Who is the biggest person Rocky Marciano fought?

Wasn't jumping. Only pointing out that there was no vast level of skill displayed between group A and group B. But group B had more youth, liveliness and not so much wear and tear.

You made a good effort at beefing up that comeback run.

Maybe if he had stuck around until age 39 to face a Ballesque type of opponent he might have been balled :good

Louis struggled with him in the first fight and was taken the distance in both fights. Not what I'd call dominant for facing a fringe dude.

I'll agree with this.

Indeed. More so than his previous 36 losses combined.

Nearly every aged fighter gave Rocky some rounds.

Fair enough.

I think its even money.

 

Old Louis was being taken the distance by most of his opponents, men he would have demolished in short order were he prime.

Stopping a ringworn 36 years old Savold doesn't mean much to me. Prior to losing to Savold,Wood**** had been badly beaten by Baksi and sustained a permanent eye in jury as a result of it ,he was never the same afterwards, he had one more fight after Savold, being stopped by Jack Gardner ,then retired.

Marciano boosters always have to pretend Louis was still the hitter he had been pre WW2, his subsequent record shouts otherwise.
He was winning fights with his jab.

 

-Not that much more youth. Lyle was like 34 in that fight and all four men are fighting in the same gear. Savold, Louis, and Lyle look like men in the same age group, Shavers does not look like a ball of youthful energy, he never did.

-I said he beat some top 10 and fringe contenders. That's what he did.

-You wanted to compare 37 Louis to 40 Lyle.

-Louis won the first fight by a convincing margin.

So? Everyone went the distance with Brion, he was iron chinned and wouldn't be stopped untli the end of his career by Holman.

-No way to guage such a thing, but the the back to back Louis and Maricano beatings seemed to convince him to hang them up.

-Not while eating flush shots continously without going down.

-Between Louis and Lyle? Fair.

 

Yes, he would have.

I think one punch KOing a guy that had not been stopped in the last 10 years means something. You can argue he was "shopworn" but ultimately Louis was the one to do it. Maricano couldn't drop Savold and blamed the shits on his inability to knock him out.

Haven't seen it in this thread.

Agree, I've said as much, many times.

 

Just on Lee Oma--Oma was a playboy who rarely trained hard excepts in spurts late in his career. He did seem to get serious around the time he fought Bruce W and afterward. In November, 1950, Ring boxing writer Ted Carroll had this to say about the "really gifted prospect" Oma:
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Ted Carroll-Ring Magazine, Nov 1950

"Among such is the talented Lee Oma, Tex Sullivan's handsome heavyweight, who might be world's heavyweight champion today had he really applied himself to developing his great natural abilities. Only a few weeks ago the clowning Lee and Bill Weinberg were disqualified for fouling and clowning in a bout in Ohio. Joe Louis, himself, is among those who rate the Detroiter as the only man who might have been given a real chance with the Brown Bomber."

"For natural skill, Oma has been compared favorably with the likes of Tunney and Johnson, and by such a competent veteran authority as Joe Woodman. On his good nights, light-hearted Lee can vanish from punches as if by magic. Had he been of a more serious frame of mind, he would unquestionably have made his mark as one of the really superlative boxers of all time."
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Hard to tell about this now, for all the film we have of Oma, I think, (or at least all I have ever seen) is his very last fight with a prime Charles, when he is overmatched.

Oma had 17 fights post-Bruce W going into the Charles fight. One was the Weinberg fiasco. In the rest he was 15-1. Nine of these fights were against men who were listed at one time or another in the Ring yearly rankings, and a tenth against future European champion Jo Weiden. He reversed his one loss to Bob Satterfield.

The one conclusion I would draw is that at least potentially he was a formidable opponent for Bruce W.

 

You're right...

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[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHEi5dzsI5k[/url]

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I was at that fight, brought back memories, I had ringside seats I have to watch it again but I think I was sitting from that camera's view. I remember That hook that sent Lyle reeling. This was a dominant win by Quarry and kind of took the steam out of Ron. I went to see Quarry lose to Big Mac Foster 24-0 24KO's and then Shavers who he was supposed to lose to and Lyle was another guy who was supposed to beat him....could never sell Jerry short vs those big slow guys and Jerry was sub 200 and close to 6" although I think he was about 5"11.5 ...I would have loved to see him VS Foreman who was a strong guy but I give Jerry a great chance...Big George was so close to the type of fighter Jerry beat, Foreman hit much harder than Lyle but was easier to nail with right hands...would have been interesting

 

Several of Oma's fights are viewed with suspicion,his inconsistancy may have just been because of his lax training habits, but that is not the impression some boxing writers had.

 

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I saw Jerry fight many times and he was a very good fighter, solid chin and power but some mental issues (Cooney type of father abuse) the thing is Jerry was very good not great. Marciano was great and the type of fighter that he beat IMO Jerry would have trouble with JJW for one and Ezzard Charles for sure. Jerry lost to Jimmy Ellis and he was a poor mans Charles at best. Moore also may have been to cagey and smart for him. Marciano -Quarry would have been a great fight 2 stocky fire plugs for the first few rds (Frazier-Quarry 1) but I see the right hands and work rate of Marciano getting to Jerry and the fight being stopped by the 7-8-9th round with Rocky's hand being raised Just my humble opinion

I knew Jerry and was friends with his brother Mike, Jerry was not a friendly a little nasty (like Jake Lamotta) I met Jake as a kid 15 yrs old in Manhattan and I was with some friends I said hello to him and he said I'm not Jake Lamotta. I know it was but my friends thought I was crazy. Then his daughter ran over (around my age) and she said my father is sorry please come over and say hello he is Jake. Jake said hello but seemed to get a kick out of it. Later on I saw him as a man and with my kids and he was very nice and laughed again at the story. Quarry had an attitude, a chip but he was a tough guy.

 

Quarry is on record stating he was positive he could have beaten Marciano.
I'd say Marciano had trouble with Charles, and JJW.
Quarry broke Shavers jaw.

 

In fairness, there are lots of fighters "on record" who say they could have beaten one great from the past or another. Morrison insisted that he could beat Marciano too. Not something I'd personally bet money on. Nevertheless I think Ron Lyle could have given Rocky Marciano fits. Sure he had some less than stellar performances and Quarry certainly took him to school. But his track record at troubling hall of fame level punchers combined with the size and strength advantage he'd have over Rocky provides some backing to this assertion.

 

Again, where has the plodding 5-10, 185 pound power puncher gone in the heavyweight division?

I'm afraid that Marciano, transported to the modern heavy division, would look a lot more like Just in Fortune than the world beater he was against older, smaller shopworn opponents.

 

don't forget tua was pretty sucessful at 5'9" (like rocky) he was not a good boxer, had average speed, but had great strength,left hook and chin.tyson at 5'10" i consider one of the best ever,frazier and bonavena at 5'10" were either a champ or a nightmare for anyone.orlin norris at 5'10" was a very good boxer and a very good heavy and cruiser champ.i think rocky would lift weights like these gents and be closer to 205lb or 210 lb.