Marciano, Rocky
[Rocco F. Marchegiano]
Boxing
b. Sept. 1, 1923, Brockton, MA
d. Aug. 31, 1969
Marciano hoped to be a major-league baseball player when he was a teenager. He was a catcher for sandlot teams while holding various jobs after dropping out of high school at sixteen. Drafted into the Army in 1943, he was challenged by a bully to enter the camp boxing tournament at Ft. Lewis, WA. He not only beat the bully, he won the tournament.
After World War II ended, Marciano had a tryout with a minor-league team, but he developed a sore arm and was released, so he decided to go back to boxing. Al Weill agreed to become his manager and hired Charley Goldman to train Marciano, who was a powerful swinger. Goldman taught him how to defend himself and how to use his left hand to set up his right. In the process of training, the 5-foot-11 Marciano also slimmed down from 200 pounds to 185.
Nicknamed the "Brockton Blockbuster," Marciano won 42 consecutive fights, 37 of them by knockout, before meeting Jersey Joe Walcott for the heavyweight championship on September 23, 1952, at Philadelphia. Walcott knocked him down in the first round and at the end of the 12th Marciano's left eye was badly swollen, but he won with a knockout in the 13th.
Always well conditioned, Marciano liked to keep moving forward and attacking, often absorbing much punishment but also handing out a lot. His second title defense, against Roland LaStarza on September 24, 1953, was typical Marciano. He relentlessly pounded away at LaStarza's biceps until the challenger could barely lift his arms, then knocked him out in the 11th round.
After defending his title six times, Marciano announced his retirement in 1956. He won all 49 of his professional fights, 43 by knockout. The winner of an estimated $4 million, he lost some of his money in bad investments, but was still able to live comfortably. He died in a plane crash in Iowa while traveling to a business meeting.