pundit wrote:Charles was way, way beyond his prime.BrocktonBlockbuster49 wrote: - he won every round of the charles rematch knocking him down 3 times
...... and Moore was a goddamn blown-up light-heavyweight. A great blown-up light-heavyweight, but a blown-up light-heavyweight.- marciano DOMINATED archie moore winning nearly every round and knocking him down 5 times in the process
As for Walcott, Walcott was of course old but he fought great in their first bout - and he was winning clearly until Susie Q saved the day for Rocky.
Don't get me wrong, these are no poor wins. But they don't make you an Ali or a Louis.
Cheers, P
PS: I suggest we continue only if one of us comes up with something really new.
how was he way way beyond his prime?? since losing the title in 1951, he had beaten every contender he faced besides valdes. (harold johnson and rex layne losses were ROBBERIES). the valdes loss was a case of charles showing up out of shape and overconfident not to mention valdes is a very good fighter.
plus charles had recentley fought one of the best fights of his career 3 months earlier losing a close 15 fight with marciano.
you can argue that charles was ruined from the first marciano fight, and didnt have enough time to recover and u can argue he showed up overweight for the marciano rematch, but he was not well beyond his prime.
he was past his prime for sure, but not well beyond it. not like louis was in 51 vs marciano . charles was still a great fighter when he fought marciano.
charles POST 1954 was well beyond his prime, in fact more than that. the marciano fights ruined charles
ill hold it that the charles of the first marciano fight was as good as any opponent joe louis beat during his title reign
...... and Moore was a goddamn blown-up light-heavyweight. A great blown-up light-heavyweight, but a blown-up light-heavyweight.
well this "godaamm" blown up light-H was tearing up the best contenders in the heavyweight divisiomn.
check it out who moore was beating in the heavyweight division leading up to the marciano fight.........
6'3 215lb nino valdes 2x - # 1 ranked
6'2 215lb bob baker - # 2 ranked
clarence henry- # 3 ranked hall of famer
harold johnson - hall of famer light-h/top heavy contender
moore esentially in a 3 year span 1953-55 beat 4 top heavyweight contenders. with ezzard charles ruined from the marciano fights, moore now was clearly the best heavyweight challenger in the division.
and these guys moore was dominating, they were all very good heavyweights. i rate moore top 35 heavyweights of all time and he deserves it. moore was one of the best heavyweight contenders never to win a title. had patterson not been around, moore would have been the next heavyweight champ and reigned till sonny liston came in 58. dont forget marciano dominated moore. only ATG heavyweights marciano, patterson, ali was able to beat moore. and the only heavyweight to beat moore close to his 185lb heavyweight prime was rocky marciano.
the fact he dominated a very good all time heavyweight contender like archie moore only further exemplifies marcianos greatness. marciano dominating moore is like larry holmes dominating a tim witherspoon
i might add moore was not a blown up light-h. he was a huge light-H who had trouble making the weight. his natural weight was over 200lb. moore fighting at 185lb like he did vs marciano was not blown up at all, moore was in excellent shape at 185lb.
pundit, was tunney a blown up light-H vs dempsey? if not, then neither was moore than marciano.
- moore was also better than tunney!
moore going into the marciano fight was 45-1 in his last 46 fights.