Why the dislike for Rocky Marciano

Some see him as the greatest ever because of the 49-0.

 

Larry Holmes seemed to be particularly offended with what he considered unjustifiable Rocky Marciano accolades. Said he wasn't fit to carry his jock strap. Maybe Marciano's brother had something to do with it?

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I think it was a mixture of frustration at losing his 0, and some less than tactful comments from Peter Marciano.

 

What did Peter Marciano say?

 

I don't know the precise details, but I understand that he ran his mouth off before the fight, and said that he hoped Holmes would lose.

Holmes was annoyed because he had given him free tickets.

 

So Holmes was under the impression that Marciano's brother would be fervently rooting for him to break Marciano's record and paid for his admission so Marciano's brother could cheer him on?

 

No, but it wouldn't have killed him to show some gratitude to Holmes.

 

Holmes attitude in general and comments such as those are reasons why he was not given the level of accolades he deserved as champion. Holmes was a great fighter but not very bright.

 

True! people can definitely be very ungrateful for favors and provoke others to anger via the ingratitude. That's why it's good to know all the details before judging someone who is angry and says hurtful things. There is always a cause that triggers it and we shouldn't judge without knowing it.

 

In that interview Larry claimed to have gone from seventh grade to a PhD. Was wondering from what university he earned it. Or maybe it was an honorary gift? Ali was given one by a very prominent university in the USA. But Ali was brilliant. So it came as a total surprise to hear Larry say that.

 

He never finished high school I don't believe. But that's fine. Had Larry carried himself with class his stock would have been much higher as champion. Instead he always appeared to be an angry person concerned he was not being judged as the great fighter he was and thought he was.

 

He was always overshadowed by the Ali legend. That was his main gripe.

 

True and reasonable.

But, it is also true that Marciano never reached the heights of acceptance, respect, or status during his lifetime that Dempsey, Tunney, and Jeffries had. Check the top ten ratings Mendoza posts. That I think is not reasonable.

As a youngster, I wouldn't have put him in the same class as Dempsey as the "experts" didn't. It only later after learning more that my thinking evolved. Who fought and beat the best contenders available? Who never lost?

So my respect for Marciano grew with time and knowledge.

 

Its the same thing with bill russel in the NBA. The era was relatively (key word) weak and people judge him and rocky by todays srandards and thats stupid. Both were clearly top notch athletes and would have been succesful if not highly competitive in any era.

Its only partly true he beat "everyone" in his division tho, there were a handful of guys 6'2 and over with decent records who are conspicuously missing from his resume. However, he didnt retire early to "duck" he was having health problems and manager problems (HATED Al Weil). To his credit he even tried to come out of retirement to fight johansson but his body had broken down too much from age and wear/tear/inactivity fat.

In a p4p sense and for discussuob of legacy, heart, toughness, etc there is nothing wrong with rating Rocky high. My only issue is when people make outrageous claims like hed flatten the Klitschkos in 4 rounds a piece or he would destroy Anthony Joshua with ease. Size matters when he big guy has skill, stamina, strength, etc.

Yes Rocky fought the available competition and thats not his fault many were men in their mid-late 30's with many losses, but you cant simply gloss over this fact, it IS a factor when discussing h2h matchups. If Rocky was dropped by a 38 year old shopworn Moore who was under 200 lbs thats a valid point to bring up, you cant only focus on how "skilled" Moore was.

Overall i think highly of Rocky inside and outside the ring but there were no super heavies in his time so i dont compare them to him. Its not that i think little of rocky it just doesnt make any sense. He would either need to gain weight (which would make him a completely different fighter at 210+ lbs) or you have to force the giants to cut weight and train for 15 rounds. Neither are fair scenarios.

 

I understand that rich guys now have sex robots. Progress, you know. I am comfortable, but not well enough off to afford one of those yet. Anyway, I wonder if my wife would be okay with it.