Can anyone name 1 prime fighter 'The Rock' fought?

Question

Im sick of reading silly rants about Rocky Marciano being the greatest heavyweight of all time,what fighter fought Rocky in his prime?and even with the old men like louis,Walcott and Moore Marciano had a tremendous struggle,so how can fools compare street fighters like Marciano with modern day boxers and think he''d have stood a chance?

Answer 1

Roland La Starza?  The guy that earned a proper draw against Rocky.  But it went to some bizzare supplemental points system to protect Marciano.

You're right, dude.  RM never fought a primed, top fighter.

Answer 2

I'm literally laughing out loud at the fools who claim Charles was even close to his prime. Moore was in a better state than Charles at the time, but still definitely not in his prime(both were at their best in previous years at Light Heavyweight). Louis was shot. The closest to prime that he beat was Walcott, which was his best win(but one he happened to be losing for 12 straight rounds in before the big punch finally landed in the 13th).

Rock ranks #5 or #6 on my HW list. The people who rate him #1 simply don't know boxing.

Answer 3

It's difficult to put a man who was really a cruiser weight by today's standards against the modern day Titans such as Tyson,Foreman,Shavers and others like Larry Holmes,Ali etc.If it came to courage test Marciano would beat any of them.If it came to a fight with Mike Tyson,Rocky would lose.Same with Foreman or Shavers,Lyle.But i believe he would have probably ko'd Holmes or Ali,got inside them and caught them to many time with his power punches,Ali struggled against Frazier,who was no were near Marciano's strength or courage.If Rocky were fighting today at cruiser weight he'd never be beaten,but in the heavyweight div from 70's onwards he would not be strong enough to beat fighters like Mike Tyson,and certainly not strong or big enough to beat Foreman

Answer 4

I agree 100 % Marciano is way overated fighter. He never fought anyone good in their prime none of those guys that were mentioned were in their prime. Even in their mid to late 30s back then  was way past their prime. Back then fighters fought a lot more than they did now at days so by the time they hit their mid 30s they were somewhat washed up from all the fights they had.Unlike say a de la hoya, mosely or hopkins who all take great care of themselves are very far from washed up or done for... I think most of the heavyweights maybe not currently but go back 8-10 years or so could have easily beat Marciano. He was a tiny heavyweight he would be a cruiser weight if he was still around now at days. Just cause he went out undefeated people say he is one of the greatest but that means nothing to me , all the greatest fighters have losses on their records.

Answer 5

Rocky Marciano will never get the respect he deserves for one simple reason, unlike Ali he was not a great PR person. Rocky didn't care to sell his image, he was content for letting his actions in the ring speak for themselves. Also because he was smart enough to retire while he was still in his prime and not get beaten to a pulp and disabled or have their leagacy tarnished (see:Ali, see:Jones Jr.) alot of people chose to not give him the credit he deserves. NO MATTER WHO HE FOUGHT HE IS STILL THE ONLY HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMP TO EVER FINISH WITH AN UNDEFEATED RECORD!!!

Whoever critiques Marciano's greatness is a sad excuse for a coward. Unless he/she has fought as a professional boxer, they cannot possibly understand the hard work Marciano put into boxing.

Not only was Marciano a really small heavyweight, he also had deploringly short reach. Yet he hit harder than most people 50 pounds heavier than he. He had to train harder, faster, and longer than his contemporaries, because he knew he would have to work harder in order to get inside. He had a granite chin - only twice did he suffer a flash knockdown. He would take four punches just to land one; usually, that one punch did twice the damage of a normal heavyweight slugger. He retired undefeated, with a scary high KO percentage.

Style wise, he was a swarmer... who could punch. He hit hard with either hand, and a clean shot to the chin almost guaranteed a knockdown. He was a tough guy- just watch his nose during the Ezzard Charles fight. Those with an ounce of experience would know that anyone with these qualities has the ability of a champion.

Those who know all this and still does not recognize Marciano's greatness has obviously never boxed in their life. And if they do or have, they certainly do not deserve to be called a champion like Rocky was.

Answer 6

There has not been any rants about Marciano.  You are simply trying to stir up something.  To call Marciano a street fighter is disgraceful and you should be ashamed of yourself.  I could name 100's of reasons of why Rocky was a great fighter but that would not matter.  Walcott become a great and dangerous fighter later in his career and Archie Moore beat 230 lb heavyweight Nino Valdez and #1 ranked Bob Baker to earn a shot at Rocky's title and continued on as the light heavyweight champion for almost 7 years.  I guess George Foreman was way past his prime when he beat much younger Michael Moorer?  Rocky was the greatest of his era and would have been h**l for anyone inside the ring because he had the heart of a lion and a champion, knew no fear, trained harder than anyone and was in perfect condition.  He trained to fight at 188 lbs for endurance reasons in case he was in a long fight as his normal weight was around 200-205 lbs.  He hit a heavy bag twice the size of a normal one and ran 12 miles a day.  Name somebody else that did this before you start putting him down.  We should be here to respect each others opinions and share our viewpoints and so you just got mine like it or not!

Answer 7

He fought Ezzard Charles who was a tremendous boxer.  What you also fail to take into consideration is the fact that Jersey Joe Walcott and Archie Moore were in their prime when they were well into their thirties, and could both take a good punch, which was testament to the power that Marciano possessed.  I will, however, accept that Joe Louis was a spent force by the time he fought Marciano.  It is true that he would never have had a chance against boxers with more speed, such as Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson, but I would also doubt they would have been able to knock out The Rock either.

Answer 8

I can tell you right now Rocky wasn`t the greatest heavyweight ever, but he was the best of his time. He was a 5ft 10in 185 lb man with the shortest reach in heavyweight championship history tearing the heads off of great  heavyweight fighters like Charles, Walcott, and Louis. You want to defame a heavyweight champion go after the oversized bully Jack Johnson. Go thru his record and see the stiffs that padded his record then try to figure out how the guy gets ranked higher then Marciano in some peoples accounts.

Answer 9

Amen  brother. Ive been arguing this fact for as long as i been a boxing fan,  Like people saying he would beat Mike Tyson, i mean to me that's just a dumb question. Tyson is a monster compared to any of Marcianos opponents. Marciano was a tough durable guy with a hard punch. Today he would probably still win allot of tough man contests but wouldn't be able to compete with most modern heavyweights.

But as for Marciano, all the guys he beat were past their primes and the legit contenders he did fight were part time boxers. I can guarantee you If Marciano was around today even with the S****y heavyweights that we have, he would not go undefeated very long. The Heavyweights  of today are giants. Heavyweights in Marciano's times where barley light heavyweights.

If Marciano steeped in the ring with even a Sam Peter, he wouldn't even know where to start. I mean come on, Put Marciano against a tank, i bet some people would still pick Marciano.

If we took a time machine, went back and got Marciano and brought him back, He might be able to compete at Middleweight or Lighheavyweight. Hes just a man, not superman.

Ok i didnt see the last guys post when i posted this. Allow me to respond. Walcott had lost almost 20 fights, and had been knocked out 4 or 5 times by the time he fought Marciano. As for Ezzard Charles, he already had lost twice to Walcott once by knockout  and Walcott wasn’t a big puncher. So I don’t think you know too much about what you’re giving your opinion on. Sorry to be a jerk, but hey.

Ill give him credit for knocking out the Old Mongoose, but don’t forget that Moore was only fighting at like 188 lbs, and was showing signs of slowing down. Not to mention Archie was light heavyweight who moved up to heavyweight.

Marciano wasn’t hard to hit on the chin, he take a hit to give one, but he was taking hits from guys that weighed under 200 lbs. If Lennox Lewis hit him once or twice, he’d be taken out in a body bag.

Its a little thing called Evolution.

Marciano was a tough SOB, no question. But when you’re hit on the chin by a guy who outweighs you by 50 lbs and about 4 inches. It don’t matter how tough you are, because even if you didn’t get knocked out, and even pulled a decision, what next?? Marciano is going to fight every fight like that?? No way, If he  40 fights at Heavyweight this day in age, hed be brain damaged horribly by his 10th fight.

Answer 10

Rocky was good but nowhere near the greatest he did not have a very strong level of competition in his era. Rocky Marciano was undefeated because he fought bums and aging former champions. There was no serious competition in his except those provided by two aging boxers Jersey Joe Walcott and Archie Moore, who both knocked down Marciano before eventually losing the fight. Rocky never fought Joe Louis in his prime (he KO'd an old, and desperate for cash Louis who was nowhere close to the boxer he used to be), or someone like Ali, Liston, Foreman or Frazier. Also, Marciano was a small heavyweight, about 5'10, with a short reach and and soft skin. He was slow and easily got hit and cut. His skills were primitive at best and simply relied on his chin and brutal punches to overpower his opponents, after all mayweather is also undefeated right now but that does not mean that he is the greatest welter weight of all time.

Answer 11

ezzard

Answer 12

The thing is, when ppl talk about prime ppl immediately think young.

Archie Moore got better when he fought in the heavyweight division than when he fought at light heavyweight. Charles was also good, Walcott reached his prime at a late stage

Marciano was a very strong fighter and he should be considered one of the greats in Heavyweight history, its just a shame there was no1 in his era good enough to challenge him. He did beat every elite fighter of his time, it's just that they weren't good like in Ali's era

I don't think it's wise to compare two fighters from two different era's because you really never knw what the outcome might be. Marciano was probably better conditioned than many fighters of this era since he had to fight more rounds and fought more frequently than the fighters of today.