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Do people REALLY believe that 5 foot 10 and 185 pound Rocky Marciano would knock out guys like Lennox and Foreman??? And... would the Rock knock out the likes of Holyfield if he was a cruiserweight? AND... Wouldn't James Toney and the Rock at 185 pounds be fun to watch?? I do think the Rock was underrated somewhat as a fighter. His will to win was above average as well as his work ethic and dedication were on par with almost anybody in history. He was a true "never say die" boxer but if he was matched up with the bigger, stronger heavyweights or with guys his size like a James Toney that had great defensive and counter punching skills, I think he would ultimately be outclassed or overpowered.
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It's certainly possible but isn't necessarily true. Mike Tyson managed to overpower many much bigger men than he was, and though he outweighed Marciano it was his ferocity and not his size that made the biggest impact. Marciano had ferocity in spades, so he would be certainly competitive. Would he beat top class guys like Lewis? Probably not. And Foreman would be a really bad matchup for him just like it was for Frazier.
As for James Toney, he never impressed me as a heavyweight. He lost his sharpness and with it his effectiveness.Comment
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You hit the nail right on the head. It would be crazy to say he would be able to contend with a huge guy like Lewis. I think boxing is just like most sports. Those guys were good back then, but advances in technology and training have made an all around better athlete than was so 50 or more years ago.
Look at football players. You cant honestly say an NFL team from 40 years ago could even beat a decent college team of today. People are getting bigger, stronger, and faster.
But I think the skeletal portion of the body does not adapt. Back then fighters could fight 100+ times. These huge strong guys in todays sports (not just boxing) get hurt easily.Comment
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[QUOTE=Trevbutler;2728249]Look at football players. You cant honestly say an NFL team from 40 years ago could even beat a decent college team of today. People are getting bigger, stronger, and faster.QUOTE]
Deacon Jones was a huge lineman back in the day... but he was the same size as Dante Culpepper is now.Comment
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Well he fought Joe Louis who weighed in at 213 according to Boxrec. Also had some guys who weighed around 220's. So I don't think the weight would be much of a problem. The height advantage though would certainly be.Comment
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[QUOTE=ICEMAN JOHN SCULLY;2728256]LOL. I remember in his book, Jack "the Assassin" Tatum described in condescending tones how if an NFL RB from the 40's (forget his name, but he was like 5'7", 155) played against him (at the time, he was a "monster" at 6', 205), he would decapitate the old-timer with one hit.
I would love to see now how Jack would do mano a mano on Culpepper. They'd have to change his nick name to "the Asswipe". :lol:Comment
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If Marciano was fighting today, he wouldn't weight 190 or whatever he weighed, he would have hit the weights and put on 20lb of muscle. You cant assume new training techniques vs old training techniques. If you are going to match fighters from His time to fighters of our time, you have to assume the old time fighters would use the best training techniques available to them.
The rock would be a solid 210 at least if he was fighting today.Comment
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Actually, I never thought that. I think if you hypothetially match fighters of yesteryear to today and contemplete what would happen if they ever matched up YOU HAVE TO do so in terms of exactly how they were when THEY fought. If Sugar Ray Robinson,for example, fought Roy Jones as many speculate about, it would be a 147 pounder against a lightning fast 168 pounder. And with the Rock it would be 5 ft 10, 185 pound Rocky against 6 ft 5 , 250 pound Lennox. NO....CON...TESTComment
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I always remember Marciano as the guy who manages to win against seemingly insurmountable odds:
In the first meeting with Walcott, he suffered his first career KD and was trailing on the score cards but landed a right to Walcott's jaw to end the fight.
In the second fight againt Charles, his nose was severely cut and the fight was about to be stopped, when he KO'd Charles in the 8th.
Marciano fell in the second round against Archie Moore but led nonetheless in the cards before stopping Moore in the 8th.
He had his hands full with Roland La Starza in their two meetings but managed to win both times.
Walcott, Moore and Charles were of course past prime when they faced Marciano. But the Heavyweight Toney is too and he does not have the punch of a Moore to add to his sterling defensive qualities. At Cruiserweight, Holyfield may give Marciano a lot of trouble, but Rocky seems to have made it a habit of finding ways to win. An opponent will have to simply blow him out of the arena altogether to cancel the chance that Marciano will turn things around someway, somehow...Holy first took Tyson's heart out, before defeating him. That's something that may be impossible to do with Rocky.
Marciano has been reported as having once looked back at all 49 of his fights and singled out his meeting with Carmine Vingo as his toughest although he KD'd Vingo once in the first round and again in the second before stopping Vingo for good in the 6th. (Vingo was later taken to the hospital suffering from a brain hemmorage. He recovered but never fought again.)
Vingo was lean and weighed less than Marciano during their fight (180 lbs to Rocky's 189 lbs),but he was tall. 6'4. Rather tall for a fighter of that era. If that was what gave the 5'11 Marciano the toughest time he had in the ring, then, one wonders how much tougher the likes of the 6'5 Lewis and 6'4 Foreman--who are not only taller but also a lot bigger--would have been for him.Last edited by grayfist; 10-10-2007, 10:58 PM.Comment
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