Rocky Marciano or Floyd Mayweather Jr. - Who had the better career?

[Takes_Two_To_Tango]

Both were undefeated. And virtually had the same record with Rocky being 49-0 and Floyd being 50-0.

 

[eternaldarkness]

How many all time greats did Floyd defeat?

 

[StopDucking]

Floyd. All the greats Rocky defeated were washed up when he fought them.

 

[Takes_Two_To_Tango]

How many all time greats did Floyd defeat?

You tell me. I'm sure you're the expert, how many?

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

Mayweather... Love some Rocky, but Joe Lewis came out of retirement at 137 years old for that fight...

 

[eternaldarkness]

Mayweather... Love some Rocky, but Joe Lewis came out of retirement at 137 years old for that fight...

What about Walcott or Charles?

 

[deucesarewild]

Floyd. All the greats Rocky defeated were washed up when he fought them.

This is a bit of a historical revision. None of these guys looked washed up until Rocky fought them. Joe was 38 but he wasn't showing any signs of slowing down and was winning the first fight against Rocky until Rocky threw a short right hand right across his chest to hit Joe when Joe was expecting a looping right. Archie Moore also went on to continue a very distinguished LHW career after he lost to Rocky. This was also a time before the big HW's and on many occasions the difference between a LHW and HW could hardly be determined because many LHW's went up. Rocky could arguably have made LHW but the money was at HW.

It's the Joe Louis fight that generated the opinion that Rocky fought washed up guys, and Joe Louis should not have fought Rocky. Still, there are many fighters would shouldn't have taken the fights they did, just as Louis did but he was on an 8 fight winning streak going into the Rocky fight, and had only officially lost to Charles and Schmeling.

Rocky is also arguably as good a rematch fighter as Floyd is, or better.

I'm not saying one is better than the other because this is a conversation topic of wild speculation and entrenched bias. I'm just saying a lot of contemporary boxing fans have no appreciation for context when they look at fights that took place in bygone eras. Rocky usually gets dumped on by the armchair rulers who dictate terms on past and present boxers. Probably, not a single person in this thread will have a drastically different opinion after everyone is done talking or bickering.

 

[Takes_Two_To_Tango]

The more I think about it. I think Rocky had the better career. He had 43KO wins in 49 fights. That's an 87.76% KO percentage. And he fought heavyweights with guys with incredible power and he never got KOe'd or lost to these guys. That's very impressive.

 

[KAZSoliloquy]

How many all time greats did Floyd defeat?

like 9 lol marciano beat a few himself but they were all LHW’s, 80 years old, or both

 

[eternaldarkness]

The more I think about it. I think Rocky had the better career. He had 43KO wins in 49 fights. That's an 87.76% KO percentage. And he fought heavyweights with guys with incredible power and he never got KOe'd or lost to these guys. That's very impressive.

Not to mention he had all the physical disadvantages, short reach, light and slow. Floyd had excellent reach.

 

[JSN]

Not to mention he had all the physical disadvantages, short reach, light and slow. Floyd had excellent reach.

I don’t think we should give points for physical disadvantages though. Especially when Rocky seemed to have some gifts in terms of stamina, durability, and the ability to hit like a flipping truck.

 

[BusterKeaton]

Floyd easily.

 

[Ultra O’Dia]

werent some of floyds big names fought out of prime, too?

both guys fought bigger guys a lot, i think thats pretty awesome.

 

[Hagler]

Not to diss Marciano, but Floyd, and it's not really close. Countless championship wins against world titlists from 130 to 154. There's more depth and density in his resume.

 

[DeJulez]

What about Walcott or Charles?

Most ppl say he should've lost the first Charles fight and the first La Starza fight.
And Walcott was almost 40 with 70 fights under his belt.

 

[Prefect]

Marciano was a can crusher. Jersey Joe Walcott almost had him at 39 years old.

 

[KAZSoliloquy]

werent some of floyds big names fought out of prime, too?

both guys fought bigger guys a lot, i think thats pretty awesome.

he definitely beat some good fighters out of their prime, yes. but floyd was also past his best for a lot of those fights.

the DLH fight is the one that’s probably aged the worst but de la hoya was still a top 5 154-pounder at the time

 

[Fox by the Sea]

titles nowadays are ridiculous
you could win dozens of different titles in different weight-classes from a bunch of organizations
titles these days ain't that prestigious
just made for entertainment

 

[KAZSoliloquy]

prime castillo twice, prime marquez, judah, mosley, cotto, pacquiao, canelo, de la hoya, hatton, corrales. no losses.

that’s one of the most impressive resumés we will ever see. very few can stack up against that.

 

[Seano]

Floyd by a mile.