Rocky Marciano
HARD LOOK AT “THE ROCK”
San Francisco, CA– Over the years, we’ve had some heated debates about Rocky Marciano’s overall ability and place in boxing history. Born Rocco Francis Marchegiano in Brockton, MA in 1932, “The Rock” turned professional at the age of 24 with little fanfare and in three rounds stopped Lee Epperson in March 1947. Five years later on September 23, 1952, Marciano, losing on points and bleeding from a huge gash, came back and KO’d then World heavyweight champion Jersey Joe Walcott in round 13. Controversial in that if ever there was a fight that should have been stopped on a cut, this was it, Marciano gave Walcott a rematch on May 15, 1954 and stopped Walcoot in the opening round.
ROCKY DIDN’T FIGHT NO “MURDERERS ROW”
Next time out, Marciano would TKO Roland Lastarza in eight before beating ex-champ Ezzard Charles twice, the first by UD 15 and the second on a TKO 8. Then came the fight here in San Francisco against Britain’s Don Cockell, Rocky would score a TKO 9. Next up was Archie Moore, the aged light heavyweight champion who dropped Marciano in the second round before hitting the floor five times himself, this before being halted in nine rounds.
THREE YEARS & THESE FIGHTS MADE HIM GREAT?
Soon thereafter, Marciano retired and Floyd Patterson would become the next champion. Statistically, Marciano’s title opponents averaged 34.8 years of age. Having just laid out the Rock’s ring accomplishments, how can any unbiased person call him great? There are those that claim he would have beaten Muhammad Ali, when the truth is he couldn’t even carry Larry Holmes’ jock strap, let alone beat the “Easton Assassin.” His real claim to fame is retiring unbeaten, but who did he really fight? Joe Louis was 38, when Marciano pummeled him in 1951. I’ve just laid out the entire career of one Rocco Francis Marchegiano, where does the greatness, if any, come from?
MARTY WEILL WAS ROCKY’S TRUTHFUL MANAGER
Marciano’s record was 49-0, 43 KOs. But that record is suspect as well, this after Marty Weill, his manager of record, and the son of Marciano’s promoter Al Weill, he dropped this bombshell on an edition of “Ring Talk Worldwide” in the 1980s when he admitted that, “Rocky fought his brother three or four times around Massacheusetts.”
CREDENTIALS DON’T LOOK GREAT TO ME!
Maybe I’m missing something here. But what could it be? Besides averaging nearly 35 years of age, Marciano’s heavyweight title foes had lost 71 fights in all. In closing, the career of Rocky Marciano is glorified in a manner I cannot understand. Statistics, the numbers, they don’t lie. That being said, even though he was 49-0 with 43 whacks, to use Marciano and great in the same sentence is in my opinion is erroneous.
Pedro Fernandez