User:86thandPark

The only reason that Rocky Marciano beat Muhammad Ali in the virtual fight was because he was black an it was the 70's. People don't acknowledge this but after the civil rights movement was over a lot of the left over racism stayed in the media. Throughout the modern history of the press and pop culture leftover issues have left little traces of it sedimenting into something greater than it's ever been. For example, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'neal started to talk after their two year long argument happen the press went and said the Shaquille was still fighting with their coach Phil Jackson saying like the fighting and kept it that way, urging kobe and Shaquille to hate each other. The media in the 1970's had some leftover 1960's racism that they still wanted to leak out.

Muhammad Ali in his heyday faced some of the most feared names in his era. He fought Joe Frazier, John Quarry, Ken Norton, Floyd Patterson,Sonny Liston, and Archie Moore, toward the his career. Now he didn't win all of these fights because it was a pretty damn good list. Frazier's is a hall of famer marked as maybe one of the top ten champions of all-time, Liston in his prime was feared for his knockout ability and held the Heavyweight title belt until Cassius Clay (Ali before he converted) took it away from him, Patterson was for some time the heavyweight champ, Moore was named the 14th best boxer to ring magizine in the 80 years, World Boxing Hall Famer Ken Norten, and for most of the Ali Era John Quarry was consider one of the best second tear fighter in the division. But if you look at Mariano's list it doesn't resemble that 49-0 record as well as it sounds.Ted Lowry, Roland La Starve, Harry Matthews, and Joe Louis. None of whcih are hall of famers or very recognized besides the great Joe Louis, who Marciano beat at the end of his career. Both the fighters were greats but Ali was the one with distinguished opponents.

From there the Pound for Pound all-time best come in:

1. Muhammad Ali 2. Rocky Marciano 3. Joe Louis 4. Sugar Ray Robinson 5. Marvin Hagler 6. George Foreman 7. Mike Tyson 8. Roberto Duran 9. Lennox Lewis 10. Joe Frazier