Marciano

[GJC]

Can't argue with 49-0, agreed there wasn't a prime crop of heavyweights at the time but thats not Marciano's fault you can only beat who is in front of you.
Great stamina great punching and a great chin and a huge heart always gives you a chance. Difficult to say as always to say where he fits in the top all time heavyweights but someone you arn't going to knock out and who will be there in the last round hitting as hard as he did in the 1st is going to give anyone problems. I saw someone make the point that wouldn't Joe Frasier have beaten everyone Marciano did and it is a good point. I certainly think Marciano would have beaten Patterson so 49-0 could certainly have been extended a few years fitness and age permitting.
Think the biggest problem is when you take someone out of their era, Marciano was a bleeder would the referees of today and the last 30 years have allowed him to continue and would they have allowed some of his more dubious tatics?

[Knighte]

Are u guys still debating the strengths and weakness of Rocky Marciano? Man, the guy must have been some kind of fighter to warrant all this attention.

[Hawkins]

I love The Rock but I can understand why he is so undervalued by alot of modern fans. First his size..alot of the bigger fighters would, theoretically, keep him at bay and hammer him. Plus he would be outweighed by 30-40 lbs,if not more, by most of the more modern greats.

In addition you have to wonder since he was a notoriously slow starter, if he could endure the punishment inflicted on him before he was able to do what he was best at doing. His defense was his ability to absorb ungodly amounts of pain and keep coming...if you have ever noticed more times than not he looked worse than the loser of the fight.

You would also have to wonder if, by todays standards, some of his fights would have been stopped because of cuts and damage inflicted upon him. With all of that being said I would have to say he had a shot of defeating anyone becuase of his concussive power and tenacity.

[TheGreatA]