Prime Ali vs Prime Marciano: Who wins?

[Ben Bolt]

Larry Holmes was 48-0 when he lost to Michael Spinks.

As my colleagues and I were huge Holmes fans – following his pro career almost from start and fully aware that we shared our days with one of the greatest heavies of all time – we thought the pick of Spinks was the right one to tie Rocky’s record. What could possibly go wrong?

The weeks before the fight, we were more focused on who would be the historic 50th man to beat.
And who might that have been, if Holmes-Spinks had gone as planned.
The No. 1 contender back then was Pinklon Thomas, wearing a WBC belt. Holmes was the IBF champ, but we would very well have seen the nutty boxing orgs co-operate for once as this event would have been something extraordinary.

Thomas, as I recall it a former heroin addict whose life straightened up when getting into boxing.
He’s almost forgotten now – but if – win or lose in that 50th Holmes fight, his name had forever been connected to major boxing history.

Considering the tough battles Holmes had went through, and noticing him declining, Thomas would have had a 50/50 chance to beat him. And perhaps that had hurt Larry’s ego more than losing the 49th – to have lost the record-breaking 50th.

[LoadedWraps]

Close enough. The 49-0 record is not impossible in modern times.

It's about who you beat and when and how, not just that you won.

[AlexKid]

I don't care all I know is that Marciano punched a lot harder and that makes him the winner in my book. It also makes him more of a man imo.

With regards to your question I think it comes down to conditioning and how much Ali runs away, if hes running and can keep running the whole time he may well win, but that makes him weak in my book not a winner but I don't write the rules of who wins and why.

Bring back the scratched line imo, that's how real men fight.

[fight_professor]

Any sane analyst knows that Ali - with advantages is speed, boxing ability, range, ring generalship - equal in chin - is a perfect model of the fighter who would spank Marciano.

Ali would just dance and jab, dropping right hands periodically. Rocky swings and misses a lot. Ali sweeps a complete shut out victory. With cumulative damage, TKO or RSF is not impossible in the later rounds.

This is one hypothetical match that is easy to call and call with a degree of certainty.

[bklynboy]

Any sane analyst knows that Ali - with advantages is speed, boxing ability, range, ring generalship - equal in chin - is a perfect model of the fighter who would spank Marciano.

Ali would just dance and jab, dropping right hands periodically. Rocky swings and misses a lot. Ali sweeps a complete shut out victory. With cumulative damage, TKO or RSF is not impossible in the later rounds.

This is one hypothetical match that is easy to call and call with a degree of certainty.

I have Ali winning but I can see Marciano doing damage late. Marciano had true one punch knock out power and was a harder opponent than people give him credit for. Walcott (if I remember correctly) said he couldn't lose to Marciano as Marciano was too crude.

see quote below:
"A. J. Liebling later likened what Weill and Goldman [Rocky's trainer] saw to "the understander in the nine-man pyramid of a troupe of Arab acrobats. He has big calves," Liebling wrote. "Forearms, wrists, and a neck so thick that it minimizes the span of his shoulders. He is neither tall nor heavy for a heavyweight, but gives the impression of bigness when you are close to him. His face, like his body, is craggy. Big jaw, big nose askew from punching, high cheekbones; and almost always when he is outside the ring, a pleasant asymetrical grin."

"Marchegiano was also two months shy of his 25th birthday; old for a novice fighter."

"Al and I often looked over green kids who thought they could become fighters," Goldman reminisced years later." I'll eat my derby hat if I ever saw anyone cruder than Rocky. He was so awkward that we stood there and laughed. He didn't stand right. He didn't throw a punch right. He didn't block right. He didn't do anything right. Then he hit Chancey (a professional heavyweight that Rocky was told to spar with to test how good he was) with a roundhouse right which nearly put a hole in the guy's head, and I told Weill that maybe I could do something with him"

http://www.maxboxing.com/news/max-bo...sited-part-one

[MDPopescu]

Prime Ali all the way...

Ali would have had easily KOd this longtime overrated Rocky...

[fight_professor]

I respect Rocky, but Ali is just a horrible match up for him. Not just for size - rather for speed and movement which would cause Marciano fits.

[bklynboy]

I respect Rocky, but Ali is just a horrible match up for him. Not just for size - rather for speed and movement which would cause Marciano fits.

I think Rocky would do best against tall jabbers such as Ali, Holmes, Lewis, Klitschko and his worst match up would be against a prime Tyson.

If Frazier could hit Ali then so could Marciano. This is not to say I would favor Marciano over Ali. I don't. I think Ali should win that fight running away (no pun intended). Ali had a great chin so I don't think he would be dropped on one isolated punch. I don't think Ali would take Marciano as lightly as he did Henry Cooper.

[fight_professor]

Prime Ali was just too fast. Even Joe never fought a prime 1966 era Ali.

[bklynboy]

Prime Ali was just too fast. Even Joe never fought a prime 1966 era Ali.

Good point. Joe fought a post-layoff Ali who didn't have anywhere the speed or stamina that Ali had 4 yrs earlier.