BoxRec

a lot of the all time great heavyweights have had that one peak night when they totally dominate and show that was their peak.

here are examples:

Joe louis - 2nd fight vs schmelling

tyson - KO of spiinx

frazier - win over ali

foreman - destruction of frazier

ali - Tko of cleveland williams


but then i look at marciano and think what was his peak fight??? its hard to say. i always thought his best fight was when he was 27 and beat joe louis, cause joe louis was old and clearly lost it but was still a top contender and had a little snap left. i mean even a old aged joe could still beat most heavyweights alone with his jab. marciano just took him apart and oputphysicaled the bigger man and made louis back up the whole fight. marciano also used his left hook very well in that fight and worked well to the body and showed he brought KO punch in the 8th when he knocked louis out cold through the ropes.

but then i look at his first fight with charles and wonder and his fight with layne where he took apart layne and wonder.


whats ur opinion of his peak fight?

I look at it a little differently. To me, Marciano's peak fight was Walcott I. Yes, he was knocked down and down on points, but he never gave up and grabbed victory from the jaws of defeat from a HOF fighter who was also having a very good night. Marciano never threw a punch harder than the one he hit Walcott with, he never showed more heart in any of his other fights, and he never absorbed as much punishment in any other fight. I consider desire, heart, and ability to take punches without slowing down as traits of the very best boxers, and I would put this fight #1 for Marciano based on that. Not to mention, if you look at Marciano's opponents, the Walcott that showed up for the first fight was the best opponent Marciano ever faced and good opponents are bound to have their moments in a 12-15 round fight.

that actually makes sense and grabs my attention. and i agree totally about the punching power, he delivered one of hardest blows of all time.

jaclem, u said on another thread u thought marcianos peak fight was his first fight vs ezzard charles. do u want to elaborate??

and anyone who followed boxign in the 50s, i read that a lot of reporters and fight news articles though marciano fought his best fight vs moore.

...i picked the charles I fight as marciano's peak fight because... one..he had to go fifteen rounds at a fast pace and was just as fresh in the last round as he was in the first....two...he took a real battering from ezzard in the early rounds, which charles won with great combinations and still taking some of marciano's best punches...three charles was a great defensive fighter by making just the smallest and quickest and subtle moves... four...charles surprised him by making a strong body atttack, and years later rocky said those punches still hurt whenever he thought about them.... five..marciano said charles' left hook off a jab was "miraculous".. six charles was past his prime and never was the fighter at heavyweight that he was at light heavy, but i still think on that night marciano was against the best fighter he ever faced; one who still had traces of greatness.

the arguments for walcott I are good....and would be my second choice.