Re: If Ali Fought Marciano's Opponents and Marciano Fought Ali's Opponents.....
I haven't gotten into a discussion you before Lyle, so I'll take a swing here.
Marciano's career was on a incline, he'd come to face better opponents, and his skills would keep improving.
I don't what everyone is coming off of, but Marciano had skills. All thanks to his excellent trainer Charlie Goldman, he learned how to move, where to move, how to make himself harder to hit, how to feint, how to set up his opponents, and with Charlie in his corner he could also adapt to opponents. None of this took away from his equalizers, his hard left hook and Suzy-Q, some of his knockouts have come from feinting and being purposely unpredictable.
Rocky wasn't the most versatile as others, but he could adapt a fight plan and change when need be. He fought very versatile opponents. Who's can be more versatile than Charles, Walcott and Moore, even other opponents were smart in the ring. You can't find a guy that can feint as well as Walcott, or can set up their shots and adapt as well as these guys. Marciano also fought tough chinned guys, Rex Layne, Carmine Vingo, Ezzard Charles.
Rocky got better too the more fights he got into, La Starza can vouch on that, he said it himself, and you can see it for yourself in their second fight. Rocky would've continued to improve if he hadn't retired, I can easily see him beating guys like Norton, Patterson, and the guys that Ali fought throughout his career.
Charlie Goldman was an excellent trainer, he was good friends with Ali's trainer, Angelo Dundee. He knew how to shape Rocky up for any fight, and with him in Rocky's corner I can see him take on big hitters like Liston, Foreman, and Frasier.
Norton gave Ali so much trouble because he knew how to catch his jab and counter which Ali or his Dundee could never figure out. Ali was never able to really set up Frazier even after countless predictable left hooks, in the fight that Frazier won the knockdown can be accounted for Ali's sloppy way of trowing a right uppercut that is asked for Fraziers left hook.
Rocky wasn't stupid, he'd be able to feint and set up his shots, so could Rocky's opponents who could do it better than Ali's.
If you hear a voice within you saying that I am not a painter, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.
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