Thread: alltialltime greats who "shouldnt" have been great

That's what makes boxing great: you have that extra physical layer added into the mix.

Being a better boxer than a guy, in and of itself, doesn't mean jack shit. Can you maintain it for 10-15 rounds? Can you be a good boxer when you're tired and getting hit, or when one eye is swollen shut?

There's no sport that tests an athlete physically and mentally like fight sports. A guy like Rocky Marciano had a laughable reach for a HW (even by 'golden age' standards) and wasn't exactly a ring general, but when you have a guy with an unbreakable will, huge power and neverending stamina, you'll see a lot of superior skilled guys get broke physically and mentally.

When you have power like Foreman, it doesn't take a whole lot of punches to break someone physically and mentally.

Look say what you want about the old timers but Holmes and Foreman when they were in there 40's came back in the 90's proably the strongest era and did pretty well. The best of this era couldn't beat the best of the 90's at there peak. As the the 60's and back they would be cw and I think they could do pretty well with the crop that is there today but against the hw's they would have problems because they would be like 60 pounds lighter which is kinda a big deal don't you think but at cw they would do great.

Originally Posted by mrbig1

I'll give you another one. Jack Johnson, how great was he? He beat Tommy burns who came in at 178 pounds vs Johnson 220 pounds. Stanley Ketchel who came in at 155 pounds. He was fighting Middleweights and LT. heavyweights. He also beat Jim Jeffries who had to loose 100 pounds and hasn't fought in six years.

Was Johnson really that big! He was way a head of his time in more ways than you would expect.

Strange thread title or concept, but I understand.

I nominate the Great Rocky Marciano.

5'10¾". Even for the 50s era, that's short for a Heavy.
Trained down to about 184 lbs.
Thin skin, prone to cuts.
Slow.
Awkward footwork.
1-dimensional.
No ability for fancy boxing or counter-punching, all he could do was come ahead and throw baseball type swings at anything he could hit, including at the arms and shoulders.
Very, very little ring-science in how this man fought.

^That's a lot of liabilities!
You'd wonder how he got into Boxing.

The God-given attributes he did possess:
Durability. Terrific Chin.
A Terrific right hand punch.
No fear of getting hit.
Tremendous Heart and will.
Endurance. Stamina. Part of that is genetics, but he also worked harder than anybody else to develop that endurance because he knew the other fighters had so many advantages such as height, weight, speed, timing, ring-science. He HAD to be in better shape than his opponents for his style to work. 15 rds of pressure and power that no one else could maintain.

And he was GREAT!