Rocky is slighted a bit because of his competition and the fact that Walcott, Louis and Charles were young. Personally I don't think the Louis victory holds any water, and Rocky said that himself that that fight was all about the money for the both of them but when he got in the ring he didn't know what else to do but fight. I'll try to find that quote later on if anybody wants it.
The thing about Rocky is, like he said, all he knew how to do was fight. He gets railed on for only having eight title defenses with only a handful being really legitimate and meaningful, that's easy to say on paper. But he took SO much punishment in those fights it is just unbelievable that he won even one of those bouts.
When he fought Ezzard Charles, I swear Charles did not miss a punch that night. He splits Marciano's nostrils, bubbles of blood go up and down everytime Marciano breathes in and out, yet he continues to stay aggressive and eventually breaks Charles down. And he did it with raw power.
It's really a spectacle to watch him fight especially if you grew up in the modern day because you constantly think that he is just a no hoper, no real gym training, just trying to land one punch to make it all happen like most journeyman with fight do. But the thing is, his punch had such raw power, he had such good timing and such a toughness about him that you really couldn't count him out.
All you have to do is watch Walcott absolutely school him for 12 rounds. It was a thrashing basically, it really was. Then watch Rocky Marciano land this right hand that looks subtle on the film and that Walcott went down due to being gassed. Then you see the famous picture, it's not subtle at all, it really was "The Perfect Punch" and you have to see the film and the picture to get the jist of it. On the picture it looks like Rocky just lunged from the outside and caught Walcott perfectly with a lot of power behind it. On the film, Rocky gets hit a couple times, Joe Walcott backs up and as he comes back forward he gets hit with a perfectly timed punch.
And that's the beauty of Rocky Marciano, there are probably 100 heavyweights who had more pure boxing skill then him, but his excellent timing, toughness and raw power made him a truly great fighter.
I don't think he is a top 5 heavyweight, but as I wouldn't have had him top 10 before, I would now after seeing him fight more.
Good topic and good first post, have a

and welcome to the board. Hope you stick around.
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