BoxRec

How do you see this one playing out?

It's either obvious that the all-time great outworks the decent but limited challenger to a lop-sided points win...or...wants to grind an axe about modern 'conditioning' and super-sized athletes...

Ezzard wrote:It's either obvious that the all-time great outworks the decent but limited challenger to a lop-sided points win...or...wants to grind an axe about modern 'conditioning' and super-sized athletes...

Tyson had a somewhat similar style to Marciano--- but big difference, in my view, is that Marciano seldom ever got caught up in clinches--- while Tyson almost all but submitted and allowed himself to be clinched. In a fight with Marciano, I dont think Smith would of got much chance to clinch Marciano, who was more willing to punch a bunch.

Fun fight while it lasts,but Marciano will knock him out.

HomicideHenry wrote:

Ezzard wrote:It's either obvious that the all-time great outworks the decent but limited challenger to a lop-sided points win...or...wants to grind an axe about modern 'conditioning' and super-sized athletes...

Tyson had a somewhat similar style to Marciano--- but big difference, in my view, is that Marciano seldom ever got caught up in clinches--- while Tyson almost all but submitted and allowed himself to be clinched. In a fight with Marciano, I dont think Smith would of got much chance to clinch Marciano, who was more willing to punch a bunch.

Good point but I think the much bigger Bonecrusher would have found away to tie up the Rock. It probably would be his only battle plan.

Bonecrusher didn't show much in the way of huevos when he spent the night clinching Tyson. It seemed he was just glad to earn the big payday and not get hurt.
I'm sure the mindset and strategy would be the same against the aggressive Marciano.

Smith survives the bout and loses a lopsided verdict. His only aggressive action will be when he goes into his frightening eye-bulge routine during the pre-fight instructions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0Lr7K9XTew


see it at 2:14

Smith has very little chance in this fight. The Rock would grind him down fairly sharpish. I can't see this going past eight rounds.

I seriously doubt Smith gets stopped.

Ezzard wrote:I seriously doubt Smith gets stopped.

I seriously doubt that Smith could last the whole fight. He wasn't a skilled enough boxer to keep The Rock at bay for the whole course of a fight. An there's no way that he's gonna come out on top in a slugfest.

While not a particularly skilled HW, Smith had enough skills to pose some problems to ATG Holmes in their fight, and at 6-4 and 230+ pounds Bone would have presented challenges to Rocky that he had never encountered before.

I’d take Rocky in a relatively boring fight by comfortable decision, but it’s possible he hits the canvas.

The Great John L wrote:While not a particularly skilled HW, Smith had enough skills to pose some problems to ATG Holmes in their fight, and at 6-4 and 230+ pounds Bone would have presented challenges to Rocky that he had never encountered before.

I’d take Rocky in a relatively boring fight by comfortable decision, but it’s possible he hits the canvas.

This. Smith was a huge strong-man type who, when he didn't fancy it, knew how to fiddle & survive & he could lay that seventeen stone frame around your neck like a deadweight.

Rocky could get him out of there, but if Smith really didn't fancy it I'd bet on him doing his giant limpet impression for the duration.

Smith would go into this like he did Bruno and Tyson... Willing to lose rounds to survive and then in the last session start throwing right hands. He could drop Rocky but Marciano will win this one.

Ezzard wrote:Smith would go into this like he did Bruno and Tyson... Willing to lose rounds to survive and then in the last session start throwing right hands. He could drop Rocky but Marciano will win this one.

I think this is the most likely scenario. If James can survive the power of Bruno and Tyson on survival mode, he likely survives Rocky. For all his shortcomings, Smith had a pretty good chin, solid power and at 6'5", 230 lbs would have had a collosal size advantage over the 5'10", 185 lbs Marciano. Its also not out of the question that he might very well have been the hardest puncher Rock ever faced. A decision for Marciano is probably the most reasonable prediction and an upset or at least a very tough night isn't far fetched either.

Rock by KO in 13. He'd soften up Bones body and eventually batter him to submission. Bone is not tough enough nor nearly well conditioned enough to survive.

drunkenpiper36 wrote:

Ezzard wrote:Smith would go into this like he did Bruno and Tyson... Willing to lose rounds to survive and then in the last session start throwing right hands. He could drop Rocky but Marciano will win this one.

I think this is the most likely scenario. If James can survive the power of Bruno and Tyson on survival mode, he likely survives Rocky. For all his shortcomings, Smith had a pretty good chin, solid power and at 6'5", 230 lbs would have had a collosal size advantage over the 5'10", 185 lbs Marciano. Its also not out of the question that he might very well have been the hardest puncher Rock ever faced. A decision for Marciano is probably the most reasonable prediction and an upset or at least a very tough night isn't far fetched either.

A harder puncher than Joe Louis? Archie Moore?

Tomasino wrote:

drunkenpiper36 wrote:Its also not out of the question that he might very well have been the hardest puncher Rock ever faced.

A harder puncher than Joe Louis? Archie Moore?

That is a ridiculous statement to make. Smith wasn't in their League.

We really have to make it clear that bigger guys don't necessarily hit harder. They might be able to put more weight behind their punches, but that does not equate to explosive punching power. They are very different things. Although I wouldn't advise anyone to bring it up over in The Current Scene - there's just no talking to some of them.

Crease wrote:

Tomasino wrote:

drunkenpiper36 wrote:Its also not out of the question that he might very well have been the hardest puncher Rock ever faced.

A harder puncher than Joe Louis? Archie Moore?

That is a ridiculous statement to make. Smith wasn't in their League.

We really have to make it clear that bigger guys don't necessarily hit harder. They might be able to put more weight behind their punches, but that does not equate to explosive punching power. They are very different things. Although I wouldn't advise anyone to bring it up over in The Current Scene - there's just no talking to some of them.

I don't think its ridiculous to think that Smith may have packed more power into one punch than the Moore and Louis who fought Marciano. Joe Louis had only stopped about 3 of his last 10 opponents, and his power was largely fueled by his fast and accurate combinations which diminished by 1951. Moore could crack at heavyweight but his best work was done at light heavy. I don't think he was a tremendous puncher in the heavyweight class. Smith was pretty devastating when he needed to be. His weakness was the he had poor finishing skills, but his actual power shouldn't be questioned.

drunkenpiper36 wrote:e"]

Tomasino wrote:

drunkenpiper36 wrote:Its also not out of the question that he might very well have been the hardest puncher Rock ever faced.

A harder puncher than Joe Louis? Archie Moore?

That is a ridiculous statement to make. Smith wasn't in their League.

We really have to make it clear that bigger guys don't necessarily hit harder. They might be able to put more weight behind their punches, but that does not equate to explosive punching power. They are very different things. Although I wouldn't advise anyone to bring it up over in The Current Scene - there's just no talking to some of them.

I don't think its ridiculous to think that Smith may have packed more power into one punch than the Moore and Louis who fought Marciano. Joe Louis had only stopped about 3 of his last 10 opponents, and his power was largely fueled by his fast and accurate combinations which diminished by 1951. Moore could crack at heavyweight but his best work was done at light heavy. I don't think he was a tremendous puncher in the heavyweight class. Smith was pretty devastating when he needed to be. His weakness was the he had poor finishing skills, but his actual power shouldn't be questioned.[/quote]


His actual power shouldn't be compared to Louis or Moore. I think you try to fit facts into your theories rather than other way round. It does amuse me from time to time. "Pretty devastating" :-)

I think a 189 pound Marciano would have to work incredibly hard to win a 12 rounder against a bigger, far stronger opponent than he was used to facing. He might have got the win against Smith, but he would have had to go through hell and stretched his resources to their limits to pull it off.

polecateddy wrote:I think a 189 pound Marciano would have to work incredibly hard to win a 12 rounder against a bigger, far stronger opponent than he was used to facing. He might have got the win against Smith, but he would have had to go through hell and stretched his resources to their limits to pull it off.

Difference is Marciano was happy to go through hell...and often did. Question more pertinent would be 'Would Bonecrusher go through hell?'

evrenb wrote:

polecateddy wrote:I think a 189 pound Marciano would have to work incredibly hard to win a 12 rounder against a bigger, far stronger opponent than he was used to facing. He might have got the win against Smith, but he would have had to go through hell and stretched his resources to their limits to pull it off.

Difference is Marciano was happy to go through hell...and often did. Question more pertinent would be 'Would Bonecrusher go through hell?'

I think the point is Smith would just do his usual fight, but the vastly smaller Marciano would have had to work incredibly hard to compete.

Tomasino wrote:

His actual power shouldn't be compared to Louis or Moore. I think you try to fit facts into your theories rather than other way round. It does amuse me from time to time. "Pretty devastating" :-)

Again. Joe Louis hit hard. But his ability to hurt and finish opponents came from his very fast and well placed combinations. Once these things diminished he wasn't putting guys away like he used to anymore. Do you really think Omelio Agramante would have taken Louis the distance had it been 1941 rather than 1951? And Archie Moore was a good hitter at heavyweight but certainly not a big power puncher as he was at lightheavyweight. If the argument were about who the "better" punchers were, as opposed to who hit "harder" THEN I'd pick Louis and Moore. But I think Smith packed more into one punch than the heavyweight version of Moore or the 1951 version of Joe Louis. I also think that being 6'5", weighing anywhere from 227 to 240 and having a good chin, he'd be a hard fight for Marciano.

evrenb wrote:

polecateddy wrote:I think a 189 pound Marciano would have to work incredibly hard to win a 12 rounder against a bigger, far stronger opponent than he was used to facing. He might have got the win against Smith, but he would have had to go through hell and stretched his resources to their limits to pull it off.

Difference is Marciano was happy to go through hell...and often did. Question more pertinent would be 'Would Bonecrusher go through hell?'

He took a pretty good pounding from hard punching Frank Bruno for 10 rounds before coming from behind to win. That's not easy for anyone to do, and remember he was a 13 fight nobody when he did it. He hung in there for 12 rounds against a peak Tyson, albeit by clinching, but still. There were plenty of other men using survival tactics against Mike yet still falling inside the distance. I think Smith gets sold short and written off as being lazy or lacking in heart. Dude fought until he was about 46 years old, had 62 fights and took on most of the best guys around. He wasn't great by any means, but not a guy to be taken lightly.

Marciano KO 3 Bruno. Come on what the hell do Frank and Rocky have in common?

Tomasino wrote:Marciano KO 3 Bruno. Come on what the hell do Frank and Rocky have in common?

Nothing. But that's also irrelevant. The other poster was uncertain weather or not Smith would be willing to " go through hell " and the reality is that he's been in some tough scraps.