Rocky was great against fellow 190 pounders or old, retired, come backing Joe Louis, 37, 39 year old Joe Walcott and light heavy Ezazard Charles, but would be so undefeated again the later generations IMO.
To simply answer you question; HE WAS JUST THAT BAD A**!!!
Marciano was not the most skilled boxer, but he was the most determined boxer I have EVER watched! He retired undefeated because he did not allow himself to lose...period!
Watch his first fight vs. Walcott, or his 8th round KO of Charles, where his nose was literally split down the middle and about to fall off, and the ref told him that he had only one more round or he would stop the fight; Marciano WOULD NOT LOSE!
Marciano, no matter the damage he had taken, never stopped throwing hard, punishing, KO-intention punches, from the beginning of the ring of the bell of the 1st round, until the end of the fight.
Unfortunately, we cannot literally compare fighters from different eras. For example, Roy Jones Jr. fought in every weight class possible to prove his supremecy in boxing. Was it that he had no true challenge? Or was he so good, that he made great fighters look sub-par? The same goes with Marciano, except Marciano fought true, memorable champions.
So while boxing trainers, such as myself, have learned of new skills for boxers to utilize, it is hard to say whether or not he would match up against the boxers of today.
But again, Marciano was known for not losing, at all cost, so given the knowledge of today, he very well be able to have stood atop the boxers of our time.
Rocky is a lot like Mayweather he was always the smaller guy, and only fought guys when they were well past prime, and a few gift decisions, and your undefeated. Rocky wasn't nearly as bad as a ducker as Mayweather though.
He was 5'11 185- 190. A very tough guy. He might of survived, taking massive damage, and would have a punchers chance, but he would be giving up major size. He would of struggled against the guys on your list big time, but guys of today, who knows, they are bigger, but currently the heavyweights have been a weak era for the past decade.
He'd give anyone trouble. He was almost impossible to hurt and never took the pressure off. He was one of the best conditioned heavyweights ever. I think guys that could move and box though, like Ali, Holmes, Lewis, etc would take him the distance and outpoint him, but it wouldn't be easy. Rocky would be a hell of alot smaller than them too.
Well, when Ali was asked whether he could beat Marciano, despite his usual bravado, he replied that "it could go either way".
And Ali had sparred with an over-the-hill Marciano, and asserted that Marciano hit very hard.
So, if Ali had that kind of respect for Marciano, it might lead one to think.......
Marciano also fought from a very low crouch, which made it hard to hit him.
His right hand was a legend, and he was never defeated. Archie Moore respected Marciano.
I think he would surprise a lot of modern boxers. He starved himself to stay in the 180s when his natural weight was over 200.
He was a tough guy. He was mean. He broke ribs and put tough guys in hospital.
I would not want to even spar with him.
The reason is how tough and fit Marciano was. Marcianos will to win is higher than that of every other fighter(except maybe Ali or Frazier). Marciano fought Ezzard Charles with his nose in two. He just kept coming and didn't gave up. Rocky never gave up and he trained harder than every other heavyweight(except James Jeffries of course, but that's a different story), running every day 15-20 miles before a fight. The third reason is Rockys style. He ran after you, escaping your punches(his defense is one of the best ever, very underrated. There's a video about that), catching you and pushing you to the robes. Marciano trained with a 300 lbs bag, being so strong that he could have pushed every known heavyweight boxer to the robes(except maybe Valuev). There being at the robes, you couldn't have stood a chance against Marciano. He would never tire, throwing non stop punches against you(punches that could crack a rock). This method was especially efficient against taller fighters, because on the robes and Marciano right before them, they couldn't strike out for an efficient punch. That's the reason, why Marciano could still compete in todays heavyweight tournament. His tactics would be deadly for taller fighters. Weight didn't matter, because Marciano could mover 300 lbs bags with one punch. And show me a fighter today that is over 300 lbs! The only way to beat Marciano would be to either escape him with your speed(almost impossible, because he kept constantly coming after you, tiring you out. It's not possible to avoid Marciano for 15 rounds! Nowadays with 12 it would probably more be possible) or to knock him early out(but you'll need much power, because Marcianos chin wasn't that good-he got dropped by an old Jersey Joe Walcott- but his heart rate wasn't from this world, which means he would constantly stand up). Against the following:
Ali: Marciano by KO in round 12
Frazier: Marciano by KO in round 4
Foreman: Marciano by KO in round 10
Tyson: Tyson by KO in round 2
Holyfield: Marciano by TKO in round 7
Tyson would knock him, because of his speed advantage. Foreman would be too slow to knock him out, getting pushed to the canvas and getting knocked out, step by step, brick by brick. Ali would also tire out, early escaping Marciano, but Marciano would constantly coming after him and tiring him out.
Many people today only know Rocky from his ko clip highlights.
Rocky would not simply stand toe to toe with todays fighters. Rocky was not a 1 dimensional fighter. You can't be 1 dimensional to have that record.
Rocky didn't fight toe to toe the first couple of rounds.
He would crouch and position himself to land strong shots, mostly to the body, to slowly wear down his opponent. Rocky kept doing this until his opponents went in retreat, he would then swarm them non stop.
Rocky is, was and always will be to just start fighting toe to toe with big men. Rocky would fight smart ripping the body and when the opponent was wore down then he would go toe to toe. There were always big men so Rocky just going toe to toe would be stupid.
Primo Carnera weighed 270lbs of muscle; http://vi.sualize.us/primo_carnera_train...
Carnera was undisputed champion a bit before Rocky, the Rock knew going toe to toe with big men would be suicidal.
How would he fair today? There's no way to know.
He was better than david tua he hit real hard he would be probably 215 if he fought today he beat the body down went for the head
Rocky would beat all of them. Only the Klitschkos and Lewis could beat Rocky due to their size advantage
Actually I think he would beat the crap outta Ali, Holmes and Tyson. Not sure about the Klitschkos though.
Or any between then and now. Ali, frazier, foreman, tyson, holifield come to mind. I know nobody ever beat him professionally but was it the opponents for the time period or was he just that bad a$$?
yes
