Joe Louis is overrated

[dempseyfan]

I would have to fish it out but, I printed a story off of a website a couple of years ago and it said that the Rock had lost a fight and that it was changed to an "exhibition" match so that he would remain undefeated. Don't know that validity of that author or anything but I found it interesting.

[RockyMarcianofan00]

I would have to fish it out but, I printed a story off of a website a couple of years ago and it said that the Rock had lost a fight and that it was changed to an "exhibition" match so that he would remain undefeated. Don't know that validity of that author or anything but I found it interesting.

I've never heard of that...in fact I've never even heard of Marciano fighting an exhibition...

I had heard that he had fought Nino Valdez in an unsanctioned bout somewhere but I'd never found a outcome or any validity about it...

[Brockton Lip]

Your correct, if you took all 49 of Marciano's opponents and put them up against Foreman, Ali, Tyson, Lewis, Dempsey, and many more they would all be 49-0 however if you took all of the latter and put them in Marciano's shoes I garuntee you almost all of them if not all of them would not be 49-0....

The world will never know. Walcott on the night of his first fight against Marciano was excellent, he was doing it everything right. LaStarza and Charles would've been good fights as well. Archie Moore and even Joe Louis and Vingo as well.

[Kid Achilles]

Squabs you are simply wrong. Your facts are wrong in this case.

[aljon]

Joe Louis will always be remembered as a great heavyweight but yes I agree, he is overrated... Boxing historians make past boxers look like they were Gods, people don't understand that times change, and they change for good, boxer nowdays are not the same as they were 50+years ago... Today's fighters are a lot bigger and more powerful as they were back then. Joe Louis will always be overrated...

[Kid Achilles]

Boxers have changed, you're right, they are worse. They fight too infrequently, bulk up beyond what their frames should carry, get money too fast and are spoiled before they even have a title. Fighters today can't carry the jockstraps of prior fighters on average. There are guys like Toney and Mayweather who would be competitive with the old fighters but for the most part these guys get by on talent and strength and not skill and heart.

[RockyMarcianofan00]

Boxers have changed, you're right, they are worse. They fight too infrequently, bulk up beyond what their frames should carry, get money too fast and are spoiled before they even have a title. Fighters today can't carry the jockstraps of prior fighters on average. There are guys like Toney and Mayweather who would be competitive with the old fighters but for the most part these guys get by on talent and strength and not skill and heart.

100% agree....as long as you got guys that are bigger then they're frame can handle and are winning boxing will always have a problem....

[Abe Attell]

It depends on the "modern" fighters we are talking about:

Tyson would have always been over 200 pounds, the same with Lennox Lewis, Wlad Klitschko, Vitali...

It is guys like Briggs, who was 230 or so back in his prime, that adds about 50 pounds to his frame that makes him look terrible. So on that note, agree.

[Kid Achilles]

Lewis would be over 200, but nowhere near the 250 he grew into with weight training. I'd say about 215-220 judging by his 227 weight in his peak athletic performance (my opinion) against Ruddock while using weights.. Tyson I'm not sure about because to this day I'm su****ious about steroid use. Part of me says Tyson weighs a powerful 210-215 in any era (a Sam McVey type physique), but part of me also wonders about steroid use which is a question that pops up with most modern fighters.

[Abe Attell]

Lewis would be over 200, but nowhere near the 250 he grew into with weight training. I'd say about 215-220 judging by his 227 weight in his peak athletic performance (my opinion) against Ruddock while using weights.. Tyson I'm not sure about because to this day I'm su****ious about steroid use. Part of me says Tyson weighs a powerful 210-215 in any era (a Sam McVey type physique), but part of me also wonders about steroid use which is a question that pops up with most modern fighters.

So Kevin Rooney and Cus D'amato might have had him on steroids?

If Tyson's "natural" weight was 210-215, like Sam McVey's, getting to 220 is very easy. I remember hearing in a fight that a young Tyson (early pro, around 18 or 19), was coming in around 215 or so, but Mike said he didn't like to come in that "light" because he felt more comfortable for his build at 220. It was Rooney and D'amato that wanted him around 215. He was ripped at 215, at 222 when he fought Berbick, not quite so ripped.


For Lewis, as you get into your mid to late 20's, early 30's, your body can still thicken. Lewis was always a late in maturing, unlike Tyson.

That and Emanuel Steward has made it known he thinks a lot of the weight-lifting stuff is ****.

Lewis was about a 230 pound fighter, but as he got older near 30 or so, his body matured past that.

But Steroids are known in sports and even in boxing. I look at some of these guys who have "Nutrition Experts", and I wonder.