Rocky Marciano vs Wladimir Klitschko

[Sugarj]

Absolutely true Joseph, it wouldn't be fair. Marciano would be small by today's cruiserweight standards and no commission would sanction it.

[Gettin Jiggy]

Wow. some great posts on this thread.

[GJC]

Forgive me for being sceptical about Rocky Marciano, all 5'10" and 185lb of him, tearing apart a top notch fighter who is approximately 50lbs heavier, 8in taller and has a 14" reach advantage, especially when he has no history of beating such opposition. His best opponents were all smallish heavies, and they all went life and death with him. There are weight classes in boxing for a reason, and there's a good reason why no one Rocky's size has dominated the heavies since he was in his pomp.

I won't discount his chances entirely, I just make it very unlikely.

The problem with Marciano fighting in today's era is that he would need a very easy going ref. Both to turn a blind eye to Rocky's more "inventive" moves and also not to stop the fight. Marciano seemed virtually impervious to pain but modern day referees would certainly have stopped some of his fights on cuts.

[Southpaw16BF]

As much as I love Marciano as a fighter this is a hell of a tall order. In this match-up Rocky is the legend and greater fighter with all the Hall of Famers on his record, but fight results are dictated by styles, circumstances and individual strengths and weaknesses.

Marcaino would be giving 7 inches away in height and around 60 pound in weight a huge size and weight difference. Marcaino would be around 5 pound under the Cruiserweight limt in todays era, in Wlad he's fighting a huge heavyweight with a great skill set and a big punch.




Marcaino has also never fought no remotley as big or heavier than Wlad either. You can never count the rock out, but I feel Wlad's height and weight would play a huge part here, Wlad would use his Jab and height to score rather easily on Marcaino while the Rock trys to figure out a way to KO Wladamir.

Marcaino would have a big punchers chance but I dout he would land flush on the extremly cautious Klitschko. Klitschko can take this in a lopsided points victory or a corner pull out. And I wouldn't be surprised if there were a few knockdowns along the way in the fight.

[redxl7]

Well, Marciano certainly does have the physical disadvantage here, but you can't count him out. Rocky's crouching style would make him a very hard target for Wladimir to hit. If Rocky could keep pounding his body and ware him down he could do it, don't forget Rocky had gallons of stamina.

[Jim Jeffries]

Marciano weighed less in the ring than most LHWs do today. With his extremely short reach, it would be virtually impossible to get past the jab and he would be eating his share of rights. Rocky wouldn't quit, he might get knocked down a few times, but he would always get back up. Eventually though, I see the fight being stopped on cuts or by a ref thinking Rocky was taking too much punishment.

Like I said, Rocky would probably fight LHW today, where I have no doubt he would put the similar sized Zsoldt Erdei out for a nice sleep.

[K Larsen]

Ill go with Marciano on this one.

[freudianfloyd]

Now this fight depends on the era it is fought in greatly. Will it be 12 or 15 rounds? And as stated above, Rocky would need a ref that would allow the fight to go on no matter how much abuse he took. No doubt that Rocky would take a pounding, but if allowed to continue, he could possibly wear Wlad down.

Remember, you don't have to just hit the head and body. Rocky was known for hitting any part of a fighter he could, which means that everytime Wlad threw a jab, Rocky would be punching him in the arm. Eventually breaking enough blood vessels and causing enough bruising that Wlad would become weary of throwing it and would have a hard time holding them up.

Also, Rocky would punish Wlad's hips once he got inside. Wlad has never fought a guy who would dig to the body quite like Rocky, and after a few rounds, Wlads legs would be too weak to keep out of Rock's range, and eventually Rocky would be able to work his head, and it would be over.

There is no question that Rocky will take a beating in this fight, but he would never stop coming forward. NEVER! And psychologically that would mess Wlad up also.

Now if it was with today's officials, I would go for Wlad by cuts, but in a fight in his own era, I would go for Rocky by KO in round 13.

[Tyson Jr.]

We cannot say that a shorter man cannot win
as example the fight between Jack Dempsey and Jess Willard
Willard was a really tall guy
and Dempsey was shorter
but he had no problem knocking Willard out
.........
So i go with Rocky
the only HeavyWeight Champion to retire without being defeated
........
peace

[Stoppage]

If the match is even sanctioned considering Marciano weighs in as a cruiserweight, I see Klitschko beating him. I think he would keep his distance with jabs and power shots.