joe louis vs rocky marciano

**The Noose** · 10-23-2004, 04:49 PM

Joe was old and crap, he never fought again, not because of the damage Rocky did, but because he was old and crap!

**Hurlex** · 10-23-2004, 05:05 PM

so it metn nothin..the win i mean...he had nothing left

**dempseyfire** · 10-23-2004, 05:06 PM

Just watch the fight sometime. Comparing the Louis in that fight to the Louis who won the title . . . . it just is sad. He makes the Tyson who fought Williams look 25 years old . . .

**MetalVomit** · 10-23-2004, 05:08 PM

Originally posted by dempseyfire

Just watch the fight sometime. Comparing the Louis in that fight to the Louis who won the title . . . . it just is sad. He makes the Tyson who fought Williams look 25 years old . . .

i saw that fight on espn classic, ouch. Louis was in a similar state as Evander Holyfield is now if you want an example. completely shot. that fight was bad

**The Noose** · 10-23-2004, 05:08 PM

its been compared to Ali vs Holmes! nuf said.

**Sir_Jose** · 10-23-2004, 05:19 PM

Originally posted by Hurlex

ok cool..so check this out i know a lot about boxing but dont know much about this fight..most people say it didnt prove anything for rocky cuz joe was old by then is this true...cuz i also hear no matter what louis was still dangerous and a good boxer...so what where u opioion of the fight (and did u actually watch it..i havent thats why)

so basically q is...how this fight good for boxing and do people hold joe's age against rocky win for the fight???

This win means nothing. Like its already been said Joe Louis was as washed up as it gets by the time they brought him out of retirement cause he needed money.

**Yogi** · 10-23-2004, 06:28 PM

Louis was old and pretty much washed up by that time, but he still had enough left to defeat six or seven quality heavyweights just prior to facing Marciano, which allowed him to recieve this ranking from Ring Magazine (Aug. '51);

C: Jersey Joe Walcott

1: Ezzard Charles
2: Joe Louis
3: Rocky Marciano
4: Clarence Henry
5: Roland LaStarza
6: Bob Baker
7: Rex Layne
8: Cesar Brion
9: Lee Savold
10: Hein Nuehaus

Just because it wasn't the same primed Joe Louis, doesn't mean it wasn't an important victory for Marciano over someone who not only was ahead of him in the rankings, but was also the betting favorite going into that fight.

It did mean something for Rocky.

**Dark Destroyer** · 10-24-2004, 05:52 AM

The only thing that fight did for Rocky was put a big name on his fight record but thats all. Joe Louis was forced back into the ring through money troubles and was WAY past his best. It was very sad to be honest because a great champion like Joe Louis didn't deserve to be back in the ring again. I like Rocky Marciano alot and i hope you all don't get the wrong idea that i dislike him or something. It's just that i cannot credit Rocky for beating a over the hill Joe. Like i said in another thread, a prime Joe would have beaten Rocky Marciano. Rocky had a good powerful punch and one hell of a heart but he didn't have the ringcraft and talent that a prime Joe did. Joe's speed alone would have overwhelmed him. There would have been every chance Rocky could have caught Joe but i always bare in mind that Joe was a very intelligent fighter. He would have been 2 steps in front of Rocky all way through the fight. Rocky was a wide punch when attacking too with his hooks which would have worked against him in this fight because Joe was a short range power puncher. I've never seen a fighter who could generate so much speed and power in short well executed punches like Joe did.

**Yogi** · 10-24-2004, 02:22 PM

Originally posted by Wez

It's just that i cannot credit Rocky for beating a over the hill Joe.

It's always easy to look back on the history of boxing with hindsight, but instead, why don't you go back to before the fight happened and judge it that way?

Now I'm not saying that was a primed Joe Louis or even close to it, but shouldn't defeating a fighter whose both ranked in front of you and who is made the betting favorite going into the fight, garner a little bit of credit? Afterall, the fighter he defeated was deemed to be the better fighter of the two, going into the fight.

No, Joe Louis wasn't the same great fighter that he was 10 years before, but he was still good enough to defeat some of the better heavyweights of that day (including a couple recent victories over fighters that are named in that ranking I've given).

And I have it on good source, that Joe Louis looked very good in training for that fight with Marciano, as he dropped more than a few of his sparring partners in impressive fashion.

Now onto the fight...

The comparision between this fight and Holmes/Ali is completely and utterly ridiculous. Ali was not at all competitive in his fight with Holmes, whereas Louis was competitive for the first five rounds of his fight with Marciano. As a matter of fact, he was pretty even on the judges cards going into the last couple of rounds rounds (scoring at the time of the knockout was; 4-2-1,4-3, and 5-2, all for Marciano). Louis' jab was effective in keeping Marciano off him in the early rounds, and when Rocky did get in range, Joe was also proving to be effective with his right uppercut. And the proof that Louis still had some pop to his punches were evident on Marciano's face (bloody nose and a cut over his eye).

It was only in the last couple of rounds that Marciano took complete control of the fight, and Louis started looking like an 'decrepit old man', that so many write him off as being.

I find it funny how Lennox Lewis gets a fair amount of credit for beating Mike Tyson, because going into it many thought Tyson had a chance (as they did with Louis). Yet the Tyson that Lewis defeated, was not only far past his prime, but he hadn't defeated a ranked contender in more than a few years (unlike Louis before Marciano). Not to mention, Joe Louis was actually quite competitive in his fight with Marciano, whereas Tyson was not at all competive with Lewis.

Interesting how some revisionists looks at past history.

joe louis vs rocky marciano