Rocky marciano record
Rocky could hit, he was an exciting fighter, and by the end of , Rocky Marciano was undefeated with a record. Don Mogard became the first boxer to last the distance with "The Rock," but Marciano won by decision. One of the more memorable fights of his early career was when he met Ted Lowry. Ted, according to many scribes and witnesses, probably managed to win three or four of the ten rounds from Marciano.
Nevertheless, Marciano kept his winning streak alive by beating Lowry by decision. Marciano fought Lowry again and both times the bout went the scheduled ten round distance. Four more knockout wins followed, and Marciano was ready to enter the big stage. Marciano's first big fight occurred in March of , when more than 13, fans were in attendance for his fight against Roland La Starza at Madison Square Garden.
The fight had a huge pre-fight buzz, as the match was carried in 27 cities on the NBC Television network. After overcoming what some called stage-fright, Marciano won a close decision to remain undefeated. While the fighter continued to win, his critics continued to harass him, as many New York boxing fans deemed he was not ready for the Prime Time.
Four months after his controversial win, Rocky had his first boxing match in Boston, Massachusetts. Up until this point, John Weill would not let him fight in Boston, but on July 10, , a crowd of 4, at Braves Field saw the "The Brockton Bomber" fight for the first time in person. Rocky knocked Weill down in the first round, but his opponent, and former Italian champion, would not back down.
After tiring his opponent down, Marciano knocked his opponent to the floor again in the ninth round, and the fight was called early into the tenth. After the win, a local writer called Marciano nothing more than a good club fighter. Rocky continued his streak of winning with a six round victory over Red Applegate. This win would prove to be a huge victory in the young fighter's rise to the title; he was nicknamed by locals as the "Great White Hope.
After defeating Freddie Beshore in front of 9, at the Boston Garden, Marciano was put on another huge stage. The prestige of Joe Louis, combined with the record of Marciano, made it a huge boxing event everywhere.
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During the fight, the streets of Boston were empty, as fans everywhere searched for a bar, pub, or restaurant to watch the action on television. When Marciano knocked out Louis in what would be the latter's last career bout, cheers could be heard from all around Boston. The victory was an emotional one for Rocky, as Louis had been the idol of his childhood.
In no time Marciano was a ranked heavyweight. After being dropped in round one, Marciano got up and knocked Walcott out in the thirteenth round, becoming the new world heavyweight champion. Marciano entered the round with little or no chance to win the decision on points; Walcott, a local product, was ahead on the judges' scorecards.
However, Rocky ended the fight with a huge right, and knocked out the hometown hero in front of thousands. A rematch was fought one year later, and, in Marciano's first title defense, he retained the title with a first-round knockout of Walcott. Next, he fought against his former competitor Roland La Starza, who took his turn to challenge Marciano for the title.
After building a small lead on the judges' scorecards all the way to the middle rounds, Marciano won by TKO in the eleventh round. Then came former world heavyweight champion Ezzard Charles, whom Marciano had beaten by a decision in their first bout. Ezzard Charles was the only man to ever last 15 rounds against Marciano; the champ later praised him as one of the toughest men he ever fought in his life.
After having his nose split in round six of the rematch, Marciano retained the title with an eighth-round knockout win. Marciano's last title bout was against Archie Moore on September 21, The bout was originally scheduled for Tuesday, September 20, but because of hurricane warnings it had to be moved to the twenty-first.
Marciano was knocked down for two seconds, but he got up and knocked out Moore in the ninth round. Moore was also knocked down in the sixth and eighth round but was saved by the bell. Despite organized crime figures trying to convince the champion to throw the fight, Rocky defended his title for the sixth time. Marciano went on to defend his title six times, winning five by knockout.
His last title fight was against Archie Moore, on September 21, , where he knocked out Moore in the ninth round. Marciano announced his retirement on April 27, During his career, he won an unrivaled 49 straight fights, 43 of which were by knockout. Marciano met Barbara Cousins, the daughter of a retired Brockton police sergeant, in the spring of They married on December 31, They had one daughter, Mary Ann, and adopted a son, Rocco Kevin.
After boxing, in , Marciano hosted a weekly boxing show on TV. He also worked as a referee and boxing commentator in boxing matches for many years. On August 31, , the eve of his 46th birthday, Marciano was killed in a tragic plane crash. Five years later, Barbara succumbed to lung cancer at age We strive for accuracy and fairness. In the 13th, Walcott used his trademark feint to set up his right hand, but Marciano's "Suzie Q" landed first, a powerful right hook causing Walcott to slump to his knees with his arm draped over the ropes.
He lay motionless long after he had been counted out and Marciano became the new World Heavyweight Champion.
At the time of the stoppage, Walcott was leading on all scorecards, 8—4, 7—5, and 7—4. His first defense came the following year in May — a rematch against Walcott, now 39, who this time was knocked out in the first round. His next defense was held five months later, in what would be a rematch with his old rival, Roland La Starza.
After building a small lead on the judges' scorecards all the way through the middle rounds, Marciano eventually gained the upper hand and won the fight by a technical knockout in the 11th round. Then Marciano fought two consecutive bouts against former World Heavyweight Champion and light heavyweight legend Ezzard Charles , who became the only man to ever last a full 15 rounds against Marciano.
Referee Ruby Goldstein scored the bout 8—5—2 in rounds for the champion. Marciano gave Charles a rematch, and the much anticipated fight was held four months later at the same venue. Marciano controlled most of the action during the fight, but was cut badly on the nose at the end of the sixth round. Unable to get the bleeding to stop, and fearing a possible stoppage by the fight doctor, Marciano went in for the finish, and soon succeeded, knocking Charles out in the eighth round.
Cockell was knocked out in the ninth round after Marciano had controlled most of the fight. Marciano's final title defense was against the number one contender and light-heavyweight champion , Archie Moore, on September 21, The bout was originally scheduled for September 20, but because of hurricane warnings, it had to be delayed a day.
Marciano was knocked down for a four-count in the second round, but quickly recovered and retained his title with a knockout in round nine. Marciano announced his retirement on April 27, , aged After only a month of training in nearly four years, Marciano decided against it and never seriously considered a comeback again.
After his retirement, Marciano entered the world of television, first hosting a weekly boxing show on TV in and later appearing in the Combat! For a brief period, he worked as a troubleshooting referee in wrestling Marciano was a good wrestler in high school. He continued as a referee and boxing commentator in boxing matches for many years.
Marciano had two children—a daughter, Mary Anne born , who died on June 3, , of complications from a respiratory illness [ 26 ] and a son, Rocco Kevin born Mary Anne had several run-ins with the law in Florida in the s and s, getting arrested and charged with assault and armed robbery after previously serving jail time for cocaine possession.
In late July , shortly before his death, Marciano participated in the filming of The Superfight: Marciano vs.
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The two boxers were filmed sparring, then the film was edited to match a computer simulation of a hypothetical fight between them, each in his prime. It aired on January 20, , with one version having Marciano winning and the second version having Ali winning. In , Marciano met Barbra Cousins, daughter of a Brockton police sergeant. The two were married on December 31, They had a daughter, Mary Ann, and later adopted a son, Rocco Junior.
Marciano was a devout Catholic [ 31 ] and often attended Catholic mass during training and before a fight. On August 31, the day before his 46th birthday , Marciano was a passenger in a small private plane, a Cessna [ 34 ] heading to Des Moines, Iowa from Chicago Midway. It was night and bad weather had set in. The pilot, Glenn Belz, had only total hours of flying time, 35 of them at night, and had no instrument rating.
Rocky marciano boxer record
Belz tried to land the plane at a small airfield outside Newton, Iowa but the aircraft hit a tree two miles short of the runway. Flying with Marciano in the back seat was Frankie Farrell, 28, the oldest son of organized crime figure Lew Farrell. The National Transportation Safety Board report said, "The pilot attempted an operation exceeding his experience and ability level, continued visual flight rules under adverse weather conditions and experienced spatial disorientation in the last moments of the flight.
He had hoped to return in the early morning for his 46th birthday celebration with his wife. His wife died five years later at the age of 46 due to lung cancer and is entombed next to him. Marciano holds the record with heavyweight Brian Nielsen for the longest undefeated streak by a heavyweight.
Although heavyweight champion Gene Tunney never suffered a defeat at heavyweight and retired as champion, he lost one career fight at light heavyweight, and his longest win streak was 32, with his overall record being D -1 NC. Marciano also has the highest knockout percentage of any heavyweight champion in history over the period of a career with In his professional career, he was only knocked down twice.
The first occurred in his first title fight against Jersey Joe Walcott, and the second occurred against Archie Moore. Despite his perfect record and retiring as champion, Marciano has sometimes been criticized for the allegedly low quality of opposition he faced during his career. These criticisms notwithstanding, over the decades Marciano has been ranked highly in several all-time boxing lists.
In December , a Ring poll of 40 boxing experts placed Marciano as the seventh-best heavyweight of all time. Boxing historian Charlie Rose rated Marciano as the eight-best heavyweight of all time in , [ 44 ] while John McCallum's survey of boxing historians and writers listed him as the ninth-best all-timer in the division. In , The Ring named Marciano as the sixth greatest heavyweight champion ever.
In , The Ring rated Marciano number 14 on the list of greatest punchers of all time. In , he was named the fifth greatest heavyweight of all time by the International Boxing Research Organization.
Biography of rocky marciano boxer record
Marciano's punch was tested and it was featured in the December issue of Boxing Illustrated : "Marciano's knockout blow packs more explosive energy than an armor-piercing bullet and represents as much energy as would be required to spot lift pounds one foot off the ground. Marciano was named fighter of the year by The Ring three times.
His three championship fights between and were named fights of the year by the magazine. Neil Trophy in Marciano also received the Hickok Belt for top professional athlete of the year in A bronze statue of Marciano was planned for a completion date in his hometown of Brockton, Massachusetts , as a gift to the city by the World Boxing Council. Contents move to sidebar hide.
Roland La Starza. Article Talk. In this article, we will explore his life, career, highlight fights, and legacy. He grew up in a poor family and had to work hard to make ends meet.
Jack dempsey boxer: Although he had one professional fight (against Lee Epperson) on his record, Marciano began fighting permanently as a professional boxer on July 12, That night, he notched a win over Harry Bilazarian (3–6–0). He won his first 16 bouts by knockout, all before the fifth round and nine before the first round was over.
In his youth, he played baseball and football, but he was always most interested in boxing. After his service, he began his professional boxing career in at the age of 23, making his debut against Lee Epperson. He won the fight via 3rd round KO, setting the tone for the rest of his career. Throughout his boxing career, Marciano exhibited phenomenal skill, strength, and determination, becoming an unstoppable force in the ring.
He won 43 of his 49 fights by knockout, never losing a single bout. He holds the record for the only heavyweight champion to retire undefeated, a testament to his prowess as a fighter.