ROCKY'S ROAD
50 YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH, MARION McMullen RECALLS HOW MARCIANO BECAME THE UNDEFEATED WORLD CHAMP
‘WHY waltz with a guy for 10 rounds if you can knock him out in one?,” undefeated boxing champ Rocky Marciano once said, and he certainly practised what he preached. He won his first 16 professional fights by a knockout and many of his triumphs in the ring ended with his opponent lying prone on the canvas being counted out by the referee.
His powerful punch led to victory after victory and he once said: “In the ring, I never really knew fear.”
He broke four of opponent
Rex Layne’s front teeth in one bout and sent his gum shield flying 10ft across the ring.
It is said his mother would go to church before every match... to pray that her Rocky would not hurt the other guy too badly.
Standing 5ft 11ins tall, the American boxer was born Rocco Francis Marchegiano in Brockton, Massachusetts, on September 1, 1923, to Italian immigrants.
He later changed his name to Rocky Marciano because it was easier to pronounce during matches, but he was also known by nicknames like the Brockton Bomber and the Brockton Blockbuster.
He helped to ferry supplies across the English Channel to Normandy during the Second World War and was stationed with the United States Army in Swansea. It was there that Rocky began boxing for the army and had turned professional by 1948 when he beat Harry Bilazarian over three rounds.
He became world heavyweight champion for the first time in 1952 when he beat Jersey Joe Walcott in 13 rounds in Philadelphia... with a knock-out, of course.
“What could be better than walking down any street in any city and knowing you’re the heavyweight champion of the world?” he said later.
Rocky went on to defend his title six times against boxing giants like Roland La Starza, Don Cockell, Archie Moore and Ezzard Charles... twice.
“Roland La Starza was tough, but Ezzard Charles was the toughest man I ever fought. I learned what pain was all about when I fought him,” he admitted.
Rocky himself believed in training hard for his bouts and would run seven miles a day and push himself in the gym declaring: “I have always adhered to two principles. The first one is to train hard and get in the best possible physical condition. The second is to forget all about the other fellow until you face him in the ring and the bell sounds for the fight.”
The champ hung up his boxing gloves in 1956. He retired as the undefeated heavyweight champion of the world after 49 consecutive victories and his last match the year earlier ended with him knocking out “The Mongoose” Archie Moore in the ninth round at Yankee Stadium.
It is estimated his victories in the ring earned him £1.5m during his boxing career.
He went on to host a weekly boxing show on television, worked as a referee and boxing commentator and even appeared in 1960 movie College Confidential alongside Conway Twitty, Steve Allen and Nancy Root, playing a Deputy Sheriff.
The champ often visited Britain and was a guest speaker at the National Sporting Club in 1962 and was also pictured with boxing heavyweight Joe Bugner on a visit in 1969.
But the boxing world was left stunned when
When I was 14 years old and listening to the radio and I heard the announcer ‘... and still champion of the whole world, Rocky Marciano’ I knew I wanted to be champion someday. He was a big influence in the start of my career” Boxing legend Muhammad Ali, right, on how Rocky Marciano’s career inspired his boxing dreams
Rocky was killed in a plane crash 50 years ago on August 31, 1969 – the eve of his 46th birthday. He was a passenger in a small private Cessna 172 which set off on a night flight to Des Moines in Iowa during bad weather for a speaking engagement Rocky had. The pilot attempted an emergency landing on a small airfield, but crashed into a tree a couple of miles short of the runway in Iowa. Rocky, boxer Lew Farrell’s son Frankie and the pilot were all killed instantly. The Daily Mirror announced the tragic news with a headline that simply said “The Rock: Only Death Could Count Him Out.” The legacy of Rocky continues. Tony Lo Bianco appeared as the champ in Marciano, the 1979 movie of his life. Jon Favreau, who later went on to direct Marvel superhero movies such as Iron Man, played the boxer in the 1999 TV movie bio-pic Rocky Marciano. Perhaps most famously, Rocky himself once said: “I believe in my prime I could have fought with anybody alive.” He has been called one of the greatest heavyweight champions of all time and a pair of his gloves recently sold at auction at Sotheby’s for £1,400. Muhammad Ali once recalled: “When I was 14 years old and listening to the radio and I heard the announcer ‘... and still champion of the whole world, Rocky Marciano’ I knew I wanted to be champion someday. He was a big influence in the start of my career”.