Could Rocky Marciano Stayed Undefeated if He Continue to fight in the 1960s

[Caractacus]

yeah, but what if the Rock, had pulverized Liston's jabbing arm to mush,
starting early in round one ?
without his jab, Liston would have been a 'Sitting Duck"
for The Rocks body attack.

[Expug]

Gotta get in close to do that. Gonna eat some jabs on the way in. I really don’t see this fight as that competitive. I know others do and I get it but Sonny was a monster there for awhile.

[gilgamesh]

Gotta get in close to do that. Gonna eat some jabs on the way in. I really don’t see this fight as that competitive. I know others do and I get it but Sonny was a monster there for awhile.

Plus Liston was 9 years younger than Rocky. Aside from the physical advantages he would've had over Rocky. He would've had youth on his side too.

[Expug]

Gotta get in close to do that. Gonna eat some jabs on the way in. I really don’t see this fight as that competitive. I know others do and I get it but Sonny was a monster there for awhile.

Plus Liston was 9 years younger than Rocky. Aside from the physical advantages he would've had over Rocky. He would've had youth on his side too.

Exactly. And I’d guess that they’d fight around the time Sonny fought Cleveland Williams who unloaded on Liston with bombs early and Sonny still knocked him out.

[Caractacus]

Nh, I think Marciano was loosing his desire to fight in the ring
at some point. Did you watch his fight with Don Cockel ?

[Cap]

If Al Weill was still his manager Rocky could've be champ til he was fifty. Weill cherry-picked Marciano's opponents. One or two of the guys on his record may not even have been the real fighters. Eddie Ross for instance.

Weill would've had Rocky fighting middleweights, light heavyweights and washed up heavies. Good thing Marciano had the smarts to retire when he did.

[Caractacus]

just "Remember the three "C"'s-Cool-Calm-Collected !"
May 1955-

[elmersalsa]

Can you imagine The Rock's resume if he would have stayed at his throne after 1955 and beat guys like the likes of the great Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson, Ingemar Johansson and Eddie Machen and retired undefeated?

Where would the boxing writers would have rated him then? As the best heavyweight? Top 3 all-time pound per pound?

That would be very interesting. And a great resume when you add his wins over Ezzard Charles, Joe Louis, Archie Moore and Joe Louis and other top contenders.

What you guys think?

[Caractacus]

Don't think that he would have kept up his "mental edge"
(look how he was mentally thrown off just before the fight with Don Cckell)
BTW there was a planned re-match with Archie Moore for June 1956
(in England of all places) good thing for the Rock that it never tranSpired (IMOP)

[Controversial]

Can you imagine The Rock's resume if he would have stayed at his throne after 1955 and beat guys like the likes of the great Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson, Ingemar Johansson and Eddie Machen and retired undefeated?

Where would the boxing writers would have rated him then? As the best heavyweight? Top 3 all-time pound per pound?

That would be very interesting. And a great resume when you add his wins over Ezzard Charles, Joe Louis, Archie Moore and Joe Louis and other top contenders.

What you guys think?

I think there's a difference beating former greats past their best and guys on the way up or near their best, especially when Marciano was on the slide and aging.

[elmersalsa]

Can you imagine The Rock's resume if he would have stayed at his throne after 1955 and beat guys like the likes of the great Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson, Ingemar Johansson and Eddie Machen and retired undefeated?

Where would the boxing writers would have rated him then? As the best heavyweight? Top 3 all-time pound per pound?

That would be very interesting. And a great resume when you add his wins over Ezzard Charles, Joe Louis, Archie Moore and Joe Louis and other top contenders.

What you guys think?

I think there's a difference beating former greats past their best and guys on the way up or near their best, especially when Marciano was on the slide and aging.

Well, by 1960, the great Sonny Liston was knocking everybody out of the rankings. What if Rocky Marciano, still World Heavyweight Champion, takes on Liston and beats him? And also beats Floyd Patterson, Ingemar Johansson and Eddie Machen and let's say Cleveland "Big Cat" Williams in the mix?

Ain't that a great consideration for Marciano to be considered #1 Heavyweight or top 3 all-time pound per pound great boxer?

With a resume of that caliber and retire undefeated might be a little far fetched but not impossible. It would have been interesting if he would have kept the crown until 1960.

[gilgamesh]

If he would've gotten a few more big fights in over some of those names you mentioned, and came out victorious it definitely would've raised his all time standing for sure.

As it is I'd have Marciano somewhere around the bottom half of the all time Top 10 at Heavyweight. The undefeated record boosts his standing immensely as it is, and if 49-0 were 48-1 it would affect how he's viewed dramatically as well.

A Heavyweight Legend though for sure. It's a shame we didn't get to see him fight at least a few more years as they surely would've been some of his toughest and most exciting fights.

[Controversial]

Can you imagine The Rock's resume if he would have stayed at his throne after 1955 and beat guys like the likes of the great Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson, Ingemar Johansson and Eddie Machen and retired undefeated?

Where would the boxing writers would have rated him then? As the best heavyweight? Top 3 all-time pound per pound?

That would be very interesting. And a great resume when you add his wins over Ezzard Charles, Joe Louis, Archie Moore and Joe Louis and other top contenders.

What you guys think?

I think there's a difference beating former greats past their best and guys on the way up or near their best, especially when Marciano was on the slide and aging.

Well, by 1960, the great Sonny Liston was knocking everybody out of the rankings. What if Rocky Marciano, still World Heavyweight Champion, takes on Liston and beats him? And also beats Floyd Patterson, Ingemar Johansson and Eddie Machen and let's say Cleveland "Big Cat" Williams in the mix?

Ain't that a great consideration for Marciano to be considered #1 Heavyweight or top 3 all-time pound per pound great boxer?

With a resume of that caliber and retire undefeated might be a little far fetched but not impossible. It would have been interesting if he would have kept the crown until 1960.

Yeah of course if that happened he’d be rated higher for sure. But you can say this with any fighter, “what if they beat…” The fact is Marciano retired at the right time in 1955, injuries were an issue. He would have been 37 in 1960 so chances of him beating the rising stars would’ve been very slim, especially someone like Liston