Top Cruiserweight now assuming he could get up to 190 lbs? I know he fought and knocked out heavyweights at 185lbs but would he have been a menace at 190 lbs since it's inception or even an ATG?
Marciano was 5'10", with a 68 inch reach. Usyk, both cruiserweight and heavyweight champion, by comparison is 6'3" with a 78 inch reach. Marciano would be better served going from his weight of 188 down to 175 and competing at Light Heavy weight. As far as cruiserweight goes he would be able to compete but he would be at severe disadvantages. The most detrimental is that with modern rules his gloves would go from 6 ounce horsehair to 10 ounce latex foam. This would lessen his punching power significantly.
Marciano’s trim was 193 lbs. Until his last couple of years Marciano stayed near this weight almost year round and would usually come in around 187-190 for most of his fights. Some of the Boxrec weight listings are 4-5 pounds off. Also, In the 50’s Marciano was fighting guys that were very experienced and hard to land on, so it made sense for Marciano to come in trim and as light as possible. However, nowadays mobility and ring experience are lacking in the heavyweight division. Most of the guys are big targets and not very mobile, so Marciano wouldn’t have to take off as much weight, since the tricky 180 lb heavyweights aren’t around anymore. In a lot of Marciano’s army bouts and amateur bouts Marciano fought at around 195-205 and was still successful. Even during his own career when Marciano was fighting bigger and less mobile opponents like Shkor, Bill Wilson, Buonvino, and Simmons he tended come in at 190 lbs or over.
Assuming he doesn't take HGH or some other PEDs, he would best be served by boiling down to LHW and then bulking back up to CW later in the career to become a multi-division champ.
Of course. Ali says Marciano is better than Joe Frazier and he is not sure if he would have beat him. What more do you want? Ok, what cruiser today can throw almost 100 punches in the 15th round of a fight like Maricano? This content is protected Let's hear what the greats have to say about Rocky Marciano: JOE LOUIS "It hurt to bump into him....He hits harder than Max Schmeling...this kid is tough enough to beat anyone." "The Rock didn't know too much about the boxing book, but it wasn't a book he hit me with. It was a whole library of bone crushers." "He's a good fighter. Better than most people realize. He's strong and young and hard to hit." "Rocky was a very deceiving guy. He was not easy to hit." MUHAMMED ALI “I could have beaten all of those guys, except for maybe Marciano.” “When I was 14 years old and listening to the radio and I heard the announcer, ‘.and still champion of the whole world, Rocky Marciano..’ I knew I wanted to be champion someday. He was a big influence in the start of my career.” "Ooo he hit hard. He hit you so hard it'd jar your kin folks in Africa...it'd been rough...I truly think on my best day and his best day I would have beaten him...I think he was better than Joe Frazier, I truly think he was better than Joe Frazier and you know what Joe Frazier did to me...I think it would be even, he may have won. It's just hard...In his heyday, he may have won. It's up to the imagination. (When asked who would have given him the most trouble) "Rocky Marciano...He would be the most trouble I think...Rocky Marciano." ACHIE MOORE (When asked which punch hurt him most) "Man they all hurt." "After a fight with Marciano, it felt like you had been beat all over the upper body with a black jack or hit with rocks." "He could hurt you sure, but it was the quantity of his punches. He just had more stamina than anyone else in those days. He was like a bull with gloves." JERSEY JOE WALCOTT "Joe could take you out with combinations...Marciano was a one-punch artist. He threw every punch like you throw a baseball, as hard as he could. I have to say, with all respect to Joe, Marciano hit harder." “I liked that title. I didn’t want to lose it to anybody, but if I had to lose it, I’m glad I lost it to you. You’re a good fighter and gonna be a great champ.” EZZARD CHARLES: "Rocky numbs you all over. Wherever he hits you, he hurts you; on the arms, the shoulders, the neck and the head." JACK DEMPSEY "What everyone forgets is that Marciano can punch harder with a right hand than any modern-day heavyweight. In his first fight with Walcott, Rocky needed only one blow to win the title. The power in his right scrambled Jersey Joe's brains at Chicago." "I've scored my share of knockouts along the way, but more often than not my opponents got up after being knocked down and had to be knocked down repeatedly. The same is true of Joe Louis. But Marciano needs only one solid smash and it's all over. That's why I say Rocky Marciano is the hardest-hitting heavyweight champion I have seen." GEORGE FOREMAN I rank “Joe Louis 1, Marciano 2” Marciano retired undefeated. No other heavies has ever done it; JOE FRAZIER “Joe Louis is the greatest heavyweight champion of all time. Rocky Marciano is second only to Louis. Where do I rate Ali? Somewhere below me. I beat him, and if I could beat him, no doubt Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano could have beaten him.” FLOYD PATTERSON "He was the most determined heavyweight I have ever seen in my life. That man got in the ring and there was no way he was going to lose... Determination is based in the mind. How far can you go? What is your limit? With Marciano there was no limit." ROLAND LASTARZA "In defense. It was harder to get at him ... Rocky fools you. He doesn't take as much punishment as it seems. He looks easy to hit inside but he isn't." "I would throw a hard punch, then he would throw a hard punch. The difference was that Rocky would throw 10 more. He just never stopped throwing punches." CHARILE GOLDMAN "He ain't as easy to hit as they say. Rocky rolls under punches and he weaves under punches ... He protects his belly by blocking with his elbows. ANEGELO DUNDEE "Rocky was a very deceiving guy. He was not easy to hit." KNEENE SIMMONS "He fools you. When you look at him from outside the ring he seems easy to hit ... But if you're in the ring with him you find this isn't the case ... His head is bobbing and he's crouched low, so low in fact that you can't get a clear shot at him." "Marciano is a good puncher and he's hard to hit. He has a funny style." HARRY "KID" MATHEWS "He was a great puncher, one of the best of all-time. He just threw one punch after another, and all of them were hard." PHIL MUSCATO "Dan, I can still feel his punches. He kept punching me in the upper arms until I could no longer hold them up to defend or throw punches". BERNIE REYNOLDS "He had amazing strength. Any time Marciano hit you, he could hurt you. He didn't do much flicking; every punch was a knockout punch." DOC KEARNS "Marciano hits harder than Jack Dempsey did" FERDIE PACHECO "He was chastised by the press every time he fought as being a Neanderthal, no concept of boxing, who was going to get beat as soon as he got in with someone who could box, who was gonna make him look silly…It took a long time for the boxing scribes to realize they were in the presence of sheer power.
He'd get destroyed at HW and probably at CW as well. His best case is Beterbiev and probably not even that.
I like the idea of him boiling down to LHW, especially with the day before weigh ins. He'd absolutely slaughter everyone there. I still think CW, he'd do alright in.
Best analysis is simply.... watch his fights. This content is protected Could he be a top cruiser? Sure. He could probably compete with other top cruisers, winning some and losing some. Would he be a great cruiser? Idk... I dont see it. And as far as being the greatest cruiser, personally I think Usyk would dominate him. I think he would be more suited for 175 and him vs Beterbiev would be an ATG matchup.
