Prime Ali vs Prime Marciano: Who wins?

[Dynamite76]

Ali by late round stoppage.

[LoadedWraps]

I think Rocky would do best against tall jabbers such as Ali, Holmes, Lewis, Klitschko and his worst match up would be against a prime Tyson.

If Frazier could hit Ali then so could Marciano. This is not to say I would favor Marciano over Ali. I don't. I think Ali should win that fight running away (no pun intended). Ali had a great chin so I don't think he would be dropped on one isolated punch. I don't think Ali would take Marciano as lightly as he did Henry Cooper.

He couldn't handle that power, Marciano would make it a phone booth fight.

[Joe Beamish]

Not an easy fight for any version of Ali. The 1960s version made gross mistakes that Marciano might well have made him pay for; the 70s version got hit -- a lot, and Marciano would have landed on him possibly more than he could take. He hit nasty hard.

[LoadedWraps]

Not an easy fight for any version of Ali. The 1960s version made gross mistakes that Marciano might well have made him pay for; the 70s version got hit -- a lot, and Marciano would have landed on him possibly more than he could take. He hit nasty hard.

Well said. Good post.

[joseph5620]

He couldn't handle that power, Marciano would make it a phone booth fight.

So Ali could handle the power of Foreman, Frazier, Liston Lyle, Shavers. But not Marciano. That's quite a stretch.

And don't even try to convince me that 185 pound Marciano hit as hard as any of them. And yes, the size matters. Even the smallest of the group Frazier was considerably bigger.

Marciano would wear his opponents down with his incredible conditioning and he had power but generally he was not a one shot KO killer that the Walcott fight has convinced a lot of people.

[New England]

ali. probably a late stoppage in a 15 round fight. marciano would have issues with the footspeed and length. you're talkoing abut a difference of more than a foot in reach. that's nearly impossible to overcome unless you have fast feet, are an outright better boxer than your opponent, or your opponent has a bad chin.

[young_robbed]

He couldn't handle that power, Marciano would make it a phone booth fight.

Why does Marciano have this inhumane power that Ali has never tasted before? You know all of the bangers that Ali faced so I don't need to name them. I doubt rocky hits harder than Foreman or Frazier for example. Furthermore, Ali had a great great chin, one of the toughest HWs ever.

I don't see an argument for Rocky winning here. Rocky would be too slow of feet to catch up to Ali - at least when Frazier fought a past prime version, Frazier had the foot speed and the correct head movement to get inside. Marciano would get tied up every time he would manage to get inside and Ali would continue to dominate the fight from the outside with his superior speed, reach, height, and combination punching.

If Ali doesn't win by clear decision, he wins by cuts.

[LoadedWraps]

Why does Marciano have this inhumane power that Ali has never tasted before? You know all of the bangers that Ali faced so I don't need to name them. I doubt rocky hits harder than Foreman or Frazier for example. Furthermore, Ali had a great great chin, one of the toughest HWs ever.

I don't see an argument for Rocky winning here. Rocky would be too slow of feet to catch up to Ali - at least when Frazier fought a past prime version, Frazier had the foot speed and the correct head movement to get inside. Marciano would get tied up every time he would manage to get inside and Ali would continue to dominate the fight from the outside with his superior speed, reach, height, and combination punching.

If Ali doesn't win by clear decision, he wins by cuts.

Ali has never tasted power like Marciano's Rocky would set traps and break him own.

[The Old LefHook]

Clay was knocked out by Cooper and saved by skullduggery, otherwise known as cheating. He had no defense against a lef hook, never did. That was the great ***** in his armor. All his other tools probably overcome Rocky most of the time. Ali probably wins on cuts. Certainly he had no punch in him that counts out Rocky.

People like Chisora are pure scrubs and might have made good sparring partners for Rocky or Ali. Chisora could not give either a decent fight in the ring because he is nothing but a contemporary scrub from the worst era in heavyweight history. Anyone who even questions that is a pure, brainless halfwit, and I know there are a lot of them on here. Have a nice breakfast.

[f15bone]

Ali by decision...

Marciano was a tough SOB but so was Ali...Rocky would give a valiant effort he just lacks the necessary tools to get the job done...