Here's a very good Rocky Marciano interview from 1966. He talks about his reach disadvantage against Joe Louis:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RFUJ3KDjrlI#!
Imagine his reach disadvantage against a Klitschko! I like Marciano a lot, both for his skill and his heritage which I share. I think however he probably was carefully managed during his career. The era he fought in was the heyday of the Italian mafia as they had just moved from street level crime bosses to high society insiders. It's not too much of a stretch to think that the Italian mafia of the time would have a stranglehold on the gambling scene and could use that power to see that one of their own had great success.
When you consider the connection between organized crime and boxing even today imagine what it was like with virtually no government oversight and even less media prying. I also know the Italians of those days were fiercely ethnically loyal and it was a bit of a high time for Italian popular figures, Dimaggio, Laguardia, Sinatra, etc. So some help in the career of 'The Rock' is not unthinkable. It takes nothing away from his success as he earned it in the ring but I think some things had to work out right to be able to run the table like he did.
For that reason I don't think he is the greatest heavyweight of all time, there were lots bigger guys that fought before and after he did. Clearly he crushed his competition at the time but I don't think that would have translated to dominance in many other eras. And i don't just mean recently when the division has been populated by giants, many of whom have had the advantages of modern chemistry to help them along the way. I think it's true even of the eras preceding his.
