Rocky Marciano vs Joe Frazier ~ Who Would Win?

[Sir_Jose]

The rock Frasier was a slow starter and Marciano would take it to him.

and Marciano was a fast starter?

[dodge]

I could see frazier winning by TKO in the mid rounds.

[M26]

Joe Frazier and Rocky Marciano was very similar in many ways. They both came out slow and got better during the fight. They both had fantastic stamina and heart. Their way of fighting also resembled each other. The difference is that Frazier was bigger than Marciano, was faster, applied a little more pressure and was most likely stronger.
On the other hand, Marciano most likely had the hardest punch. Further, he did not rely so much on his left hook, he was a better two-fisted-fighter. I also like to think that his chin was a little tougher than Fraziers. Of course, Marciano did not have to fight Foreman, so it is really hard to say. Still I give Marciano the nod when it comes to chin.

This is a tough fight to call. Neither result would surprise me. I would give a 60-40 chance in Marcianos favour. Frazier was used to come in low and work his way under his opponents arms to deliver his hard shots. This would not work against Marciano, Marciano being the smaller man is this match-up. They were both slow starters, but Marciano hit harder and therefore would have a better chance of hurting Frazier early than the other way around.

I see both men hurting the other one early on in a brutal slugfest. Marciano would deliver the hardest shots though and slow Frazier down a bit. It would be a real wear-and-tear with Marciano coming out on top by a late tko. I am not sure Marciano would be craving to give Frazier a rematch though...

[Yogi]

Pressure fighters have always troubled Frazier and he doesn't nearly have the chin neccessary to last against Marciano.

Frazier was rocked or knocked down against both Bonavena and Quarry (1st fight), when both fighters attacked Frazier from the get-go and had Joe in a lot of trouble. ****, Frazier was even rocked by both a Manuel Ramos left hook and a Ron Stander right uppercut, early in both of those fights against aggressive, but very subpar opposition.

If those guys could give Frazier that much trouble with their aggressive styles, I have no doubts that Marciano would've knocked him out at some point.

[whdempsey]

Im sorry but Rocky Marciano did not have a higher work rate than Joe Frazier.

I don't know how to put this...yes he did. Apology accepted.

[whdempsey]

why does every1 put marciano down, hes never lost, if there ever was the greatest boxer which their isnt, it shud be marciano, not ali who lost 7 times. every1 just says hes so good coz he beat foreman, idiots

Ali lost five times. Marciano is a great fighter, and a lotta guys here like to put him down, but he wasn't the best ever.

[boxernyc]

I'm not sure who would win. It would all come down to who had the bigger heart. And I have no way of saying who had the bigger of the two. They both had HUGE hearts. I give the edge in power to Frazier and the edge in chin to Marciano. But I know it would end by KO. IF forced, I think I would say Marciano, but with no solid reason. I don't honestly know enough about the two to make an educated well reasoned argument. I think this would best be tackled by someone who has a good understanding of their opponents and how they were handled. Did MArciano fight anyone resembling Joe's style? Jersey Joe was similar but not close enough to warrant direct comparison. I never saw the Ezzard fight. Also, who did Joe fight that would compare with Marciano? Foreman is way too strong and big to compare to Marciano. I guess I asked more questions than I answered!

[bobbyjones]

Joe Frazier did beat a prime Ali but the fact of the matter is that Rocky never lost. There is no blue print for beating the guy, not that Frazier ever would have fought him differently anyway because he only had one way to fight. Call me idealistic, but I think that Rocky would have found a way to win through his toughness and power, remember that Frazier never did deal with incredible power all that well.

[M26]

Joe Frazier did beat a prime Ali but the fact of the matter is that Rocky never lost. There is no blue print for beating the guy, not that Frazier ever would have fought him differently anyway because he only had one way to fight. Call me idealistic, but I think that Rocky would have found a way to win through his toughness and power, remember that Frazier never did deal with incredible power all that well.

I agree. How ever, I must point out that Ali was not in his prime when he lost to Frazier... He just came back from a 3-year-layoff, and was not the same fighter as the 1967-version. That would be a different fight I think.

[bobbyjones]

I agree. How ever, I must point out that Ali was not in his prime when he lost to Frazier... He just came back from a 3-year-layoff, and was not the same fighter as the 1967-version. That would be a different fight I think.

and now its my turn to agree with you. Ali did not have the same legs against Frazier that he did against Liston for example, but Frazier beat him as close to his prime as anyone ever did, and if we are talking ALI and not CLAY then Frazier beat a prime ALI because in reality when he changed names he also changed as a fighter and in my mind the two "careers" are almost seperate, like the difference between old Foreman and young Foreman.