fergusg wrote:I’ve thought long and hard about this… and I think I have to ignore the men listed in Freedom’s poll, as he clearly has an agenda to fulfil, so I’ve come up with a name that I truly believe has a legacy that may have been overrated!
Even though he was unbeaten, there are certain issues surrounding Rocky Marciano’s career that may leave him open to criticism:
• He had only one world title fight against an opponent that weighed more than 200lbs (he usually came to fight at around the 187lb mark).
• He was a limited slugger, who is really only really admired for his toughness, endurance, conditioning and punching power.
• His biggest wins were two fights against a 38 & 39 year old version of Jersey Joe Walcott, a 37 year old Joe Louis, a 38 year old Archie Moore and a 33 year old overweight version of Ezzard Charles (who’d lost two of his previous four fights leading up to the Rocky fight). Remember, back in those days, they did not have the scientific approach to training and nutrition, so fighters aged much quicker back then than they do nowadays.
• Rocky’s legacy is built on his “unbeaten” record, but many feel that he actually lost to Roland LaStarza.
• He was carefully managed, which meant that his handlers did not always match him with the truly best fighters of his time. For instance, when Rocky was a contender, it was rumoured that he avoided Nino Valdez & Bob Baker. At one point Valdez was on a very impressive winning streak, it was claimed during that period that he was "avoided" by the Rock.
• Marciano only defended his title six times, and to be honest when he was the champion, there was a distinct lack of quality contenders available for him to have defended his crown against. So in reality we will never know how good Marciano was.
• If Rocky would have fought for another year longer, he would have had to defend his titles against younger opponents like Ingemar Johansson, Floyd Patterson and possibly Sonny Liston.
• Much has been said about Marciano’s lack of size and that his fights were usually of a “David & Goliath” nature. His successes over these perceived “bigger” opponents lead many to believe that he was an “abnormally powerful puncher” in a smaller “Heavyweight” package, which enhanced his legacy. Yet in terms of actual weight, he wasn't really that much smaller than his opponents.
Since Marciano did retire undefeated, that leaves him with a permanent aura of invincibility and that is why some people can be biased. I believe that he was a great fighter, but there will always be doubts in many people’s minds’ due to the lack of high-calibre in-their-prime opponents on his resume.
That being said, when Larry Holmes failed to tie with Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 record, by losing to Michael Spinks, he deservedly received a lot of criticism for saying that “Rocky Marciano couldn't carry my jockstrap.” This may have been a disrespectful thing for Holmes to have said, but I feel that there may have been an element of truth to this harsh claim.
There’s no real right or wrong when people perform mythical comparisons of boxers from various weights and eras. Debates of this nature will continue as long as the sport exists, with people’s opinions depending on nothing more than which fighter you admire the most.
Marciano is by far the most overrated of all time! Holmes was robbed in that fight with Spinks because of the outburst he made on HBO about the Jock Strap comment, the establishment didn't want to see him tie or break that record. The rematch he beat Spinks even clearer than the first time out but they still shut him down.
