Marciano Rocky was born in the US state of Massachusetts on September 1, 1923. His family was large, and his father was a disabled person who emigrated from Italy in search of happiness. Life extremely rigidly raised a fearless boy - an Italian by blood, who was absolutely indifferent to pain. In order not to freeze during the harsh winter colds, the teenager worked: as a snow blower, dishwasher, digger, laid gas pipelines, was an auxiliary worker. Marciano Rocky had tremendous physical strength and was an excellent baseball player. He was rightly considered the ideal pitcher until one day he broke his arm, as a result of which he, of course, had to forget about the baseball player’s career, since this injury was incompatible with the required throw in this sport. At the same time, a local boxing trainer, Gene Caggiano, invited a guy to his club to start boxing training, seeing good inclinations in him.
The beginning of the boxing path
Finding himself in a fleet off the coast of Europe in 1943, Rocky once in one of the British pubs rather severely punished a local cocky guy, for which the owner of a drinking establishment made the American an offer to fight at the end of the week, but for money. For this it was necessary to take part in all your favorite fist fights. It was they who gave the start to the development of the young sailor as a boxer. Entering the battle with the local tough guys, Marciano began to hone his technique on them. However, it turned out that he had problems in battles with tall guys, since Rocky himself, with a mass of 86 kg, had a height of only 180 cm. In this regard, the smart sailor began to use low slopes and dives, due to which he managed to become elusive for their larger opponents. Any hit by Rocky Marciano was deadly. And all because he, in addition to his natural data, also had obstinacy, which manifested itself in regular training. It is also worth noting the ability of a boxer to turn his weaknesses into advantages. In particular, Rocky deliberately paid special attention to short strokes for close-range combat. As a result, the future champion resembled a fighting dog who tormented his victim - without pity and to the end.
Professional career
Rocky Marciano, whose fights will firmly become part of the boxing classics over time, spent a relatively short sporting life. This is largely due to the fact that he was forced to leave the ring by members of his family, who were very worried that any fight could be fatal for their loved one. Although life showed in the end: the finish line for the legend was not at all some of the rivals in the ring, but more on that later.
Marciano Rocchi fought a lot of battles on a professional level, the total number of which was 49. Of these, 43 times the guy with the Italian pedigree managed to knock out his opponents. At the same time, Marciano had no defeats and no draws at all. In many ways, this was due to the fact that he did not just lead a healthy lifestyle: he was literally an ascetic, able to be content with little in everything related to everyday life.
First serious fight
In 1951, Rocky turned out to be a real strength test for quite old, but still extremely dangerous Joe Louis. Yes, the dark-skinned athlete was not already at the peak of his form, but he could still set a good bashing for absolutely any young fighter. And in the first rounds it turned out that way. However, after a short period of time, Marciano left Louis on a well-deserved retirement swing with a sweeping left swing, forcing all skeptics and spiteful critics to close their mouths and begin to realize that a new and very bright star had lit up in the boxing firmament, which was just beginning its journey.
Also among the famous counterparts, boxer Rocky Marciano had many superstars of the time. A particular sensation caused his fight in September 1952 with the then-current champion in the heavyweight category Jersey Joe Walcott. At the beginning of the battle, Rocky seemed almost blind and could not oppose anything, but, after several rounds, when his vision was restored, he literally wiped the champion into powder, and in the 13th round sent him to the canvas of the ring. After such a massacre, despite the coveted victory, the newly-minted leader of heavy weight for two weeks could not go out - to such an extent his face was mutilated.
Feats in the ring
A phenomenal fight is Marciano’s clash with Esard Charles. During the fight, Rocky suffered a severe injury - a rupture of the nostrils, but he not only survived, but was able to literally “mow” his opponent by knockout.
Human qualities
The sincerity and kindness of Marciano Rocchi can be judged by one very vivid episode, which, like some litmus test, made this famous man prove himself. After the fight, Rocky Vingi Carmino, who was severely knocked out, was taken to the hospital, where he lay there for two days without regaining consciousness. All this time, Marciano stayed in a medical facility next to an injured boxer, and after he regained consciousness he gave him all his money earned for the fight. And indeed, no matter how sometimes American journalists of that era sought to denigrate the great athlete, he was and still is the personification of masculinity, stamina, decency and kindness in ordinary life. He was never caught doping, he was not involved in criminal showdowns, categorically could not tolerate alcohol and tobacco products. For many boys, Rocky is a model, an idol, on which many teenagers in Italian quarters lined up and line up throughout the American continent.
On the verge of defeat
It is now that many readers may have the impression that Marciano was a kind of invulnerable god. In fact, in his career there was one fight that he could lose, but was still recognized as the best. It happened in 1950 during a duel with Ronaldo Lastarzo. The fight went to the end, and the judges recognized our hero as the winner.
Who is stronger?
Rocky Marciano vs Mohamed Ali - the fight of the century! In reality, this battle has never happened, no matter how much we would like it. The reason is simple enough. When young Ali was just starting to take his first steps in boxing, Marciano had already completed his career.
At the time of Rocky’s departure from the sport, Ali was only 14 years old, so it becomes clear that all those videos that “walk” on the Internet, where Ali allegedly fights with Rocky, are nothing more than a professional video editing created for additional warming up of the public and attracting attention.
Elegance? Dismiss
Boxing Rocky Marciano never belonged to an exquisite style. He was often reproached for the rather clumsy conduct of the battle. But be that as it may, in sports the final result is the most important, and this gladiator of the ring he was just impressive. Still, the absence of defeat suggests that Marciano did everything in battles correctly, albeit not as technically at times as someone would like.
Training Features
Rocky Marciano, whose growth, as mentioned above, was not significant for his weight category, developed a unique method of training for short strokes, which is used today.
It was he who came up with the idea of putting short hooks and uppercuts into the water. And he did it daily for two hours. Thanks to such crazy work and dedication, Marciano was able to achieve a fantastic result - 83% of knockouts. Rocky entered the ring with respect to the opponent, which was also manifested in the fact that his physical condition was always optimal, one might even say ideal. His general physical tone, coupled with a qualitative understanding of boxing as an art, ensured him fame and success. Rocky's only significant flaw is his defenses in defense. After all his fights, he received injuries, the degree of which was different.
Undefeated sunset
The statistics of the battles of Rocky Marciano says that he went down in history as the second heavyweight champion after Gene Tunney, who had no defeats at the time of his retirement.
Many argue that the initiators of the end of Rocky's career were his family. And as you know, for a true Italian, a family is the most valuable thing that he can have in his life. Perhaps the boxer himself got tired, because his career was rich in difficult trials. But speculation has no place, and the facts say that on April 27, 1956, the athlete publicly announced the end of his performances in the ring. Subsequently, he was fully realized as a family man and as a businessman. It seemed that Madame Luck herself had kissed him. But that was not so.
Goodbye Rocky!
Unfortunately, Marciano was not destined to live a long life. On the last day of the summer of 1969, Rocky's light-engine personal plane unexpectedly crashed in a cornfield near the town of Newton. The charismatic and charming champion, the idol of millions, one of the founders of world boxing did not live literally one day before his forty-year-old, suddenly and tragically leaving our world. But such an outcome did not prevent him from staying in our hearts forever.