Quote Originally Posted by brocktonblockbust View Post
from 1953 (Liston's 1st fight) til Marciano retired, Sonny Liston fought opponents with a combined record of 131-77-23. I wouldnt call that great enough competition to be able to deal with the Rock. Then from 1956 til the end of 1958 (Marciano would never have fought beyond Fall 1956/Spring 1957) Sonny Liston's opponents' records were 153-89-12. He didnt fight anybody decent until April 1959 in Cleveland Williams. So if he had fought Marciano say in Spring 1956, he would have had a very poor chance of winning. He wasn't ready to face the Rock, nor was Floyd Patterson.
Liston VS Marciano could have been great BUT, I think too many read too much into Liston from his domination of Patterson. Patterson was tailor made for Liston and I think he would have been the same for Rocky too. I think Rockys ability to take a shot would have broken Listons heart and I think his power would have hurt Liston too.

I remember seeing an old clip of Liston on Rockys old TV program and it looked like they were on the verge of scrapping on the set. Rock certainly didn't look in the slightest bit worried about Liston like many of his opponents seemed to be.