Rocky Marciano

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Rocky Marciano
Statistics
Real name Rocco Francis Marchegiano
Nickname The Brockton Blockbuster,

The Rock from Brockton
Weight Heavyweight
Nationality American
Birth date September 1, 1923
Birth place Brockton, Massachusetts
Death date August 31, 1969
Death place Newton, Iowa
Style Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights 49
Wins 49
Wins by KO 43
Losses 0
Draws 0
No contests 0

Rocco Francis Marchegiano, better known as Rocky Marciano (September 1, 1923 – August 31, 1969), was an American boxer. Rocky was the World Heavyweight Boxing Champion from September 23, 1952, to November 30, 1956. Marciano remains the only undefeated heavyweight champion in history. He is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. The title of the movie Rocky was inspired by this fighter.

Contents

Biography

Early years

Marciano, an Italian American, was born and raised in Brockton, Massachusetts. When he was one year old, he contracted pneumonia, from which he almost died. As a youngster, he played baseball, worked out on homemade weightlifting equipment, and used a stuffed mail bag that hung from a tree in his back yard as a punching bag. He initially wanted to be a baseball player rather than a boxer.

He attended Brockton High School, where he played on football and baseball teams. However, he was cut from the baseball team because he had joined a church league, violating a school rule forbidding players from joining other teams. He later dropped out of school after finishing tenth grade.

Marciano found work as a chute man on delivery trucks for the Brockton Ice and Coal Company and later worked as shoe salesman.

At age 20, he was called up by the United States Army to serve in the United Kingdom, but World War II ended, and he returned home after about 2 years of service.

Amateur circuit

While awaiting discharge from the army, Rocky decided to take part in an amateur boxing competition, where he represented the Army and won.

His next big opportunity was the national AAU championships. Marciano won his first two bouts by knockouts in the first round, but by the third bout, his knuckles were damaged, and he lost by decision for the championship. His hand later required surgery.

For a time he played semi-pro baseball and was signed by the Chicago Cubs to a minor league contract. However, feeling discouraged about his chances of making it to the big leagues, he returned to Brockton and began boxing training with longtime friend, Allie Colombo (who died on January 7, 1969 in a truck accident at work).

Al Weill was his manager, with the great Charley Goldman as his trainer and teacher. Goldman gradually fashioned Marciano into one of the best heavyweights in boxing history.

Professional career

On March 17, 1947, Rocky finally stepped into the ring as a professional competitor for the first time. That night, he beat Lee Epperson[1] by a knockout in three rounds. He won all his first sixteen bouts by knockout, all before the fourth round, and nine before the first round was over.

Don Mogard became the first boxer to last the distance with "The Rock," but Rocky won by decision. Early in his career, he changed the spelling of his last name. The ring announcer in Providence, Rhode Island could not pronounce Marchegiano, so his handler said to call him Marciano.

He won three more fights by knockout, and then he met Ted Lowry, who, according to many scribes and witnesses, probably managed to win three or four of the ten rounds from Rocky. Nevertheless, Rocky kept his winning streak alive by beating Lowry by decision. Rocky fought Lowry twice, and both times the bout lasted ten rounds. Four more knockout wins followed, and then he gained another hard-fought ten-round decision victory over his future world title challenger Roland La Starza. He won three more knockouts in a row before a rematch with Lowry. Marciano again won, by unanimous decision. After that, he won four more by knockout, and, after a win in six over Red Applegate, he was showcased on national TV for the first time, when he knocked out Rex Layne in six rounds on July 12, 1951. One more win, and he was again on national TV, this time against Joe Louis. Marciano defeated Louis in what would be the latter's last career bout, a result that left him with mixed emotions as Louis had been the idol of his childhood.

In no time Marciano was a ranked heavyweight. After four more wins, including victories over Lee Savold and Harry Matthews, Marciano faced World Heavyweight Champion Jersey Joe Walcott in Philadelphia on September 23, 1952. After being dropped in round one, Marciano got up and knocked Walcott out in the thirteenth round, becoming the new Heavyweight Champion. The punch that knocked out Walcott has been referred to as one of the hardest punches ever thrown in a boxing ring. A rematch was fought one year later, and, in Marciano's first title defense, he retained the title with a first-round knockout of Walcott. Next, it was La Starza's turn to challenge Marciano, and after building a small lead on the judges' scorecards all the way to the middle rounds, La Starza was knocked out in eleven by the champion.

Then came former World Heavyweight champion Ezzard Charles, whom Marciano beat by a decision in their first bout. Ezzard Charles was the only man to ever last fifteen rounds against Marciano, and the champ later praised him as one of the toughest men he ever fought in his life. After having his nose split in round six of the rematch, Marciano retained the title with an eighth-round knockout win. Then Marciano met British and European champion Don Cockell and beat him in nine rounds rounds. In his last bout, Marciano got up off the canvas in round two to retain his title by a knockout in nine against the equally-legendary Light-Heavyweight Champion of the World Archie Moore (Moore was saved by the bell in the 8th round).

Rocky was named fighter/boxer of the year by Ring Magazine. His three championship fights between 1952-54 were named fights of the year by the same magazine, all were title bouts. Rocky's last title bout was against Archie Moore on September 21st 1955, the bout was originally scheduled for Tuesday, September 20th but because of Hurricane warning it had to be moved to the 21st. Rocky knocked out Archie in the 9th round, Archie was saved by the bell at the end of 6th round. There was a game before boxing match and all the fights started late, when Rocky was proclaimed winner, it was already September 22nd.

Rocky said, "The reason why I win my fights, is because I am a spartan." Rocky's reach, at only 68 inches, is considered to be the shortest of any heavyweight champion in boxing or kick-boxing.

After boxing

After his retirement, Marciano invested in restaurants and lived comfortably, though many of his investments (such as buying Florida wetlands) were disastrous.

He hosted a weekly boxing show on TV for one year and for a brief period worked as a troubleshooting referee in wrestling (Marciano was a good wrestler in high school). He continued as a referee and boxing commentator in boxing matches until his death.

Death

In 1969, on the eve of his 46th birthday, Marciano was a passenger in a small private plane, a Cessna 172 ([2]) headed to Des Moines, Iowa. It was at night, and bad weather set in. The pilot tried to set the plane down at a small airfield outside Newton, Iowa, but hit a tree two miles short of the runway. Rocky, the pilot, and another passenger (alleged Iowa mob boss Louis Fratto's son) were killed on impact. Rocky was on his way to give a speech to support a friend's son, there was a surprise birthday celebration waiting for him. He had hoped to return early morning for his 46th birthday celebration with his wife. Marciano died intestate (without a will).

Legacy

Rocky had a professional record of 49-0 with forty-three knockouts. On December 7, 1955, Bob "The Grinder" Baker[3] defeated Nino Valdez[4], with the winner to have the chance to challenge Marciano. Rocky was originally scheduled to fight Bob Baker or Nino Valdez in his last fight in the evening of January 1 or January 2, 1956 (there were plans for Nino Valdez bout in Cuba for June 1956), but that fight, originally planned for Miami Beach, Florida, never took place.

Both Baker and Valdez eliminated themselves by a terrible performance; the bout was almost called a no contest, however, Baker won by UD. There was some talk (probably an exhibition) about Floyd Patterson fighting Rocky on Wednesday Night Fights; either on January 11, 1956 or on January 4, 1956 (Floyd's 21st birthday) but again, there was no interest, because Floyd was not a contender for a heavyweight title and he was not a ranked heavyweight. Floyd Patterson was a logical contender for Archie Moore's light heavyweight title. Another possible contender near the end of Marciano's career was Tommy 'Hurricane' Jackson. Floyd Patterson was not yet ready to take on Marciano and wanted a shot at the light-heavyweight championship first. Floyd had no plans to fight Rocky before second half of 1957.

Marciano holds the record for the longest undefeated streak by a heavyweight and for being the only World Heavyweight Champion to go undefeated throughout his career. This record was challenged by Larry Holmes in 1985 when Holmes went 48-0 before losing to Michael Spinks twice. Dariusz Michalczewski also challenged the Rock when he was 48-0. Mexican legend Julio César Chávez holds the record for longest undefeated streak with eighty-eight straight wins until he suffered a draw in 1993. Ricardo Lopez also retired undefeated in 2001 from the Junior Flyweight division at 51-0-1. Ricardo's only draw was against Rosendo Alvarez, it was Ricardo's 48th pro fight as well. Marciano had forty-three KO's — the second highest percentage of knockouts at 88%, Vitali Klitschko is first with 92% knock out record, he won 34 fights out of 35 by KO.

There were other undefeated boxers throughout history, but many of them had at least one draw. Some of them were: the Super Middleweight Sven Ottke 34-0, Middleweight Laszlo Papp 28-0-2, and a few others. Rocky's personal friend Willie Pep, a lightweight, had a perfect 63-0 record before he was defeated. Sugar Ray Robinson was undefeated as an amateur. Sugar Ray Robinson was 85-0 as an amateur, Packy McFarland, was a lightweight (fought between 1904-1915), lost his first fight, then won all of his next 98 straight. It is important to note that in the early 20th and 19th century, many boxers had many no-decision bouts that were not officially record as wins or losses. Many light weight fighters remain undefeated for a long time because the punches they give and receive do not carry the power of destruction as in the heavy-weight division.

Rocky was knocked down to the canvas only twice — for a total of few seconds — in his entire professional career. First time in his first championship bout, against Jersey Joe Walcott, second time against Archie Moore. On both occasions, he rose to knock his opponent out.

Marciano was the subject of the 1999 made-for-TV film, Rocky Marciano as well as Marciano in 1979. In the movie Rocky, Rocky Balboa's trainer, Mickey, told him that his boxing style and heart reminded him of Marciano. Marciano has also been the subject of several paintings, and is on a commemorative US postage stamp issued in 1999.

Marciano, like rivals Louis, Walcott, and Moore, is a member of the International Boxing Hall Of Fame. Other awards that Marciano won included the Hickok Belt for top professional athlete of the year - 1952. In 1955 he was voted second most important american athlete of the year.

Numerous books have been written about Marciano, including: Rocky Marciano, Biography of a First Son, whose cover appears at the top of this page. Ring Magazine numbered Marciano at #14 on its list of "100 Greatest Punchers of All Time", released in 2003. He's also mentioned in Billy Joel's history-themed song We Didn't Start the Fire.

Rocky Marciano is interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Cemetery in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. His wife died five years after he did, and is buried next to him. His father died in 1973, mother in January of 1986.

See also

External links

Preceded by
Jersey Joe Walcott		 Heavyweight boxing champion
1952–1956		 Succeeded by
Floyd Patterson
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