Will Rocky Marciano's 49-0 record be LEGITIMATELY be broken by a Heavyweight Champion?

Answer 1

I don't know about 49-0. As bad as the heavies are now days, if a good consistent heavyweight comes on the scene they have a good chance at being undefeated for a good while. Maybe even retire undefeated.

Getting to 49 fights will be hard considering the pace of activity. Maybe one of the eastern block guys can pull it off. Valuev came close. Chagaev's fight pace suggests that it would take him 10 more years to get 20 fights...so he's not going to make it.

The sad state of affairs in the heavyweight division puts Joe Mesi on the top of the undeafeated pile at 35-0.....but he's not going to be champ.

I think that the American public has been waiting for a while for a dominant American heavyweight, so a Tyson like guy sneaking up on the scene that can rattle off 20-30 dominant wins without being detected isn't going to happen. And if a fighter like this did surface, he'd probably only fight 1 time a year after becoming a champ.

That's why if anyone can do it, it's going to have to be some guy from Europe. There are a few undefeated young fighters over there now that have a chance of rattling off 10+ wins while still relative unknowns and can surfacing on the world scene at 35 (or more)-0.

Answer 2

Records are made to be broken, but just like Bonds breaking Henry Aaron's record, people will belittle and criticize the accomplishment when a Heavyweight breaks Marciano's. It is the way of people to downgrade and belittle each other. There is some truth to the negativity, and this is my take on boxing.

The problem is the definition of "LEGITIMATELY". With the politics and multiple sanctioning organizations the definition of the word "Champion" doesn't mean the same thing anymore. So when someone breaks Marciano's record, as many lower weight fighters have already done, the accomplishment will not be the same. Jack Johnson accomplished more with his career than simply winning a title his social impact is still felt today. Joe Louis became an actual propaganda weapon against Nazi Germany during world war II and and Ali became the most recognized face in sports due to the political climate of their time frames.

Marciano legitimately beat everyone in his era who was available then retired. Not and easy accomplishment in today's political climate, just getting each sanctioning organization to match their recognized "champions" with each other is almost an impossibility. If it does happen, truth be told it would be a greater accomplishment than what Rocky did simply because of today's corrupt politics. All Rocky had to deal with while he was fighting the world's best boxers was the mob and the government. Today's fighters have six different mobs, and multiple levels of political corruption within each government, multiple countries with an actual world wide government manipulating them all through the political influence of international politics in tandam with the media.

Your answer is yes a heavyweight will eventually be 50-0, but somehow it will lack something. Times have changed, so the accomplishment's aren't the same. It's like the difference between a wooden bat and an aluiminum bat, or eating a steak from a grass fed cow vs. grain fed steroid inhanced beef. Today's world is very different from Marciano's world, and Rocky's world was very different from Jack Johnson's. Each change their world in a certain way. The thug mentality of certain kid's today catches as much criticism today as yesterday's long hair and rock & roll did in the fifties, but it's the one constant. People always resisted change, and society changed anyway.

We can be certain it will change even more, we can only hope it will change for the better.

Answer 3

Ric, this a record that unfortunately gets disrespected by some here on this forum. Rocky never ducked anyone and truly fought the top contenders of his era. Todays fighters aren't even fighting each other very often and nobody really knows who is the real champ as there are so many organizations recognizing different people as champion which certainly would distort any accomplishment especially in this day of weak haeavyweight fighters. No I don't believe it will ever be legitimately broken.

Answer 4

Ric~

I assume by doing it legit, you mean by taking on, and beating all the best of the rest.

Given the current state of the Heavyweigt division now, you would look and say that isn't possible, but I would say Alexander Povetkin could do it, if he unifies the division and fights about four times a year for the next 9 or so years. But bettering Marciano's feat has been made all the more harder by the fact that there are now 4 world titles, as opposed to the one when Rock was king.

Answer 5

It's possible if we don't see more good heavyweights coming up. A guy could fight mostly bums and then win the title and retire with the record. It is pretty hard to win that many times without ever having a bad night though.

Answer 6

Not anytime soon but it will happen because the weak heavyweight division is getting weaker since bigger atheles nowaday will go into football and basketball instead of boxing, same money less risk...so all it take is one dedicate guy with talent emerge then he can control the weak heavyweights of today....Larry Holmes almost did it...

Answer 7

no .champions these days become complacent and can't find ways to stay hungry to then they get upended by a younger stronger hungry fighter that ends up doing the same thing. its a ugly cycle.

Answer 8

I don't think it will be broken. I know Marciano always picked his fights carefully, he wouldn't fight just anybody, and he always tried to find out stuff so he'd know something about who he was fighting.

Answer 9

No because the promotors kill the sport. If it is beaten, it will be by a boxer with a padded record.

Answer 10

No. That's a tough call, to be able to retire undefeated, next to impossible and only a few men, nine have been able to do.