Marciano was overrated and not an ATG.

[Jim Jeffries]

Marciano might not be up there in the top ten for fantasy boxing matchups, but hes for sure top ten for accomplishments.

No kidding and he's criticized for wins over guys like Charles, an ATG LHW, but come on, Rocky was 185 lbs, not to mention only 5'10" with an extremely short reach. Rocky would be fighting LHW or maybe even SMW today, where he matches up much better.

[JAB5239]

[QUOTE=Rafael Benitez;3782488]Marciano was overrated. If he fought Liston isntead of being a chicken he would have bean beaten to a pulp. He struggled against slow old men like Walcott and a washed up Charles. I reckon most top heavies from each era would have wiped the floor with him. Do u really think he could stand in there with Big Klitchko, Lewis, Holyfied or even Samuel Peter?

Lets start with the obvious. You've called Marciano a "chicken" for not sticking around to fight Liston. What you fail to mention is that Marciano was 33 when he retired and Liston was only in his second year as a pro, AND had already lost to Marty Marshall. Liston didn't go on his destuction of the heavyweight top 10 till 1958. Thats 3 years after Rocky retired. So already you're sounding foolish. And before you go off on some tangent, I think Sonny would have beat Marciano Prime for prime. Not nearly as easy as you think, but he would have won.
You can't blame Marciano for the era he fought in. He did everything there was to do, and beat the best fighters available. His competition was no worse than Holmes era, the only difference being Marciano fought everybody there was to fight. I rate holmes Higher all time based on his 20 defenses, but Holmes failed to give rematches to a still green Tim Witherspoon and carl Williams. Marciano never failed to give a rematch to a deserving fighter.
You've tried to compare Marciano to todays heavyweights weight even though by todays standards he would be a cruiser weight.
Lol, I find it insulting you would compare him to either Klitschko or Same Peter. Both who hardly throw any punches and are sucking wind by the 6th round. P4p neither are even close to being in Marciano's universe. Rocky was a 15 round fighter who threw punches non stop and never got tired.
The rest of your post is a joke that doesn't deserve a response. For someone who claims to have seen so many fights, and acts as if he has all this knowledge....you don't have a clue. No matter what you think, or these other misinformed, delusional clowns, Marciano will be seen as one of the best fighters to lace em up for a long, long time. Live with it.

[warp1432]

A lot of old champs are overrated, they built up their careers fighting tomato cans.

Boxing back then was just there to watch someone get beat up, its now developed into an ultra competitive sport.

Marciano did fight bums, and so did Joe Louis. Like come on a guy like tony galento wouldn't even make it past the health check nowadays.

Have you even watched? Some fighters were overrated, but many like Robinson, Burley, and others weren't.

[Silencers]

For his physical disadvantages, he accomplished a lot, he wasn't a very fast guy, wasn't very tall, didn't possess long arms but his hard work and dedication to the sport paid off, he actually cut weight to make 185, presumably to make himself faster and it of course helped that he punched very hard.

[KostyaTszyu44]

wtf marciano was a great champion, ive sigged what you said about him to expose your stupidity to all

[Blue Öyster]

No kidding and he's criticized for wins over guys like Charles, an ATG LHW, but come on, Rocky was 185 lbs, not to mention only 5'10" with an extremely short reach. Rocky would be fighting LHW or maybe even SMW today, where he matches up much better.

marciano only beat charles cos he was past it!!!

the 3rd walcot fight proved that!!! when he EVENTUALY managed to defeat charles with that crushing left hook!! charles looks shot as hell all the way throught that fight!! his timing was awful by then!! and marciano fought him well after that!!

[BKM-]

People should stop taking FANTASY MATCHUPS so seriously. That DOES NOT negate a fighter's accomplishments and sure as heck doesn't determine one's greatness.

It will always be speculation, no one can say for sure who would beat who. Mainly because it's too difficult to compare diffirent eras, and Boxing can be that unpredictable.

What truly determines a fighter's greatness is his accomplishments in his own era, and respectively look at his own abilities.

Rocky Marciano did everything he could in his era untill his own physical endurance forced him to leave the sport he accomplished everything he could in. His record holds some great names in(they weren't all 'old men') he had plenty of defences, and the manner in which he won by facing so much adversity at times make his wins that much greater.

So please, when you judge Marciano's legacy don't just match him up against other fighters from diffirent eras, looking at size only and base your conclusions on that. It is redicilous and discredits a great man and fighter like Rocky Marciano.

[Sugarj]

Lets just stop for a minute and forget Rocky..............There was nothing 'slow' about Jersey Joe Walcott. For his age he moved very gracefully, had good hand and footspeed and punched very well in combinations at 37.

I've watched many of Jersey Joe's fights and....until the knockout was beating Rocky on pure skill.

[JAB5239]

People should stop taking FANTASY MATCHUPS so seriously. That DOES NOT negate a fighter's accomplishments and sure as heck doesn't determine one's greatness.

It will always be speculation, no one can say for sure who would beat who. Mainly because it's too difficult to compare diffirent eras, and Boxing can be that unpredictable.

What truly determines a fighter's greatness is his accomplishments in his own era, and respectively look at his own abilities.

Rocky Marciano did everything he could in his era untill his own physical endurance forced him to leave the sport he accomplished everything he could in. His record holds some great names in(they weren't all 'old men') he had plenty of defences, and the manner in which he won by facing so much adversity at times make his wins that much greater.

So please, when you judge Marciano's legacy don't just match him up against other fighters from diffirent eras, looking at size only and base your conclusions on that. It is redicilous and discredits a great man and fighter like Rocky Marciano.

Nice post here. A voice of reason.

[JAB5239]

Lets just stop for a minute and forget Rocky..............There was nothing 'slow' about Jersey Joe Walcott. For his age he moved very gracefully, had good hand and footspeed and punched very well in combinations at 37.

I've watched many of Jersey Joe's fights and....until the knockout was beating Rocky on pure skill.

Personaly I think walcott and his skills are very underrated. Not one heavyweight today matches him in terms of fotwork hand speed combonation punching or defense. Thats not to say Joe would beat todays giants, but just watchim him you can see how much more skilled he is than todays top fighters.