Yes, of course I once watched a movie about Rocky with Sylvester Stallone in the title role. But not being a boxing connoisseur did not even imagine that there was a real Rocky - Rocky Marciano (Rocky Marciano): World heavyweight boxing champion; the only boxer in the world who has not suffered a single defeat in his career.
American professional boxer, world heavyweight champion from 1952 to 1956. He spent 49 fights in the professional ring and won all of them, and in 43 fights - by knockout. This remains an unsurpassed achievement to this day. Earned the nickname “Bull in Gloves” for the incredible power of monstrous short strikes (“six-inch”), which for the first time in his sport he practiced for several hours, standing up to his neck in water. "Why dance with your opponent for 10 rounds when you can knock him out in the first?"
Let's find out more about it …
On the last day of the summer of 1969, the weather was magnificent, and dozens of people watched with undisguised interest the small plane soaring in the high blue sky. This is understandable, because the plane, which described smooth circles over a huge corn field, was flown by Rocky Marciano, the pride of America and its living legend. Suddenly the plane gave a strong start and, having turned over in the air several times, to the horror of the people watching it, fell like a stone to the ground.
So absurdly ended the life of one of the brightest boxers of the twentieth century. A few hours later, the sad news spread all over the world, and more than one boxing expert sighed mournfully, remembering this man who became a legend during his lifetime.
Yes, some experts rated his talent below the talents of the no less legendary Joe Louis and Cassius Clay, and such a serious boxing connoisseur as Ted Carroll, in general, put Rocky only ninth on his list of great champions. And even then with a lot of reservations.
Perhaps in some ways they are right, and yet there is one, but a very big "but". Whatever may be said about his style, Rocky Marciano to this day remains the only champion in the world who has not suffered a single defeat in the professional ring. Forty-nine times he went to the lists that brought him unfading glory, and forty-nine times the referees raised his right hand, which inspired indescribable horror on all opponents without exception. And only six of them managed to leave the ring on their own feet, while Rocky himself was knocked down only twice, although the "black bomber", as Joe Louis was called, experienced the power of his terrible blows. It is no coincidence that on the license plate of Marciano's car it was written: KNOCK OUT! Yes, perhaps he really did not have the filigree technique and plastics that the same Joe Louis and Cassius Clay differed,but in willpower he had no equal, and in this indicator he surpassed all these greats, even taken together.
Rocky Marcelgiano, as the real name of the future champion sounded, was born on September 1, 1923 in Brockton into a rather large family of an Italian emigrant. Rocky's father was disabled, and the boy had to learn from an early age what need and hard physical labor are. What did he do so that the family somehow could make ends meet! He chopped ice on sidewalks, worked as a dishwasher in bars, dug earth and laid gas pipes. Therefore, probably, he grew up, despite constant need and not very good food, a very strong and, most importantly, a strong-willed guy. And where others despaired and dropped their hands, Rocky continued, as if nothing had happened, to drag the weight beyond his childish shoulders. No one ever heard a single complaint from him, not a word of despair, and the baseball coach Rocky came to,immediately appreciated the talents of the boy who appeared to him.
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Rocky became one of the most prominent figures on the baseball field, he was promised a great future, but at one of the training sessions he broke his arm and had to say goodbye to baseball. And what a pitcher could be with a broken arm! But the very next day, boxing trainer Gin Calgiano, who was watching Rocky, approached him and invited him to his section. There's something about you, boy. - he said, - Come to the club tomorrow, I really want to find an Italian boy and make him the world champion.
He had never seen Rocky in the ring, but with the experienced gaze of a specialist, he immediately saw in this guy who knew no obstacles huge inclinations. On top of that, for a long time he really wanted to "bring to the people" his fellow Italian.
Rocky liked boxing, but he really didn't have time to do it. In 1943, he was drafted into the Navy and sent to Britain, and it was there, quite unexpectedly for himself, that he began to compete in boxing competitions. True, those fights could be called competitions only with a stretch. And it happened like this. One fine evening, never the first to get into a fight and having learned the lessons of Calgiano well, Rocky beat up a drunk guy who was sticking to him so that the pub owner, who was watching their fight with interest, immediately invited the fearless guy who skillfully worked with fists to come to him on weekends. “Here,” he explained, “they fight for money, and you can make good money.”
So for the first time in his life, Rocky began to fight in front of the lubb, whom he immediately fell in love with. Even then, the audience was amazed at his will, which knew no barriers. He fought as if the life of all his relatives depended on it, and won victories even over those who owned boxing technique better than him. And, oddly enough, but it was in the pub, where Rocky consoled the drunken audience, that his style of fighting in a low stance in close combat began to form. Over time, he will bend so low that it will be almost impossible to hit him.
After leaving the Navy, Rocky, who dreamed of a boxing career, fell into the hands of a hardened boxing businessman Al Weil. He did his best, and very soon the name of the "nice guy from Brockton" became well known to boxing fans, and his rating began to grow by leaps and bounds. The "nice guy" himself did his best, smashing his opponents to smithereens. He trained a lot and, realizing that long and medium distances were not for him, he devoted all his attention to staging his famous short strikes, which eventually reached terrible strength. He endlessly worked on them in the hall, and then another two hours in … water. To everyone who saw him in action, he resembled a bull terrier who knew no pity for himself, much less for his opponents.
Rocky led an ascetic lifestyle, his willingness to sacrifice even his life for victory turned him into a formidable force for any opponent. And when he entered the battle for the boxing throne on which Joe Walcott sat, the stakes were nine to five in favor of Marciano. The champion was nine years older than Rocky. Realizing that he could not stand fifteen rounds with a young guy in his prime, he immediately went ahead, intending to end the fight in the first rounds. In the second round, after a strong blow to the eye, Rocky was knocked down, and many already began to regret that they had put money on the "nice guy from Brockton." And when Joe put it down for the second time, no one in the audience believed that Rocky would hold out until the end of the fight. However, he got up and continued the fight.
In the ninth round, the champion very painfully touched the old wound on the head with his elbow, and Rocky's position became even more complicated. Any other boxer, having a terrible headache, of course, would stop the fight. But not Rocky! It was as if he was made of different dough and not only did not flinch, but thanks to his unbending courage, managed to turn the tide of the fight in the same round. When in the ninth round he smiled for the first time since the beginning of the fight, the approving hum of people who put on him swept through the hall.
It looks like this guy was not so easy to knock out of the saddle and they still had a chance to win their bets! In the eleventh round, the fight reached its climax, the boxers did not spare each other, and in one of the attacks the champion tore Rocky's nose and inflicted very sensitive blows to the eyes, which immediately swam. But Rocky this time did not leave the ring, as his already exhausted opponent hoped for. Well, how he brought that round to the end, he could not later explain himself. Drenched in blood, he barely saw Joe and fought on a whim.
However, after the break, when the seconds brought him into relative order and the eye drops began to act, Rocky immediately began to dictate his will and, every now and then, driving the champion into a corner, preparing his final blow in this terrifying battle. In the end, his terrifying strength right hook sent Walcott to the floor. Bleeding Rocky looked at the judge, and he solemnly declared him the nineteenth world champion. For almost an hour, the doctors revived Walcott, and when he finally woke up, he asked in amazement: “What was that? Tornado?"
Needless to say, after this victory, fame, and with it the monetary fees of Marciano, began to grow like a snowball, and nevertheless, his wife, along with his mother, almost on their knees begged him to leave their terrible craft. But Marciano, no matter how he loved his loved ones, loved boxing even more and did not intend to spare their nerves. It got to the point that one not the most beautiful day for himself, he received a letter from his wife. “Stop worrying us,” she wrote. “Our family is falling apart, and you’re the reason. We need a son and a husband, not money for his mutilated body!"
It was not so! Rocky hadn't thought of hanging his gloves on a nail. His fight with Joe Louis, who wished to return to the ring and who studied the champion's tactics well, caused no less horror, and with it great delight. Of course, it was not the same Joe Louis, and yet their fight was one of the most stubborn in Marciano's career. One can only guess what a unique spectacle their fight would have become ten years ago, when Joe Louis was at the zenith of his fame. But alas, sports, like history, do not know the subjunctive mood. Be that as it may, it was impossible to beat Joe without a fight even now, and time after time his merciless jabs reached the goal. Until that moment, no one could resist this formidable weapon of the former champion, but, to the amazement of the public and Joe himself, Rocky continued to fight. Until the end of the fight, Rocky never managed to find a decent defense against the jabs that tortured him, but he not only withstood the hail of blows that fell on him, but also managed to send the once great Joe into a deep knockout! However, he came home in such a way that his own sister did not recognize him and wanted to call the police to save her from the bloody bully who came to her house.
For almost a month, Rocky did not go out on the street, so as not to frighten passers-by with his appearance, and put himself in order. But even more terrible was his meeting, a real battle, with the former world champion Ezzard Charles. Charles fought desperately, he managed to break Rocky's nostrils, and blood gushed out of them in two streams. But when the referee, taking pity on Marciano, was about to pause the fight, he asked him for two more rounds. The judge, who had heard about the Italian's extraordinary willpower, agreed, and in the next three minutes, Charles was almost dead taken out of the ring. And all the other battles of Marciano took place with the same cruelty and very often ended in abundant bloodshed.
And this despite the fact that Rocky was never a rude and non-technical boxer. Far from it! He understood a lot about technology, but his very nature demanded just such fights: open and uncompromising. And when the American engineer Maury Warner decided to find out with the help of a computer who was the strongest in professional boxing in the entire history of its existence, a soulless machine, leading Rocky Marciano and Cassius Clay to the final, gave the victory to the first!
Despite his brutality in the ring, behind his ropes, Rocky was a good-natured and very open person. He willingly spoke to journalists who took hundreds of interviews with him about his shortcomings and mistakes, but no one heard from him a single disrespectful word about other boxers, about whom he spoke only well. And when Capmino Vingi, whom Rocky knocked out in the most brutal way, did not regain consciousness for almost three days and the doctors began to talk about his disability, Rocky, who himself knew all the delights of poverty and clearly understood what threatened the out-of-work boxer, generously gave him all his the fee for the battle he won.
Rocky Marciano was just a training freak. He trained 365 days a year and very intensely. Every morning, Rocky Marciano ran at least 10 kilometers on rough terrain (he especially loved running "uphill"). Closer to the battle, he increased his mileage and ran 20-25 kilometers. Thanks to this, Rocky Marciano was simply incredibly hardy, sometimes they said that he was like a “bull in gloves”.
Rocky loved to practice blows in the water. He got up to his neck in water and for a long time inflicted various blows. Rocky Marciano's special talent was that he was capable of delivering a huge number of hard punches. While being hit once, he was able to land ten hits in a row.
Marciano prepared carefully for each fight. 3 months before the fight, he retired from his family. He lived in another house and thought only about the fight, watched his diet and his weight. A week before the fight, Rocky did not receive calls, did not answer letters, did not meet with anyone, did not go anywhere in the car, and did not even shake hands with anyone.
In battle, he was possessed. For the sake of victory, Rocky did not hesitate to sacrifice his life.
By this time, he had already parted ways with Al Weil, who thought too much of himself. He invited the manager to a restaurant and ordered his favorite fish and told him that he was canceling the contract. Al, who really did not want to part with such a source of income as the famous boxer was for him, tried to resist. However, Rocky, showing amazing diplomacy, nevertheless persuaded him to part in an amicable way. In the end, the manager not only resigned himself, but called Rocky "the best guy he ever had."
Yes, he was not only the "best guy" but also a great boxer. Five times in a row, Marciano defended his title, and no one could even get close to the coveted Olympus.
Having won the title of world champion for the fifth time in April 1956, Rocky, to the indescribable joy of his entire family, announced his retirement, becoming the second champion, after Gene Tunney, to voluntarily leave the ring. Much was said about the reasons for his rather early departure for a professional, and, as always happens in such cases, the most incredible versions were put forward. But, apparently, Rocky was just tired of boxing and the endless lamentations of his wife. Yes, and at that time he already had a lot of money: after all, he had a round capital of more than four million dollars on his account. Rocky tried to do everything to increase it, and in this regard, showed the complete opposite of the Marciano-boxer. In financial transactions, he never went ahead and measured much more than seven times before finally cutting off. In this he was strikingly different from Joe Louis,who squandered all his fortune and never knew how to count the money he earned in the ring.
True, Rocky even now saw his family quite rarely, traveling on business from end to end of America. But his wife was calm, because after Rocky left the ring, no one had ever seen him with a broken face. He bought himself a large ranch and was very fond of flying over it on his plane. And of course, the great boxer would still enjoy his serene life for a long time, if that tragic August morning had not come when the great and invincible Rocky went into legend …
Famous boxers about Rocky Marciano
Muhammad Ali
“When I was 14 years old and I heard the announcement of the fight on the radio:“… the world champion Rocky Marciano is entering the ring…”, I knew who would remain the champion today. He had a huge impact on me early in my career."
Jersey Joe Walcott
“I never wanted to lose to anyone, but if I had to lose, then I'm glad I lost to you. You are a good fighter and you will be a great champion."
Joe Fraser
“Joe Louis is the greatest heavyweight of all time. Rocky Marciano is only second after Luis. Where would I put Ali? Somewhere behind you. I beat him, and if I can beat him there is no doubt that Joe Luis and Rocky Marciano could beat him as well."
Alexander Belenky in his book "Big Champions" writes that over the years the number of those claiming that Rocky Marciano was simply very lucky to be at the right moment in the right ring and that there were people who contributed in every way to his luck is growing.
At one time, the editor-in-chief of The Ring magazine, Nat Fleischer, who was not very generous with compliments, simply admired Rocky. Today, more and more people began to talk about some of the ugly sides of a boxer's life. It is noted, for example, his extreme stinginess, campaigns "to the left" and - most importantly - business ties with the mafia. Marciano, in particular, invested large sums of money in the usurious business and was well aware of the "dark" side of the whole business. (Rocky Marciano: The Rock of His Times, by Russell Sullivan.)
According to the same Belenky, in 1968, Marciano had serious problems with the authorities related to Rocky's investments in the business of his good friend, a large racketeer Perino DiGravio. Rocky was about to drive his car to Cleveland, Ohio, where he was living when word reached him that Di Gravio had been killed at a golf course.
At the very beginning of 1969, Marciano came to the famous mafioso Don Vito Genovese, who was dying in prison, who at parting said to Rocky the significant words: "Many of us have done a lot of evil in life, but you were our pride." No comment…
In an article dedicated to Nikolai Valuev, Belenky says that today Marciano would not be as important as his record. “Count the judges in one of his controversial fights that he did lose, and all the magic of his name for subsequent generations of boxing fans would be irretrievably lost once and for all, because Rocky Marciano without his record is about the same as Vladimir Ilyich Lenin without the October Revolution”.
And yet you can finish with the words of Alexander Belenky: “All the talk about 'what would have happened' is just idle speculation, to which everyone has the right. And the fact remains: Rocky Marciano left the ring undefeated, having won 49 victories in 49 fights, 43 of them by knockout. Whether someone likes it or not, this is the only immutable truth."
However, I would like to draw your attention to an interesting fact: it is believed that Rocky Marciano was the prototype of Rocky Balboa - the protagonist of the films "Rocky", "Rocky 2", "Rocky 3", "Rocky 4", "Rocky 5" and "Rocky Balboa ", Played by Sylvester Stallone. However, this statement is wrong. Rocky Balboa's prototype is Chuck Wepner.