Charles "Sonny" Liston vs. Rocky Marciano

[Parody]

The first fight was legit, but the second one many believe that Liston took a dive, the punch that was known as "The Phantom Punch", majority of the people believe liston did that on purpose and liston claimed after the fight that he was threatened by the people of Nation of islam that he and his wife would be killed if he did'nt lose, Many people believed it was'nt a real punch and that Liston take taken a dive on account of his association with organized crime, but eyewitnesses and video review both point to the same thing: that Ali nailed Liston with an unbelievably fast right cross to the jaw.

[RockyMarcianofan00]

THANK YOU!

They don't seem to get it. Marciano has a 67" reach and is slow as molasses. He couldn't frequently get under Liston's 84" reach, and Liston's handspeed IMO is pretty damn good, watch the Cleveland Williams fight. Very good post. I thought I was alone in this one, at least now I got someone to agree to the exact same thing I have been saying for the past six months. good k for you.

butterfly stop you sound like that guy from the other thread talking about how great Nikolay Valuev is because he's big come on

[RockyMarcianofan00]

Tale of the tape:


Marciano:

Reach: 67
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 5' 11
Weight: 185 lbs

Liston:

Reach: 84
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 6'1
Weight: 217


My thoughts:

Styles make fights and Liston is a bad opponent for Marciano, I personally cant see this fight going past the 6th or 7th, you guys have to remember Rocky Marciano was always matched with opponents similar to his size, there was no cruiserweight division at that time so he could have fought at Heavyweight just weighing 180 pounds, Liston on the other hand was much heavy, bulky, stronger..did you guys know that Sonny Liston had the biggest hands in Heavyweight history...I mean the guy had 15 inch fists and an 84 inch reach and he was known for the best reach in history of Heavyweights,...He had a reach that measured between 82-84 inches. On top of that he was thought to have the strongest jab in heavyweight history...I mean Sonny punched so hard in the ring that he frequently knocked opponents through the ropes.

This would be a nightmare for Marciano, who faced guys evenly his size, In my opinion it would be a mis-match[/B]

Rocky Marciano = 5'10

Carmine Vingo - 6'4
Rex Layne- I don't remember his height but it was over 6'3 i think 6'4 or 6'5.
Joe Louis 6'2
Roland Lastarza - 6'0

He wasn't that much worse against taller guys and reach doesn't make a fighter.

and for the last time Marciano had a mix style so how is it a bad style matchup?!

[butterfly1964]

butterfly stop you sound like that guy from the other thread talking about how great Nikolay Valuev is because he's big come on

Sonny Liston is 100x better than Valuev.

[butterfly1964]

Rocky Marciano = 5'10

Carmine Vingo - 6'4
Rex Layne- I don't remember his height but it was over 6'3 i think 6'4 or 6'5.
Joe Louis 6'2
Roland Lastarza - 6'0

He wasn't that much worse against taller guys and reach doesn't make a fighter.

and for the last time Marciano had a mix style so how is it a bad style matchup?!

None of those guys had Sonny Liston's punching power. Marciano would be shocked at the force of Liston's punches, for he has never fought someone with that kind of power ever.

[Parody]

Rocky Marciano = 5'10

Carmine Vingo - 6'4
Rex Layne- I don't remember his height but it was over 6'3 i think 6'4 or 6'5.
Joe Louis 6'2
Roland Lastarza - 6'0

He wasn't that much worse against taller guys and reach doesn't make a fighter.

and for the last time Marciano had a mix style so how is it a bad style matchup?!

Comparing those fighters to Liston is a shame, I understand by your username your a fan but one thing is an opinion, another is a fact, and fact is Liston has more power than any of the guys you mentioned, Louis was very skilled and I rate him at #2 all time Heavyweight, but Joe was way out of his prime, he was out of his prime after the fight with Ezzard Charles, and he fought Marciano a year after that and the fight was still competitive until Marciano dropped him with a left hook and again through the ropes. Sizewise I did'nt just say height, read my post again, Marciano never defended his title against a guy more than 210 lbs....nor probably fought any guy above that weight, It is a bad match-up because Liston would break him down, it would just last longer than the Patterson fight.

Reach does'nt make a fighter? Are you serious man?...REACH IS THE FRIGGIN MAIN THING IN A FIGHTER, Why is Valuev still a champion?

[Brockton Lip]

I didn't know Louis was that tall.
1) Reach would not be much of a factor in the fight; it would be fought on the inside.
2) Louis was past his prime but still a top ranked contender and a very formidable fighter for any heavyweight.
3) Marciano had little trouble with Louis. Not to mention he was going easy on Joe because he did not want to injure him.

[RockyMarcianofan00]

I didn't know Louis was that tall.
1) Reach would not be much of a factor in the fight; it would be fought on the inside.
2) Louis was past his prime but still a top ranked contender and a very formidable fighter for any heavyweight.
3) Marciano had little trouble with Louis. Not to mention he was going easy on Joe because he did not want to injure him.

yea Joe Louis was Marciano's idle and Rocky didn't even want to fight Louis.

[Heckler]

The shoulder story was a story. There's no evidence, to my knowledge, that anything was wrong with his shoulder at all.

Yeah there is evidence. X-rays and Sonny leaving the hospital.

[BKM-]

Sonny Liston quit on his stool in the first fight. Not a corner retirement, HE himself wanted to get out of there and not get beat up more.