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Does anyone agree that Marciano was only unbeaten because he was lucky?
He was lucky for these reasons;
1. He got to his title shot by beating mostly unknowns. Guys with as many as 57 losses!
2. He got a decision over Roland LaStarza that was "universally criticised" as being unfair. The fact that Marciano's manager was the matchmaker for Madison square garden, was the major reason as to why Rocky was gifted it.
3. He also got a decision over Ted Lowry which even Ring magazine accepts was a robbery.
4. He fought a 37 old for the title, who already had 16 losses. # Side note, a man at 37 in those days was a lot more worn out than today's equivalent, having a much tougher life, and many more gruelling fights, plus they were 15 rounders back then, as some younger readers might not be aware.
5. His title defences were against either old men (some sources list Moore as 45) or men who had moved up in weight, or both. Don C#ckell had been stopped by former middleweight Randy Turpin, and looked like the worst title challenger in history...although he did have guts.
6. Of his 6 defences, 3 were against guys he had already beaten and if we include his title win, his 7 opponents had 87 losses between them, often inflicted by light heavies and even middles.
7. His nose injury suffered in the Charles bout was easily bad enough for the fight to be stopped, and if the injury was on Charles, I think it is safe to say that the fight would have been stopped.
8. He didn't want anything to do with Liston, and was challenged by Patterson, who was young, unlike all the men he had been beating, and had been looking awesome, which was later backed up by his performance against Moore, in comparison to Rocky's. He therefore retired younger than his title challengers.
Any decent prospect could beat 49-0, if they were matched right, and if that was the only goal. Hell, line me up 50 90 year olds, and hopefully, I would beat it!
Hope you enjoyed the article. I am not looking to diss anyone, nor am I looking for arguments, just want to see what others think.
He was lucky for these reasons;
1. He got to his title shot by beating mostly unknowns. Guys with as many as 57 losses!
2. He got a decision over Roland LaStarza that was "universally criticised" as being unfair. The fact that Marciano's manager was the matchmaker for Madison square garden, was the major reason as to why Rocky was gifted it.
3. He also got a decision over Ted Lowry which even Ring magazine accepts was a robbery.
4. He fought a 37 old for the title, who already had 16 losses. # Side note, a man at 37 in those days was a lot more worn out than today's equivalent, having a much tougher life, and many more gruelling fights, plus they were 15 rounders back then, as some younger readers might not be aware.
5. His title defences were against either old men (some sources list Moore as 45) or men who had moved up in weight, or both. Don C#ckell had been stopped by former middleweight Randy Turpin, and looked like the worst title challenger in history...although he did have guts.
6. Of his 6 defences, 3 were against guys he had already beaten and if we include his title win, his 7 opponents had 87 losses between them, often inflicted by light heavies and even middles.
7. His nose injury suffered in the Charles bout was easily bad enough for the fight to be stopped, and if the injury was on Charles, I think it is safe to say that the fight would have been stopped.
8. He didn't want anything to do with Liston, and was challenged by Patterson, who was young, unlike all the men he had been beating, and had been looking awesome, which was later backed up by his performance against Moore, in comparison to Rocky's. He therefore retired younger than his title challengers.
Any decent prospect could beat 49-0, if they were matched right, and if that was the only goal. Hell, line me up 50 90 year olds, and hopefully, I would beat it!
Hope you enjoyed the article. I am not looking to diss anyone, nor am I looking for arguments, just want to see what others think.
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