Background and career
Rocco Francis Marchegiano (September 1, 1923 – August 31, 1969; Italian pronunciation: [markeˈdʒaːno]), better known as Rocky Marciano (, Italian: [marˈtʃaːno]), was an American professional boxer who competed from 1947 to 1955. He held the world heavyweight championship from 1952 to 1956, and remains the only heavyweight champion to finish his career undefeated. His six title defenses were against Jersey Joe Walcott (from whom he had taken the title), Roland La Starza, Ezzard Charles (twice), Don Cockell and Archie Moore. Known for his relentless fighting style, formidable punching power, stamina, and exceptionally durable chin, Marciano is considered one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. Marciano remains the only fighter to have stopped every opponent he ever faced for the world heavyweight title, and holds the highest knockout-to-win percentage in world heavyweight title fights at 85.71%. His career knockout-to-win percentage of 87.8% remains one of the highest in heavyweight boxing history. Marciano is ranked #14 in The Ring magazine's list of the 100 greatest punchers of all time.
Born Rocco Francis Marchegiano on September 1, 1923, Rocky was raised on the south side of Brockton, Massachusetts. His parents, Pierino Marchegiano and Pasqualina Picciuto, were both immigrants from Italy. His father was from Ripa Teatina, Abruzzo, while his mother was from San Bartolomeo in Galdo, Campania. Marciano had two brothers, Louis (aka Sonny) and Peter, and three sisters, Alice, Concetta, and Elizabeth. When he was about 18 months old, Marciano contracted pneumonia, from which he almost died.In his youth, he worked out on homemade weightlifting equipment (later in his life, Marciano was also a client of Charles Atlas) and used a stuffed mailbag that hung from a tree in his back yard as a heavy bag. At Brockton High School, he participated on both the football and baseball teams, but he was removed from the baseball squad after joining a church league, which violated a policy against playing for outside teams. He dropped out after the 10th grade to help support his struggling family during the Great Depression. Among his various early jobs, he worked as a ditch digger, gardener, and leather tanner at the same shoe factory where his father was employed. He also worked as a "chute man" on delivery trucks for the Brockton Ice & Coal Company (for which he earned $10 per week). During the Second World War, Marciano enlisted in the US Army in March 1943 and was assigned to the 150th Combat Engineers, serving for three years. Stationed in Swansea, Wales, he helped ferry supplies across the English Channel to Normandy. In August 1945, his battalion received a Presidential Unit Citation for outstanding performance of duty against the enemy from February 7–13, 1945, on the Sauer and Our Rivers in Luxembourg and Germany. After the war ended, he completed his service in March 1946 at Fort Lewis, Washington, where he received an honorable discharge from the Army with the rank of Private First Class.
Marciano was introduced to boxing by an uncle, and fought during his stint in the Army during World War II, mostly because he wanted to avoid KP and other lousy details. He didn't think he would make boxing his career. But after his discharge from the Army in 1946, he began training. On March 17, 1947, at the Valley Arena Gardens in Holyoke, Massachusetts, fighting under the assumed name Rocky Mack to protect his amateur status, he had his first fight as a pro, registering a third-round knockout and receiving $35. That spring, Marciano's dream of becoming a major league catcher finally ended when he failed in his tryout with a Chicago Cubs' minor league affiliate in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Returning to boxing, Marciano began to make a name for himself on the amateur circuit, winning the Golden Gloves Tournament in Lowell, Massachusetts and the New England Golden Gloves, which earned him a spot in the Golden Gloves All-East Championship Tournament in March 1948. He was controversially beaten by Coley Wallace. Marciano rebounded by capturing the New England AAU heavyweight title in late March 1948, defeating George McInnis before 4,749 fans at the Boston Arena. After the tournament, doctors discovered that his left thumb was broken. The injury robbed him a shot at capturing the National AAU title in April, which carried with it an automatic berth on the U.S. Olympic team to compete in London that summer. Marciano's amateur record was 8–4.
Given his physical dimensions, Marciano did not fit the mold of a typical heavyweight boxer. He stood just over 5-foot-10 and generally weighed in the mid-180-pound range. With a reach measuring only 68 inches, he was considerably shorter in wingspan than most heavyweight champions. Yet Marciano turned what appeared to be disadvantages into strengths. Guided by his trainer, Charley Goldman, he developed a crouching style that made him appear even more compact and a far more elusive target. From that low stance, his jab rose sharply upward and carried notable power. Marciano once remarked that his approach worked to his benefit because many opponents "ended up punching down at me," which reduced the force of their blows. By contrast, punches thrown upward tend to generate greater impact. It may help explain why the only two fighters to drop Marciano—Walcott and Moore—were roughly comparable to him in size. Marciano himself noted that their similar stature neutralized the edge he typically enjoyed in the ring. "Charley taught the technique that if you are short, you make yourself smaller," Angelo Dundee said. "Charley let him bend his knees to a deep knee squat. He was able to punch from that position, come straight up from the bag and hit a heck of a shot...It was just bang-bang-bang-bang-BANG and get him outta there." Marciano returned to the professional ranks on July 12, 1948, and quickly made an impact. He won each of his first 16 professional fights by knockout—all of them ending before the fifth round, with nine concluding in the opening round alone. Early in his career, Marciano adopted a new surname at the urging of his manager, Al Weill, after a ring announcer in Providence, Rhode Island, struggled to pronounce Marchegiano. By the middle of 1949, he began facing stronger competition. On May 23, 1949, Don Mogard became the first opponent to last the full distance against Marciano, though Marciano secured a unanimous decision victory. He went on defeating every subsequent challenger—most by knockout—earning the moniker "The Rock from Brockton."
Marciano's punching power was vividly demonstrated on December 30, 1949, at Madison Square Garden, where he met Carmine Vingo. Entering the bout on a 12-fight unbeaten streak, Vingo was quickly overwhelmed. Marciano floored him twice for nine-counts—first in the opening round and again in the second. The punishing match concluded in the sixth round when Marciano delivered a devastating right hand that rendered Vingo unconscious. Vingo was taken immediately to a hospital and underwent surgery to treat a brain hemorrhage. He was administered the last rites by a priest. Deeply shaken by the incident, Marciano reportedly vowed he would retire from boxing if Vingo did not survive. Although Vingo recovered, he was left partially paralyzed. In the aftermath, Marciano offered financial assistance for some of Vingo's medical expenses, and the two men eventually formed a friendship. On March 24, 1950, Marciano squared off against what was widely considered his most formidable opponent to that point, Roland La Starza. Both men entered the ring undefeated, and La Starza pushed Marciano in a contest that nearly stalled his ascent in the heavyweight ranks. The bout lasted the full 10 rounds and ended in a split decision in Marciano's favor, though a significant portion of the crowd felt La Starza had done enough to earn the victory. After several more matchups, he knocked out Rex Layne in his first television bout on July 12, 1951. In front of 12,565 at Madison Square Garden, Marciano bloodied Layne's nose and mouth, opened a cut above his left eye, knocked out two teeth and smashed his bridgework. In the sixth round, Marciano hit Layne on the chin with an overhand right. After a delayed reaction, Layne fell to the canvas face forward in a hunched position. Once he hit the canvas, he rolled over to his left side and was counted out. In one of the most memorable bouts of his career, Marciano faced his childhood hero, former heavyweight champion Joe Louis, who was well beyond his peak years. Louis had returned from retirement in an effort to settle financial obligations and remained a dangerous, determined contender hoping to regain the heavyweight title. Marciano was a 6½-to-5 underdog. The two fought for eight rounds on October 26, 1951, at Madison Square Garden, before Marciano knocked Louis out with a powerful right to the jaw—an outcome that disappointed many boxing fans. Marciano himself was deeply affected by the result; after the fight, he reportedly went to Louis' dressing room and wept. Louis never entered the ring again, and the nationally televised matchup secured Marciano an opportunity to compete for the heavyweight title.
On September 23, 1952, at Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia, Marciano challenged champion Jersey Joe Walcott for his first opportunity at the heavyweight title. The bout turned into a punishing ordeal. In the opening round, Marciano was knocked down for the first time in his professional career by one of Walcott's left hooks. Rather than remain on the canvas, he sprang to his feet, visibly angered, and shouted at a startled Walcott. Even so, Marciano struggled to seize control as the fight wore on. Walcott opened cuts between his eyes and across his forehead, and round after round slipped away from the challenger. By the conclusion of the 12th, Walcott appeared firmly ahead on the scorecards. Marciano later admitted that for several rounds he had been fighting with impaired vision. Entering the 13th round, Marciano knew a knockout was his only path to victory. Just half a minute into the round, he fired a compact overhand right that crashed into Walcott's chin with tremendous force. Walcott dropped to one knee, draped his left arm over the middle rope, and slumped forward onto the canvas. He was counted out, and Marciano emerged as the new heavyweight champion. Marciano became the first heavyweight champion from Massachusetts since John L. Sullivan 62 years earlier. Marciano met Walcott again in a rematch on May 15, 1953, at Chicago Stadium, and this time the outcome was swift. He stopped Walcott with a knockout just 2 minutes and 25 seconds into the opening round. Walcott threw a jab and Marciano countered with a left hook and a right uppercut that sent the off-balance Walcott sprawling on his back, his feet flying high above him. The challenger pulled himself up to a sitting position, one hand on the ropes, and appeared unhurt. He then sat there and let the referee count him out. Once the fatal ten was reached, Walcott hoisted himself to his feet and complained that he had received a fast count.
