[wildhawke11]

Rocky Marciano a Champion both In and Out of the Ring

If winning fights is*ALL* that matters then there is only one Heavyweight in the picture
Has to be Rocky Marciano. 49 fights -- 49 wins -- 43 by KO

Of course we All know stats on paper don't give the full story.
Ali most feel holds that Crown, and arguable was the Best

I would love to have seen a fight between Marciano and Holmes,
both at there peak. On paper it looks like a Holmes victory. Most would say "Yes Larry is to big and has a great jab" !!!!!!
Till i whispered in the Rocks ear "Hey Champ this is the guy who said you were not fit enough to carry his jock strap"

That's all Marciano would need to put Holmes through more pain then any fighter has had to take to earn a win. Not sure then who my money would be on. Ohhhhh hell put my $$$$$ on the guy who never gave up, and walked through fire and brimstone to land his own blows

In a lot of ways he was a bit like the fighter in the Rocky Films, if you were going to beat him you had to be prepared to die to win. Once in that square jungle with the Rock. It was pain, pain and more pain to follow.

Many fighters who took on the Rock worked out he was clumsy, slow and had there game plan all worked out.

"I will keep him away with my strong jab, or tie him up when close. or make him miss with my boxing skills"
The reality was, once the fight started, they found out that he was not so slow, had power in EVERY blow he threw, and it was a total different ball game trying to fight the Rock then watching this squat figure from the safety of a ringside seat and dreaming they could take him.

No matter how much you hit him, or were ahead on points against this guy, He never stopped coming at you. He was losing against Joe Walcott going into the 13th round but once again the Rock did it as the song goes
---- "I Did it My Way"----

You know why people loved the Rock, it was because they could associate themselves with him, he did not look like our stereo type picture of a fighter, more like the average Joe in the street, short of build, craggy features, he was one of us. if you know what i mean.
He had not the speed of Clay, the accuracy of Joe Louis, or the film star looks of say a young Billy Conn, but he had the biggest Heart in the World it is true, i have heard guys say he would rather die then give up. That was our Rocky.

Unlike some he never disrespected any other fighter he took on, he just did the job in his own way, and went out with a true unbeaten 49 record win to show for his efforts.
What more can a man do to then be the Best of his era.

Maybe its time now to start judging the smaller old time Heavyweights such as Marciano, Dempsey, Tunney etc etc on a Pound for Pound basis but then still rank them say for example at number 4 in The All time Great Heavy List
rather then say would Jack Dempsey have beaten say Lewis. or the next 290 lb fighter that is sure to come one day. In the year 2075 they might well be saying how could little Ali have beaten our present 350lb World Champ.

They might knock you Rocky and criticise you in any way they like, but one thing no one can ever take away from you. Is that great unbeaten record you took to your grave.

I salute a real Champion * Rocky Marciano a real Man of the People*

Just something i knocked up in the Boxing Section Guys as a tribute to Rocky.
Danny