Everybody should know now that the "Super Fight" of 1970 was fake. They filmed many endings of a possible fight between the two(with Ali and Marciano acting) and neither Ali nor Marciano knew what ending they would use in the final cut of the film. So you can't take this film as a proof how a real fight would've ended. The comparison between Marciano and Frazier is also useless, because Frazier was way the superior boxer than Marciano when it comes to skills. More speed, better defense, harder chin, more heart and way superior footwork. I even think that Fraziers left hook had more power than every punch of Marciano(Frazier had more weight and speed and so more weight and speed behind that hook, since power=weight*speed). Here are the reasons, why Marciano couldn't beat Ali:
1. Frazier had more power, but wasn't able to knock Ali out
2. Marciano had one of the worst footwork ever, even his trainer said that he had two left feet and that for he would be too slow for Ali
3. Frazier had a much harder chin than Marciano, just watch the "Thrilla in Manila" fight. No other heavyweight could've taken so many shots by Ali(except Chuvalo of course-Ali kept constantly knocking on Fraziers head), while Marciano was knocked down by an old Jersey Joe Walcott with one punch in the first round, who was a much weaker puncher than Ali
4. Marciano would be too small and too light for Ali(Marciano is considered a light heavyweight by todays standards and Ali's time, with a height of 5ft 11in and a weight of around 185lbs, compared to Ali's 6ft 2.5in and 210 lbs), so it would be a David-Goliath fight.
5. I don't see Marciano knocking Ali out, because Ali could stand the punches of much harder punchers(Liston, Shavers, Foreman, Frazier) and even when Marciano could knock him down, Ali would get up, because he had the highest heart rate a heavyweight boxer ever had(proved after getting up from Frazier's left hook in 71')
6. Marciano won only 6 decisions in his career(at 49 pro-fights) and that was against out-of-prime fighters or no-names in the sport. And the fight would likely be a decision (because of point 5)
7. Ali could knock out George Foreman, who had a much harder chin than Marciano
8. Ali was a much smarter fighter than Marciano in the ring(rope-a-dope)
9. For every punch Rocky throws, he gets 10 back. The Rock maybe has more stamina than Ali, but Ali is 10 times faster than Rocky.
And that's how the fight would go:
Rocky goes straight after Ali, similar to Ali-Chuvalo I. Ali throws constantly very fast and hard punches against "The Rock". Rocky tries to throw punches back, but then he has to let his defense fall. Chuvalo has a 100000 times harder chin than Rocky, so Rocky goes KO after a few punches from Ali against his head. Rocky can manage to stand up, but before he can throw his punches, he get a million punches per minute from Ali and goes KO.
Ali by 3rd round KO
This would an easy one to pick, Ali was superior to Marciano in all aspects except power, marciano was not even a true heavyweight (he was a cruiserweight but this division did not exist back then) Marciano had to come back to win against an old ezzard Charles and an old joe walcott and this guys weren't as fast or as powerful as Ali. Both Marciano and Ali had tough chins and could endure punishment,Ali however had the size advantage,more speed,more skills,longer reach and better foot work than Rocky marciano moreover Marciano bled easily while Ali hardly ever got a scartch in his prime therefore this fight would really be a mismatch, marciano would put up a great fight but eventually the difference between the two would become obvious, Ali would have to endure some punishing blows and will probably move around the ring to avoid getting cornered he would counter marciano's hits with fast flurries and almost surely land more punches (the reach and the speed would be a deciding factor in this case) in the final rounds Ali would have the advantage as marciano would ake one last attempt to knock him out, he would be covered in blood and probably have a swollen eye (but being the warrior that he was he would keep on fighting), eventually the referee would be forced to stop the fight because marciano would be deemed to injured to continue Ali would run to Marciano's corner and hug him showing Marciano respect for hanging in there despite all the disadvantages that Marciano faced going into the fight and Marciano would do the same. This would have been a great fight to watch.
i copied all of this
This would be like Muhammad Ali against Joe Frazier in the Thrilla in Manilla. And that wasn't even in Ali's prime. Rocky Marciano was certainly a hard puncher with great conditioning. He never stopped throwing punches. But he won't be able to hit Ali, who would be constantly dancing around the ring, poking Marciano with his jab. If Marciano ever did land a big punch, Ali could take the punch. He did fight Sonny Liston, George Foreman, and Earnie Shavers, all bigger punchers than Marciano. Marciano has great heart and would keep swarming Ali and cutting off the ring at times. But Ali in his prime would float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. In around the fifteenth round, Ali starts unleashing lightning quick combinations like he did against Cleveland Williams, stopping Marciano.
Ali by TKO in 15.
I am going to disagree with a few folks here, I think Ali was CONSIDERABLY stronger than Marciano.
Some power feels like being hit with a brick...sometimes it feels like you are being hit with a bullwhip. Believe me on most days you would prefer the brick..that you can brace for.
Marciano would be fighting, bar none, the fastest, hardest hitting, smarter, rangier, BIGGER and more mobile boxer than he had ever faced. There is no prototype to train you for an Ali, especially in the heavyweights where they werent supposed to exist (Ali was the first).
But short, short armed power fighters with a squat stance and no mobility? Ali fought A BUNCH of those, including Frazier AND Ken Norton.
And I am sorry I am reasonably sure young George Foreman (hell OLD George Foreman) hit ALOT harder than Marciano at his best. And Ali didnt even get wobbled.
A young Ali would have the fights stopped on cuts (remember Marciano cut if you stared at him seriously) within 8 rounds. Ali's vicious jab and almost turn over right hand was MADE to cut, and Marciano was made to be cut...its a match made in heaven.
Ali by a mile. Ali is superior over Marciano in all respects, except power - size, skill, speed, ring intelligence. Sure, Rocky packed dynamite in his fists, but as Ali loved to say, "you can't hit what you can't see." Ali, especially the pre-exile version, was just too fast for any heavyweight boxer in history that the slow and crude Rocky wouldn't have touched him, much less hit him. He might sneak in a big punch and score a knockdown, but like the first Frazier fight, he'd be up in a second and would coast his way to UD victory.
the rock keeps on coming, but ali keeps his distance to take a wide ud.
who wins
