Al Weill was the driving force behind the Rock, He knew styles and he knew fighters, he always made sure that a fighter was easy to hit and slow.

The first time he did get in the ring with a good boxer, who could move and counter punch he got schooled and was awarded a gift decision against Roland LaStarza.

He could have had a title shot earlier then he did against Jersey Joe, but Weill knew that Jersey Joe still had enough left to take Rock to school. Once he was noticeably slowed and going 2 n 2 in his last four fights, Weill knew he was ready for the picking.

But even the slowed down Jersey Joe gave the Rock all he could handle and showed to anyone who was not blinded by the great white hope that he would have schooled Rocky just a few years prior. But Jersey legs got tired and failed him late and allowed the Rock to get close enough to land the big right hand The Rock was trailing by a couple rounds on every scorecard and had been knocked down in the first round.
l give The Rock credit for Charles, even though Jersey Joe had already knocked him out, and he too was 2 n 2 in his last 4 fights before facing the Rock, he did appear to be in great shape and gave the Rock a tough battle.

He then had a hell of a hard time putting away old tubby Don Cockell who stood up to Rockys best for 9 rounds. Cockell was not known to have a good chin and was able to eat the Rocks best shots.

Then the Rock went onto get knocked down, be it for only a second, by a light punching Archie Moorer, Marciano retired because he seen the young fighters coming up behind him and knew that would be too fast and well rounded for him to beat.

The Rock was great for his time and place, but to say he would beat modern giants, Tyson, Lewis ext is way overrating him.

nope you wrong

floy mayweather is most overrated!

Can U verify anyone of legendary status and boxing acumen who has said this? l did not think so, U can not even cite anyone he ducked,TRY AGAIN! U can not change history,ROCK ruled the roost until he decided he had enough!

Marciano is pretty overrated l would not say he is the most overrated fighter of All-Time though. l think one of main reasons that Marciano is held on such a pedestal is because of an undefeated record.

To Rocky is credit he fought everyone & beat whoever was put in front of him,but he undefeated record does have some cracks & flaws in it. The biggest question l had with Marciano is record is why did not the public demand that he fight a Floyd Patterson or Sonny Liston.

No that is not true, he is what he was, and that is what you have heard. Mayweather is overated like the other dude said :)

How can Rocky Marciano be over-rated?

The guy has an unblemished record, & beat all his top contenders, & lest we forget, there was only ONE title & ONE set of rankings back then, not like todays mickey mouse alphabet crap!

IF the Floyd Patterson fight would've happened, Rocky would've KO'd Floyd inside 3 rounds. Floyd is chin was no good.
So Floyd should thank Rocky, IF Rocky never retired & went on to KO Floyd, then Floyd would never have become the first man to win the title twice, because he'd have never held it in the first place.

Rocky Marciano beat the damn lot of 'em, & he was one of the very few heavyweight champions that knew when to get out at the right time - at the top, along with Gene Tunney & Lennox Lewis!

Marciano was honest with himself & his fans, & there is no greater thing than that.

Rock was offered a lucrative comeback deal, & Rock is words were - ''If the great Joe Louis could not comeback, then l do not see how l can comeback he was a true champion, & an honest champion!

Rocky is legacy will outlive everyone who post is on this site, even now people in their teens r talking about Marciano, & there is endless ''dream fights'' questions i.e Marciano v Johnson, Tyson, Ali, Lewis, Dempsey, Louis, Foreman.etc.

Do over-rated boxers stand the test of time like the Rock???
l seriously doubt it!

The man fought and 186 in the heavyweight division and never lost.

Actually, l think Rock is under rated.

He is what he is, he fought the best at the time, he is criticized for not fighting famous people in their prime, but only after they were old.
He retired undefeated, which angers many.
He, like Tunney were in fighting to make money, & get out while they were still healthy.
He is compared to later fighters & people say he could not win today, but then neither could most of the other fighters from earlier eras.
Comparing fighters from different eras can be fun, but it is not a science so let it go.
Give people credit for what they did, not what might have been.
He was a great fighter in his day, so no much else can be said with any real proof, anything else is opinions.

This is a bold statement but what proof do you have to back this up? Rocky is strong, tough, durable, has a good chin and was a good puncher. He was not the fastest but ''the most'' overrated? l have to disagree.

He was the best HW at the weakest point in the entire history of the division including the present day. As champion, he fought not a single world-class fighter even remotely close to that fighter is peak.

Still, he had terrific heart, was a big puncher for his size, & was definitely an exciting fighter.

So if u put him in ur top 5 HWs, you're seriously overrating him. If u think he was a bum, you're underrating him.

FWIW l think he gets overrated by older white American boxing journalists.

A fighter can only fight the opponents available to him. Rocky fought everyone who was available, & he beat them all.

l won’t say Rocky was the greatest heavyweight champion of all time. He fought during a “gap” when the best fighters of all time were either gone or had not come along.

What was he supposed to do? Resurrect a prime Joe Louis?

Rocky may not have been the greatest heavyweight of all time, but he was certainly one of the greatest Champions of all time.

Thumbs up to Blogbaba! Rocky had a short reach, started late in boxing, yet won every time out there & yada yada yada about his competition as Charles, Walcott, Louis were champs. Maybe u r one of the most overrated answerers of all time constantly insulting fighters of the past & their accomplishments. The guy had an indomitable spirit & desire to win & trained harder than anyone with great stamina, endurance & by the way, an underrated defense. Go to youtube & go the Marciano is underrated defense & observe what u did not realize. Marciano was never even hurt in his career as he went down for short counts only twice. He was a pitbull! Who will ever know what he would have done fighting today as he would have been probably placed in the crusierweight class, but none of those guys would have beaten him either.

Blogbaba & toughguy pretty much sum it up. Marciano had great endurance & the great punch. My view of Marciano goes to his 1st fight with Ezzard Charles. Charles was a great boxer & was outboxing Marciano in the first half of the fight. Charles tired out, Marciano didn't. Marciano won of course. Any arguement about Marciano is boxing skills gets thrown out the window because of this fight. Marciano is extensive training before fights is underrated. He has no equal here.