What if Marciano didn't retire after the Archie Moore fight and decided to stick around and face the young Patterson. Marciano was getting a little old and it had taken Marciano 9 rounds to beat an OLD light-heavyweight called Moore and he was dropped along the way to boot. Young super-fast Patterson destroyed the very same Moore (coming off an impressive KO streak) a year later in just 5 rounds. So Marciano would have been a year older, perhaps slower, perhaps more vulnerable, fighting a lightening fast young heavyweight ..with a wicked left hook, who would later become the first two time heavyweight champion in history. What would have transpired?
I can certainly see Patterson winning rounds & I like his quick rushing attacks and his speed stylistically against Marciano's slightly more patient approach. I can see him forcing Marciano onto the backfoot and off balance frequently and hence reducing his output quite allot. I can also see him using his legs effectively at other times when he needs to like he did against Bonavena. But I'm not sure I can see him lasting 15. At some point Marciano is gonna land and turn the thing around. I'm thinking the fight changes around the 7th and ends around the 9th.
Agreed. At that point Patterson was already the better fighter but styles here just favor Marciano too much. I could see Patterson hurting Rocky, but not stopping him from coming
I think the Marciano of 56 might have lost to some guys Patterson could have beaten. Of course that is only a guess since Patterson avoided everybody
Oh right, I get ya. Yeah they were probably on a similar level by that point given Marciano's decline and Floyd's chinny chin chin. I always wondered how great Floyd might have been at 175 or below. By the accounts I've read it would have been a more natural weight for him - he was a much naturally smaller man than Marciano, I think.
I'm thinking that Marciano would have been outhustled and dropped and behind on points...but 15 rounds is a long time with Marciano's relentlessness and power and Floyd's chinny chin chin. Gotta believe that Marciano cleans his clock at some point.
Marciano knocks Floyd out, without question any other outcome is ludicrous Patterson was a great LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
It's only hypothetical, but had there been a Cruiserweight division in Patterson's day (with some pulling power, financially), I've always had the suspicion he'd be talked about as a ring legend --- at least, to a greater extent than he is. The chin would've been a lesser issue, & Patterson's oft-understated punching power levelled fully-fledged Heavyweights. He'd have crushed any Cruiser in his path, IMO.
While I too pick Marciano...I want to remind you that I'm speaking about the Mythical Marciano of 1956....one year after he retired. I'm not speaking of a peak Marciano.
I think Patterson can make a decent fist of it --- I do. You look at the film, & the disparity in punching speed is every bit as stark as the difference in their chins. Patterson is just that much quicker with his hands. He's going to befuddle Marciano's zig-zag defense through volume & handspeed for a time...but only for a time. I just cannot see a way around Marciano landing, & landing fatally hard, at some stage in this fight. I suppose you could say Patterson will blitz Marciano on volume early (as I honestly believe he would) & hope for a bad cut to end the fight. It could happen, but short of that, I do not see Patterson suitably discouraging Marciano to the point where he could win a decision, & a KO outright is obviously out of the question.
I'm not so sure (while not discounting it, either). Patterson's weight steadily rose throughout his career. By the time he faced Liston in 62 (still a relatively young 27-year-old) he was not too far off 200lbs. Even as a somewhat green 21-year-old beating out Moore, he was at least a little above Light-Heavy, & he essentially never looked anything other than a pretty lean fighter. In fighting Johansson in his mid-twenties, Patterson was never within the Light-Heavy limits. Admittedly, I don't question he put on some weight intentionally as the competition at Heavyweight began to ramp up --- but he was always pretty slim, & from memory, I don't think he ever weighed under 175lbs. from about nineteen or twenty years of age ever again. There is a case there that Light-Heavy would've drained him, if not immediately, then with time.
