BoxRec

Most of the posters on Box Rec greatly admire and respect Rocky Marciano. Clearly, Rocky had a lot of punching power for his size. Furthermore, Marciano had great chin strength and a threshold of pain. In addition, Rocky had an immense amount of stamina.


1. How do you think Marciano would have fared against these boxers here. ---------

James J. Jeffries, Jack Johnson, Joe Jeannette, Sam Langford, Sam McVey, Harry Wills, Jack Dempsey, Gene Tunney, Max Baer, Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson, Ron Lyle, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Earnie Shavers, George Foreman, Larry Holmes, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson, and Riddick Bowe?


2. Which of these boxers do you think could have beaten Rocky Marciano?

Why?



Please explain.

James J. Jeffries. Rocky stops him.



Jack Johnson. Jack stops Rocky.

Joe Jeannette. Rocky stops him.

Sam Langford. Rocky stops him.

Sam McVey Rocky stops him.

Harry Wills. Rocky stops him.

Jack Dempsey. Rocky stops him.

Gene Tunney Gene out points Rocky.

Max Baer. Max stops Rocky

Sonny Liston. Sonny destroys Rocky.

Floyd Patterson. Rocky stops him.

Ron Lyle Ron stops Rocky

Muhammad Ali. Ali stops Rocky.

Joe Frazier. Joe stops Rocky.

Ken Norton. Ken stops Rocky

Earnie Shavers. Earnie stops Rocky

George Foreman. George destroys
Rocky.

Larry Holmes. Larry clowns and then stops Rocky.

Evander Holyfield. Evander owns Rocky

Lennox Lewis Lennox destroys Rocky.

Mike Tyson. Mike destroys Rocky

Riddick Bowe. Riddick destroys Rocky.

I'll make it short... He'd of lost to Foreman & Liston & Lewis & Bowe & Holmes & Tyson... Everyone else would have been tremendous fights that he either would have won and/or split victories with.

Marciano would struggle massively against the big strong HWs. I know people argue he wouldn’t but sheer size, weight and strength do make a difference no matter how much people argue they don’t. The size difference would be way too much of a hindrance.

I can't predict on people I've seen zero footage of. But I do think The Rock would have beaten Jeffries but lost to Jack Johnson. I think the Rock would have stopped Dempsey. Jack never fought anyone like The Rock. I favor Tunney over Marciano on points but that's a tough call. So is Liston, but I give Marciano the edge there.

Rock beats everyone else except Ali, Foreman, Holmes, and Lewis.

One more thing on Marciano. Everyone gives him high marks for power and determination as well they should.

While he was no Wille Pep, his defensive skills were highly underrated.

Tony1244 wrote: ↑28 May 2019, 10:12 One more thing on Marciano. Everyone gives him high marks for power and determination as well they should.

While he was no Wille Pep, his defensive skills were highly underrated.

His face didn't look like someone who didn't take a lot punches.

Controversial wrote: ↑28 May 2019, 12:03 His face didn't look like someone who didn't take a lot punches.

No it didn't! LMAO!

Tony1244 wrote: ↑28 May 2019, 10:12 One more thing on Marciano. Everyone gives him high marks for power and determination as well they should.

While he was no Wille Pep, his defensive skills were highly underrated.

His ability to get inside is highly underrated. To practically his dying day Ali marvelled about the nearly 46 year old Marciano being difficult to hit with a jab.

HomicideHenry wrote: ↑28 May 2019, 22:48 To practically his dying day Ali marvelled about the nearly 46 year old Marciano being difficult to hit with a jab.

To be fair they weren't really trying to punch each other, it was a staged fight, on the lines of the Rocky movie, I wouldn't read too much into that.

Controversial wrote: ↑29 May 2019, 04:27 To be fair they weren't really trying to punch each other, it was a staged fight, on the lines of the Rocky movie, I wouldn't read too much into that.

I understand that, however, even messing around you can gauge a man's capabilities regardless. Ali had to take two weeks off from filming & receive more money for his troubles because Marciano actually was hurting him with body shots and arm shots.

HomicideHenry wrote: ↑28 May 2019, 22:48 His ability to get inside is highly underrated. To practically his dying day Ali marvelled about the nearly 46 year old Marciano being difficult to hit with a jab.

Rocky slipped well and his head was sometimes horizontal to his body. Not the easiest guy to hit; not the hardest either. Just saying his defense was underrated.

Controversial wrote: ↑28 May 2019, 12:03 His face didn't look like someone who didn't take a lot punches.

In fairness you could say the same thing about Hopkins, who has a flat misshapen nose and missing teeth, and yet he could still accurately be described as good defensively.

overhand_right wrote: ↑29 May 2019, 09:13 In fairness you could say the same thing about Hopkins, who has a flat misshapen nose and missing teeth, and yet he could still accurately be described as good defensively.

Hopkins was good defensively but that isn't a word that springs to mind when describing Marciano. Awkward maybe but not a defensive genius.

HomicideHenry wrote: ↑29 May 2019, 05:55 I understand that, however, even messing around you can gauge a man's capabilities regardless. Ali had to take two weeks off from filming & receive more money for his troubles because Marciano actually was hurting him with body shots and arm shots.

I still wouldn't read too much into it, they were trying to sell it at the end of the day. Marciano took it serious, Ali didn't.

the immediate reaction is to say they all would have beat rocky. but i think its fair to say the old timers who were sluggers, rocky would have given a great fight to and beaten half of them maybe.
remember he was 190 lbs. one of the all time great 'cruiserweights'.

I think Marciano developed a fighting style that worked extremely well against men his size or just a bit bigger. There was a reason he never lost and it wasn't simply that none of his opponents could fight nor was it some kind of massive fix.

But, I honestly don't know how he would fare against an opponent that could throw punches from so far away and wouldn't have to lean in to throw (ala Lewis). He barely ever fought anyone over six feet. I love the Rock, but I have no idea what he could do against much bigger men.

The guy was a small cruiser in reality.

Rocky would be a light heavyweight today so putting him against modern heavyweights is just unfair. Do you think Kovalev could beat Anthony Joshua?