Rocky Marciano

Rocky Marciano
Statistics
Real name	Rocco Francis Marchegiano
Nickname	The Brockton Blockbuster, The Rock from Brockton
Rated at	Heavyweight
Nationality	United States
Birth date	September 1 1923
Birth place	Brockton, Massachusetts
Death date	August 31 1969 (Aged 45)
Death place	Des Moines, Iowa
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	49
Wins	49
Wins by KO	43
Losses	0
Draws	0
No contests	0

Rocky Marciano (September 1 1923 – August 31 1969), born Rocco Francis Marchegiano, was the heavyweight champion of the world from 1952 to 1956. Marciano, with forty-three knockouts to his credit (an 88% knockout rate), remains the only heavyweight champion in boxing history to retire without a defeat or a draw in his professional career.

Early years

Marciano, an Italian-American, was born and raised in Brockton, Massachusetts to Pierino and Pasqualena Marchegiano. Rocky had 3 sisters — Alice (Pereira), Concetta (Langway) and Elizabeth (Colombo) and 2 brothers - Louis and Peter. When he was one year old, he contracted pneumonia, from which he almost died. As a youth, 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 heavy bag. He attended Brockton High School, where he played on the American football and baseball teams. However, he was cut from the school 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 then worked as a chute man on delivery trucks for the Brockton Ice and Coal Company. He also worked as a ditch digger and as a shoe salesman.

In March of 1943, Marciano was drafted into the army for a term of two years. Marciano didn't take up boxing until after 1943, when he took up the sport to avoid assissting the cooks, and other tasks. Stationed in Wales, he helped ferry supplies across the English Channel to Normandy. After the war ended he completed his service at Fort Lewis, Washington.

Amateur circuit

While awaiting discharge, Marciano, representing the army, won the 1946 amateur armed forces boxing tournament. His amateur career was interrupted on March 17, 1947, when Marciano stepped into the ring as a professional competitor. That night he beat Lee Epperson by a knockout in three rounds. In an unusual move, however, Marciano returned to the amateur ranks and fought in the Golden Gloves All-East Championship Tournament in March 1948. However, he was beaten by Coley Wallace during the tournament. He continued to fight as an amateur throughout that spring and competed in the AAU Olympic tryouts in the Boston Garden. There he knocked out George McGinnis, but hurt his hands during the bout and was forced to withdraw from the tournament. The McGinnis fight was his last amateur bout, and the last time the fighter would ever lose. During his time as a amateur fighter, Marciano was known for his akward yet effective boxing technique. He would dance around the ring and take punch after punch from his opponent until he saw an opening to land a big punch. While many questioned his tactics, they couldn't ignore his record as an amateur, compiling an 11-3 record.

In late March, 1947, Marciano and a few of his friends traveled to Fayetteville, North Carolina, to try out for the Fayetteville Cubs, a farm team for the Chicago Cubs baseball team. After his retirement Marciano received some criticism about retiring without having fought Floyd Patterson. During Marciano's reign, Patterson was not a contender for a heavyweight title and he was not a ranked heavyweight. In fact, during Marciano's reign, Patterson fought mainly at the light heavyweight limit. Only after Marciano's retirement was Patterson officially moved from light heavyweight rankings to a heavyweight (he entered the rankings as number five on May 2, 1956), eventually winning the championship on November 30.

After boxing

Marciano considered a comeback in 1959 when Ingemar Johansson won the heavyweight championship from Floyd Patterson on June 26, 1959. After almost a month of training, Marciano decided against it and never seriously considered a comeback again. Patterson also had a rematch clause for a return bout with Johansson which would have complicated any attempt by Marciano to fight for the title.

After his retirement, Marciano invested in restaurants, though many of his investments (such as buying Florida wetlands) were disastrous. Many times, the money he gave to his friends was not repaid.

He hosted a weekly boxing show on TV for one year. For a brief period, he 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 for many years.

In 1969, shortly before his death, Marciano participated in the filming of the fantasy, The Superfight: Marciano vs. Ali. The two boxers were filmed sparring, then the film was edited to match a computer simulation of a hypothetical fight between them, each in their prime. The bout was aired on Tuesday, January 20, 1970. Marciano won by KO in 13.

Death

In 1969, on the eve of his 46th birthday, Marciano was a passenger in a small private plane, a Cessna 172 ([1]) headed to Des Moines, Iowa. It was at night, and bad weather set in. The pilot, who was not certified to fly in such dangerous conditions, tried to set the plane down at a small airfield outside Newton, Iowa, but hit a tree two miles short of the runway. The plane was out of gas as well. Rocky, the young pilot, and another passenger (alleged Iowa mob boss Louis Fratto's son) were killed on impact. Marciano was on his way to give a speech to support a friend's son and there was a surprise birthday celebration waiting for him. He had hoped to return early morning for his 46th birthday celebration with his wife. He was coming from a dinner in Chicago at STP CEO Andy Granatelli's home where he reportedly gave Granatelli's son boxing lessons after he was being picked on in school. Marciano died intestate (without a will). He is interred in a crypt at Forest Lawn Memorial Cemetery in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. His wife, who died five years after him at the age of 46, is entombed next to him. His father died in March 1973, his mother died in early January 1986.

Legacy

In 1971, Ring magazine founder Nat Fleischer named Marciano as the tenth greatest heavyweight champion ever. In 1998, Ring magazine named Marciano as the sixth greatest heavyweight champion ever. In 2002, Ring Magazine numbered Marciano at #12 on the list of the 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years. In 2003, Ring Magazine rated Marciano #14 on the list of 100 greatest punchers of all time. In 2005, Marciano was named the fifth greatest heavyweight of all time by the International Boxing Research Organization. A 1977 ranking by Ring magazine listed Marciano as the greatest Italian-American fighter. In 2007, on ESPN.com's list of the 50 Greatest Boxers of All Time, Marciano was ranked #14. A 1968 radio computer simulation by Murry Woroner concluded that Marciano was the greatest heavyweight champion.[2]

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. Light heavyweight Dariusz Michalczewski also challenged Marciano when he was 48-0. Mexican legend Julio César Chávez holds the record for longest win streak with eighty-eight straight until he suffered a draw in 1993. Ricardo Lopez also retired undefeated in 2001 from the light flyweight division at 51-0-1.

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. Willie Pep, a lightweight, had a perfect 63-0 record before he was defeated. Packy McFarland was a lightweight (fighting between 1904-1915) who lost his first fight and then won his next 98.

Marciano was knocked down to the canvas only twice in his professional career. The first occurred in his first championship bout, against Jersey Joe Walcott and the second occurred against Archie Moore. On both occasions, he rose to knock his opponent out.

Marciano was named fighter of the year by Ring Magazine three times. His three championship fights between 1952-54 were named fights of the year by that magazine. In 2006, an ESPN poll voted Marciano's 1952 championship bout against Walcott as the greatest knockout ever. Marciano also received the Hickok Belt for top professional athlete of the year in 1952. In 1955, he was voted second most important American athlete of the year. Marciano is a member of the International Boxing Hall Of Fame.

In popular culture

Numerous books have been written about Marciano, including: Rocky Marciano, Biography of a First Son. He's also mentioned in Billy Joel's history-themed song We Didn't Start the Fire.

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. In Rocky V, a flashback shows Mickey giving Rocky a necklace with a gold cufflink shaped like a boxing glove that he said was given to him by Rocky Marciano. The Marciano-Ali computer fight inspired a similar fight in the movie Rocky Balboa.

Marciano has also been the subject of several paintings and is on a commemorative US postage stamp issued in 1999.

See also

• List of heavyweight boxing champions
• List of male boxers
• List of notable boxing rivalries

External links

• Rocky Marciano's Career Record
• Rocky Marciano // Official Website
• Check-Six.com - The Crash of Rocky Marciano's Cessna plane
• Rocky Marciano at the Internet Movie Database
• ESPN KO Poll
• Biography of Marciano

Preceded by: Jersey Joe Walcott

Heavyweight boxing champion Sept 23, 1952–Apr 27, 1956

Succeeded by: Floyd Patterson

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