Muhammad Ali gave a fascinating take on what would’ve happened if he had battled it out with Rocky Marciano.
In his sparkling career, ‘The Greatest’ cemented his status as one of the best trash-talkers of all time. On one occasion, Ali annoyed Joe Frazier so much, they ended up fighting in a television studio.
However, it appears he had much more respect for ‘The Brockton Blockbuster’.
In an interesting interview, the former world champion didn’t shy away from giving an in-depth analysis on how their bout would’ve played out.
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Muhammad Ali analyses fantasy fight with Rocky Marciano
Muhammad Ali and Rocky Marciano are undeniably two of the greatest heavyweight boxers to have ever walked the face of the Earth.
Alas, the icons competed in separate eras and never had the opportunity to go head-to-head inside the ring.
While the bout never happened, the fascination over what would’ve occurred still rumbles on.
During a 1976 Wide World of Sports boxing special, with Howard Cosell, Ali initially claimed he’d have emerged victorious, before later backtracking.
He explained: “Rocky Marciano, he hit hard. It would’ve been rough. I don’t take anything away from these fellas.
“Marciano and I were good friends, but I truly think on my best day and his best day I would’ve beaten him, probably not knocked him out.
“I think he was better than Joe Frazier. You know what Joe Frazier did to me, and I got hit by him a couple of times. He may have won, it’s hard — it’s open to the imagination.
“I don’t think he was a great fighter scientifically; he was just a mauler, a brawler—in one fight, his nose was hanging off, he kept coming. He just had his own style, it was courageous.
“He wasn’t as great as me, he wasn’t as beautiful, everybody knows that. But I don’t know if I would’ve beaten him with his style and my style, he could’ve out-pointed me, he could’ve knocked me down, he could’ve beaten me.”
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If Ali had hypothetically beaten Marciano, then he would’ve done something nobody else managed to do — inflict a loss on the Italian-American’s record.
While the scrapper wasn’t technically blessed, he utilized his remarkable chin and thunderous power to walk through almost every opponent who dared set foot in the ring with him, en route to running off into the sunset with his undefeated record intact.
However, while nobody officially has a victory over him, that might not reflect reality.
While many years have passed since the fight, fans still believe one legend beat Marciano.