The Immovable Object Against Pure Dynamite: Rocky Marciano Vs Mike Tyson

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By Ian “The Boxing Historian” Murphy

Both Rocky Marciano and Mike Tyson are among the more polarizing figures in the history of boxing. Younger fans cannot fathom a prime Tyson (“prime” should be Tyson’s middle name!) losing to a small, slow, and crude fighter like Marciano. Similarly, the older generation often views Tyson as a 1980s hype job that didn’t have the heart or will to match the great Marciano. The objective truth? Both camps are wrong. Marciano is terribly underrated by many younger fans and Tyson in no way should be written off as a hype job. Both these champions were very, very dangerous men, albeit for some different reasons. Tyson was the ultimate frontrunner, a sure-bet physical freak that could cut through tough men with a supernatural combination of speed, power, and skills. Marciano’s nickname of “The Rock” is more than just a play on his name.

This man ALWAYS came to fight, and would rather die than lose. Combine that with crippling power, tremendous stamina, and an iron will, he presents a mountain of an obstacle for any fighter in any era. That being said, who would win if these two fought? Before we delve into the fight itself, let’s have an objective look at the strengths and weaknesses of both men.

Physically, Mike Tyson is one of the most impressive heavyweights in history. For a man of some size (5’10, 215-220lbs), he moved with incredible speed and dexterity that belied his squat and bulky frame. Unlike many punchers, Tyson was able to effectively land clean, hard punches that would result often in spectacular knockouts. His list of advantages over Marciano is quite substantial, as he was a superior athlete any way you slice it, coming out ahead in regards to speed, explosiveness, and maybe one-shot power. He also was much bigger, and when your opponent is bigger AND faster, it’s usually a bad scene. Tyson had more refined defensive skills and was a far better combination puncher. Combine all this with his obvious power and an underrated chin, how could Rocky overcome this man?

Despite these clear and daunting disadvantages, Rocky’s own strengths also match up well with Tyson’s weaknesses. Mike was not known to “come back” and overcome adversity. If he beat you, he either blew you out or beat on you bad enough early to coast to a decision. Marciano was an ace captain while sailing in deep waters, and got stronger as the fight went on. His exceptional stamina let him retain his power very late into fights, making him extra dangerous against a tiring opponent. Tyson, for all his power, aggression, strength and athletic ability, tended to fade (even in victory) if the fight went past 5-7 rounds. In a 15 round fight, this puts Marciano at a significant advantage, where his endurance would carry the most weight. Iron Mike also fell victim to an inconsistent psychologically in the ring, and could be discouraged if he was not imposing his will right away. Marciano? He could not be broken and always had the utmost faith in his ability.

Yet, Marciano’s own weaknesses also need to be addressed, and the biggest one is not his lack of size and speed, or his propensity to get cut. His greatest hurdle against Tyson would be the fact that he was a slow starter and needed to warm up to get in his groove. Against even great fighters like Jersey Joe Walcott, Archie Moore, and Ezzard Charles, Marciano was able to use his strength and endurance to weather their assaults. In nearly all those fights, the fight played out the same: Marciano gets hurt early (Walcott and Moore knocked him down), falls behind, then picks up steam around the 6th round, beats the bejesus out of his opponent, and then KO’s them later. Despite the qualitative ability of those aforementioned greats, none of them were tremendous punchers. All could hit (Moore especially), but none had Tyson’s firepower. Tyson was known to fly out of the gate like a bat out of hell, bent on total destruction. Could Marciano weather that kind of attack?

This fight boils down to two things: Can Tyson mentally still be there if Marciano takes his best and keeps coming after him and can Marciano still be there at all after the 2nd or 3d round? If these two fought three times, I’d have Marciano taking two and Tyson one. In one fight, Tyson runs Marciano over early, as Rocky would not be prepared to deal with that level of aggression and firepower. He’d need to adapt and implement a different game plan for Tyson. In subsequent fights, I have Rocky coming out ahead mainly due to him having Charley Goldman in his corner. Goldman would teach (because he was more than just a trainer, he KNEW boxing) Rocky how to further use that sweeping weave to roll with that attack and smother in close.

Tyson, for all his stoutness and ferocity, was not as effective inside. He had a hard body punch, but preferred to counter and throw combinations from mid-range. Tyson could be tied up and held, and Rocky was strong enough to do it. If he did this for 3-5 rounds, Tyson likely gets frustrated and sloppy, leaving him open and vulnerable to Marciano’s never ending barrage of punches. I don’t know if this is proven, but I’ve read somewhere that Rocky averaged over eighty punches per round. That is an insane punch rate for a Heavyweight. Tyson’s stamina was not his strong suit, and Rocky’s onslaught breaks him down if Marciano can safely navigate around the first 3-5 rounds.

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