Sweet science, the pinnacle of combat sports, a sport adored by many, one that has brought men to their knees, and shown others the true reward of resilience.
Boxing, a sport that has featured a host of legends, whose fame and influence have transcended sport even unto humanity. Some of the best sports stories and ‘never give up’ tales that have ever been told have originated from the canvass of the boxing ring.
Joe Lewis, Joe Frazier, Marvin Haggler, George Foreman, Mike Tyson, Sugar-Ray Robinson, Evander Holyfield, Mohammed Ali, the Klitschko brothers, Floyd Mayweather Jr. There’s a long list of legends that have emerged from the sweet science of boxing.
In this piece, we will focus our spotlight on an all-time great, one who (thus far) remains the only heavyweight boxing legend to retire undefeated – Rocky Marciano.
As sports have evolved, certain milestones appear unattainable. Just as nobody may ever eclipse Pele’s 1279 football goals record, some records will remain for as long as humanity exists and one such record is that held by American-born former heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano – the only heavyweight boxer to retire unbeaten.
“He was relentless. The bell would ring, he would be on you. The bell would ring, he stopped. The bell would ring again, he’d be right back on you,” were the words of former heavyweight champion George Foreman about Rocky Marciano on ESPN Classic’s SportsCentury series.
Rocky Marciano (originally named Rocco Francis Marchegiano) was born into a working-class family in Brockton, Massachusetts, on September 1, 1923. While growing up, Rocky Marciano had two goals in mind while growing up in Brockton, Mass. He didn’t want to follow in his father’s footsteps and work in a shoe factory. He wanted to be a major league catcher in the MLB.
Marciano was introduced to boxing by an uncle but was eventually drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943, as a result of the Second World War. Marciano was assigned to the 150th Combat Engineers. He was stationed in Wales where he was involved in operations on the English Channel. He reportedly continued boxing as a way to get out of kitchen duty and other less-than-desirable jobs. Marciano finished his military service in 1946 and continued to box as an amateur. He tried out for the baseball side Chicago Cubs, but his dream of becoming a pro baseball player ended when he was soon cut from the team. The excuse being he didn’t have a strong enough right arm. Well, the same could not be said by many who encountered the 5ft 8 inches Rocky Marciano in the ring.
After failing at his quest in baseball, he returned to boxing. The odds of Marciano succeeding in boxing seemed about the same as him reaching the major baseball leagues-slim. He was a crude bar-room brawler type. For a heavyweight, he was considered too short (5ft 8 inches) and too light- weighing between 183-189 pounds for most of his fights.
His reach was another disadvantage, as his 68 inches long reach was a mile too short – no heavyweight champ ever had such a short reach.
Regardless, and with the odds heavily stacked against him, Marciano fought his first professional match. On March 17, 1947, where he defeated Lee Epperson in a third-round knockout. A boxer whom many deemed his victory as a fluke amateur win soon had tongues wagging and eyebrows raised. With his instinct for the attack and the power of his right hand, Marciano knocked out his first 16 opponents, nine in the first round! By now he was under the tutelage of Goldman, who trained fighters for New York manager and promoter Al Weill. Goldman instructed Marciano to fight out of a crouch. He gradually became known as a tough fighter and powerful puncher, but he was criticized for his awkward style, which some thought lacked finesse.
“Charley taught the technique that if you are short, you make yourself smaller, 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.” — words of American Boxing coach, Angelo Dundee.
What the Brockton Blockbuster lacked in finesse, he complimented in his physical condition. In his monkish, monomaniacal pursuit of the title, he was as addicted to exercise. It gave him more stamina than his opponent, which appeared instrumental in his first-ever heavyweight title fight against champion Jersey Joe Walcott. Before the bout against Heavyweight Joe Walcott, Marciano had fought a couple of boxing greats including Joe Louis.
Joe Louis was victim No. 38 for the up-and-coming Marciano. Louis was old-and-should-have-stay-retired. The former champion was subsequently aided to retirement by Marciano. He knocked Louis out with a powerful right to the jaw in the eighth round on Oct. 26, 1951.
Eleven months later, on September 23, 1952, at Philadelphia’s Municipal Stadium, Marciano fought Jersey Joe Walcott. During this period, Walcott was regarded by many as the greatest fighter of the era and many expected him to make light work of Marciano given his coordinated style of fighting.
In the first round, for the first time in his 43-fight pro career, Marciano saw what it was like to look up from the canvas at the guy who just put you there. A clever boxer, the 38-year-old Walcott frustrated Marciano, cutting him between the eyes and on the forehead. After 12 rounds, the champ was in total control, ahead by four rounds from one official, three by another and two by the third. Marciano needed a knockout to take the title. Though battered and bloodied, Marciano wouldn’t give in to defeat. Thirty seconds into the 13th and final round, with Walcott backed into the ropes, the exhausted Marciano delivered one of the most devastating punches in boxing history, a shot to the side of Walcott’s chin. Walcott sank to one knee, his left arm hooked around the middle rope, head resting on the canvas. Walcott was out, and Marciano was in as heavyweight champion. This knockout move was dubbed the Suzie Q, as it was in the mould of the famous Suzie Q dance. Spectators and gamblers were left in awe. What have they just witnessed? Joe Walcott lying helpless on the canvas.
A rematch was called and this time, Marciano broke little sweat, creating little drama, as he knocked out Walcott in the first round.
Rocky Marciano had a more difficult time in his third and fourth title defenses, against Ezzard Charles in 1954. In the first fight, after falling behind on points early, Marciano’s right did more damage to Charles in the remaining rounds, and he kept his title on a unanimous decision.
The rematch was even tougher. Charles hit Marciano with a left hook that split his left nostril down the middle in the sixth round. In the seventh, Charles inflicted a cut on Marciano’s left brow. With blood spurting from both wounds and aware that the referee was considering stopping the fight, a desperate Marciano unleashed a furious attack in the eighth and knocked Charles down twice, the second time for the count.
In Marciano’s sixth and final defence, he came back from a second-round knockdown to Knock out Archie Moore in the ninth round. Seven months later, Marciano, at 32, announced his retirement. On April 27, 1956, when he retired from the ring. Marciano was undefeated in 49 professional fights, scoring 43 knockouts.
The irony of how things transpired. Marciano couldn’t make it with a Chicago Cubs’ farm team because he didn’t have a strong enough right arm. But the arm was powerful enough for him to register 43 knockouts in 49 fights. When he retired in 1956, he was, and remains the only heavyweight champion to exit undefeated.
Fast forward to the 21st century and what is dubbed the modern era of boxing, the Gypsy King – Tyson Fury looks on course to recreate Marciano’s exclusive record. Currently, Fury’s boxing record stands at 33-0-1 (24 KO wins). With his retirement rumours gradually heating up the boxing scene, Fury could become just the second heavyweight boxer to retire without a blemish to his fight record.
