see beating them quicker?
Logically you would expect another great, to fare better against some, and worse against others. The point being that nobody has everything.
I struggle to see Cockell, LaStarza, Walcott and Moore lasting so long vs a prime Tim Witherspoon....
You think Cockell and LaStarza go nine and eleven rounds respectively, with the version of Tim who fought Holmes, Tillis, Page or Pinky? They'd be lucky to see six imo...
I wouldn't put money on him beating Charles, but he could certainly beat the other two. It's not like they were leagues above Witherspoon as heavyweights, and they'd be at massive size disadvantages. Neither have chins as good as Charles' either.
At the risk of stating the obvious, almost every world class opponent that Witherspoon fought, lasted the distance. Why would you imagine that he was going to simply blow out these guys?
I think Fran's Botha has a serious chance. That's a paltry crew by modern standards. Old, shopworn non-athletes.
We all know Witherspoon was an ATG HW puncher, so thats not fair. Well, I see Herbie Hide for a fighter with a lower weight doing a fantastic job here. To be honest, I see the 205 Evander Holyfield doing it in less than 50 rounds (< 7 rounds avr). Did you know Evander Holyfield was one of the hardest HW punchers ever?
At the risk of staying the obvious, almost every world class opponent Witherspoon fought, was 20-30lbs (at least) bigger than Cockell or LaStarza. And he stopped Bruno, who was certainly better than those two. As well as being much bigger. Because he was about 40lbs heavier, 5" taller with a much longer reach, plus he's technically sound, capable of applying excellent aggression and has clearly has a huge punch. Why do you think they make 9 or 11?