Rocky Marciano is very overrated IMO

[fistlegend]

well, he lacked skill but either way he was a very good fighter had alot of power

[M26]

Rocky Marciano had the unfortune to be fighting during a weak era. But this is not to say Marciano is overrated.

People often say "he would be too small", "he would be outweighed" or "he was too slow" when givng reasons for why Marciano would get licked by fighters of other eras. But this is what people said when Marciano was fighting as well! He was thought of as a slow, untalented and short slugger with no decent chance of becoming good, much less champion. I guess he proved them wrong...

Every time he fought somebody good, the public expected him to lose. Against Rex Layne, against Harry Matthews, against Joe Louis and against Jersey Joe Walcott. He defeated them all by ko. Some of his foes were past their primes, but this is not to say that they were bums!

Joe Louis had won his last eight fights before getting stopped by Marciano.

Jersey Joe Walcott fought the fight of his life against Marciano, and proved he was a slick, skilled and powerful foe even at 38.

Ezzard Charles was 32 and still a very good fighter when he met Marciano. Maybe fading, but he had alot of experience with more than 100 profights, and he still had the desire for the game at this point.

Archie Moore was younger than his age would suggest when fighting Marciano. After getting beaten badly by Rocky, he kept fighting for eight more years, earning a 43-3-2 record!

And in the beginning of his career, he was often thrown in the ring against much more experienced fighters. This is because he didn't have a manager for the first part of his career. So he was depending on other fighters managers to get fights. By this, he was often used as a "sitting duck" for managers trying to build their fighters. For instance, he fought undefeated Eddie Ross (26-0 with 23kos) in his fifth fight. It only took him 1 minute to dispatch of Ross.

Marciano was a fighter that defied the odds. He was short, weighed aprox. 185 lbs, was slow, had mediocre skills and started fighting as a pro at 24. This should spell disaster for him, but it didn't. With his stamina, chin, power and heart, he brawled his way to the championship belt and through six defenses, before hanging em' up.

To say Rocky Marciano was not a great fighter, is ridiculos. He was one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. It is not his fault that he fought during a less than great era, and it should not be held against him. He never ducked anyone and beat them all. Nobody has never been able to this, before or after Marciano.

I am sure he would defeat many alltime greats if he was given half a chance.

Overrated? I think not.

[KidBlackie]

[[[but he was 185 pounds fighting against guys that outweighed him by at least 15 pounds. That is pretty incredible when you think about it.]]]
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There you go again. You're completely shameless and are not in the least embarrassed that you don't know what you're talking about. The record shows approx half of Rocky's opponents weighed within a few lbs or less than him. Less than a handful had 15 or more lbs on him. All had reach on him and most were as tall or a few inches taller.

As far as the originator of this post, well, since he was too dumb to post a rating of Rocky, then his question is invalid. IBRO historians ranked Rocky in their top 10 and he had some of the best fights in history against Walcott and Charles. Even Ali liked Rocky and had his name painted on one of the big boulders at his Deer Lake training camp and Foreman and Frazier like him too.

[SnoopySmurf]

During his time, he was the reigning undesputed heavyweight champion of the world. The picture above is his challenge for Jersey Joe Walcott's heavyweight title. Rocky was down for the first time in his career in the first round by Jersey Joe's lethal left hook (which BTW was the same hook that earned him the title as he KO'd Ezzard Charles).

All night, Rocky ate nothing but combos, jabs and even was staggared in the 12th round (courtesy of http://cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/w0502-pd.html). But the 13th will be forever etched into history as Rocky launched his Suzie-Q punch. A short right hook from just 12 inches away when Jersey Joe was on the ropes. Trailing on all cards, this punch was the ultimate Puncher's Chance as Jersey Joe Walcott slumped into the ropes and was counted out.

Extremely easy to hit yet he never crumbled nor slowed with exhaustion. He crouched like a hunch back, stalking his opponents sideways, always hiding his iron mallet within his right glove. Always ready to throw the devastating right punch. It was his best weapon against the sweet science of the more talented fighters of his time. If the fleet footed fighter could avoid a clubbing to his face, Rocky would punch their arms until the 8 ounces of padding could no longer be held in defense.

With what little talent and physical attributes he had, he made up for it through pure savagery, determination and sometimes elbows, headbutts and pure guts. Clinching was out of the question. This was Rocky Marciano. The Brockton Blockbuster.

(this thread was inspired by one who praised John Ruiz )

[Kid Achilles]

Marciano was talented. Pretty good head movement and wasn't easy to hit from long range. He was only really dropped on the inside, by sneaky punches by Walcott and Moore.

He wasn't that quick but what handspeed he had he retained until the end of a fight. Most guys slow down as a fight goes on. The right hand he knocked Walcott out with was actually quicker than Walcott's right hand that he had started to throw. Marciano beat Jersey Joe to the punch.

Aside from the power, chin, and determination, he had other qualities that made him a great champion. At his peak he was an underrated athlete, and not the stationary target he presented to an old Joe Louis and other earlier opponents. His upper body movement by the Archie Moore fight was better than many of the other heavyweight champions.

In my opinion he was better at slipping punches at the end of his career than Joe Frazier. Frazier's defense visually looked more impressive because he always moving his head around but the reality is Joe was tagged more often by lesser fighters. I don't see prime Marciano at the top of his game ever getting caught and staggered by Ron Stander. Not if they fought ten times.

[Skydog]

He may be overrated, but he would give many 200+ pound opponents a hard time. Like Frazier, he is relentless, but hits harder than Joe. You don't go undefeated for nothing.

[butterfly1964]

He may be overrated, but he would give many 200+ pound opponents a hard time. Like Frazier, he is relentless, but hits harder than Joe. You don't go undefeated for nothing.

you go undefeated if you fight glass chin middleweights and cruiserweights like marciano did.

[kapersky]

you go undefeated if you fight glass chin middleweights and cruiserweights like marciano did.

mm i like marciano, but can anyone honestly say they can see marciano survive with foreman for 12rounds? or guy like lewis?

[butterfly1964]

mm i like marciano, but can anyone honestly say they can see marciano survive with foreman for 12rounds? or guy like lewis?

i definetely can't!

[ricecrispi]

Foreman for 12 rounds. I don't think so but I would never bet against Marciano because he is also possibly one miracle punch from knockout Foreman who didn't have the greatest boxing skills but had great KO power.

Lewis? Now thats overrated. You ever seen the man fight. Yeah he has a great record and is very big but his is unimpressive in most of his fights and even the ones he won.
Look at his losses. Gets knocked by Rahmin and McCall.

Hurt by a declining Holyfield and didn't even knock out Holyfield when Bowe did and so did Toney. Where is all that power. All he did was jab backwards and hug for 24 rounds.

Had his hands full with Shannon Briggs and QuitX4Klitskho. Ran from David Tua. Lewis is a ****

I never saw Marciano run from any of his opponents like a **** and go hugging them for half the fight like its a gay and lesbian parade down sunset blvd.