Prime Rocky Marciano?

[NYDominican]

A prime Rocky Marciano against a prime Evander Holyfield.


What advantages would Rocky have over Evander?


What advantages would Holyfield have over Marciano?


What do you see happening in this fight?


Who would win? Why?



Please explain.

[nobleart1978]

In my opinion Holyfield has all the advantages over Marciano.

Holyfield is taller, heavier, has longer reach.

Holyfield is just has tough as Marciano. They are both warriors.

If Holyfield can go for toe to toe with Bowe then he can take Marcianos best.

Holyfield to win a decision in an absolute war!

[Ambling Alp II]

Marciano was a harder puncher and threw more punches. Holyfield had most of the other advantages. Probably his biggest advantage was that he was a very accurate puncher while Marciano was not. Holyfield would probably win a decision in a tough fight.

[Controversial]

At HW or CW? At HW I think the extra weight would give Holyfield too much of an edge, having almost 2 stone advantage would be decisive. At CW it would be a closer but I still see Holyfield beating him on points.

[BitPlayer]

I think Holyfield would win most of the time, but it'd be a war, possibly two of the best hearts in boxing.

[Ambling Alp II]

Marciano was capable of doing that. Holyfield could punch, but he didn't have the sheer power of Marciano. The stoppages that Holyfield did have were almost always an accumulation of many punches. Of course you have to have pop to stop good opponents even with a lot of punches.
However, for sheer power, Marciano was better. The punch that Marciano landed on Walcott in their first fight was about as hard a punch as you will ever see. He landed others that were almost as hard in other fights.

[BoxBuzz]

Cmon, I heard The Rock would'nt even make a competitive LHW in Holyfields era.

And I read it right here on this forum, where every word is a fully bona-fide fact, except for the ones that aint.

[HomicideHenry]

Since being a member of this site, it seems every three years or so opinions change on Rocky Marciano. It used to be a 60/40 proposition leaning towards Marciano in this exact hypothetical. Many used to say that if he existed today he'd of been the greatest cruiserweight of all time. These days? He's considered garbage and I keep hearing blatant lies and disrespect that he was a "mob controlled" fighter therefore all of his victories are in question. It's absolutely ridiculous.

[Jmangho]

Holyfield isn't in Joe Louis' league.

[Ambling Alp II]

Marciano was capable of doing that. Holyfield could punch, but he didn't have the sheer power of Marciano. The stoppages that Holyfield did have were almost always an accumulation of many punches. Of course you have to have pop to stop good opponents even with a lot of punches.
However, for sheer power, Marciano was better. The punch that Marciano landed on Walcott in their first fight was about as hard a punch as you will ever see. He landed others that were almost as hard in other fights.

I don't think Rocky ever faced anyone as good as a prime Holyfield at the TIME he fought them. Certainly not Joe L, JJ Walcott, Archie Moore, or Ezzard Charles. Vander hit with enough pop to keep Marciano honest, and he also hit with more consistent accuracy. So now we come down to this mythical stamina and superhuman strength he was supposed to have had. That is all very well against the Cockell's, and La Starza's of this world, but they ain't Evander Holyfield.

I would pick Holyfield as well. I agree that Holyfield (as I said earlier) was a much more accurate puncher. Holyfield was better at most other phases as well. I was just saying that Marciano was a harder puncher. He was also tenacious and would make it interesting. Marciano would have outside of chance at winning; but most of the time Holyfield would have won.

[Boxing Writer]

Marciano was a harder puncher and threw more punches. Holyfield had most of the other advantages. Probably his biggest advantage was that he was a very accurate puncher while Marciano was not. Holyfield would probably win a decision in a tough fight.

Holyfield threw 1290 punches against Qawi. I'm sure Marciano never even came close to that type of work rate.

[Boxing Writer]

Holyfield isn't in Joe Louis' league.

Joe Louis was shot when he fought prime Marciano.

[Ambling Alp II]

Marciano was a harder puncher and threw more punches. Holyfield had most of the other advantages. Probably his biggest advantage was that he was a very accurate puncher while Marciano was not. Holyfield would probably win a decision in a tough fight.

Holyfield threw 1290 punches against Qawi. I'm sure Marciano never even came close to that type of work rate.

I'm sure he came pretty close per round in several of his fights. There were also many other fights where Holyfield didn't throw near that many. Overall, Marciano was a busier fighter.

[CliSwe]

Everybody agrees that the great heavyweights Marciano fought, were past their prime - as in Louis, Walcott, Charles, Moore etc. But Roland La Starza, Rex Layne, Lee Savold were all tough and capable fighters. At the end of the day, a champion can only fight the best available in his era. The main reason Walcott & Charles were so old by the time their chances came, was that 12-year reign by Louis, 1937-49. And I think Holyfield vs. Marciano would be a stupendous brawl. Neither would give an inch. Don't think Evander cut as easily as Rocky, though. That's the only reason I'd give Evander the edge.

[Caractacus]

But can you really count the time between
March 1942 (Abe Simon II)
and
June 1946 (Billy Conn I) as 'reign"
Because everybody was fighting the War so no one was reigning.

[Crease]

Marciano stops Holyfield in the late rounds... Especially if this was a 15 rounder.
If it's a 12 rounder, Holyfield would have a better chance of winning on points.

[gilgamesh]

In my opinion Holyfield has all the advantages over Marciano.

Holyfield is taller, heavier, has longer reach.

Holyfield is just has tough as Marciano. They are both warriors.

If Holyfield can go for toe to toe with Bowe then he can take Marcianos best.

Holyfield to win a decision in an absolute war!

Yep this is pretty much how I see it. Holyfield could outbox Marciano if he wanted to make it easier on himself, and I think he'd at least fight evenly with Marciano if they just stood it traded, and frankly he'd probably get the better of those exchanges too for the most part.

It'd be wildly entertaining, but I'd favor Holyfield.

The Holyfield that fought Qawi would probably make for a more interesting fight here than the Heavyweight Champion Holyfield.

[HomicideHenry]

Marciano was a harder puncher and threw more punches. Holyfield had most of the other advantages. Probably his biggest advantage was that he was a very accurate puncher while Marciano was not. Holyfield would probably win a decision in a tough fight.

Holyfield threw 1290 punches against Qawi. I'm sure Marciano never even came close to that type of work rate.

I did a thread a few years ago on Marciano's punch rate. I reviewed a few of his fights, counting every single punch he threw. Alot of times he only needed to throw 60-80 punches per round before a fight was over (ie Kid Matthews). However, in the tougher contests, his punch rate was absolutely phenomenal. I think in one round of the Moore fight he threw 180 punches, and that was typical of Marciano as his punch rate only increased as time went on. I think for the first fight with Ezzard Charles it was 800+ punches in 15 rounds. So he certainly could do Holyfield numbers.