{"id":3510,"date":"2023-11-02T00:00:33","date_gmt":"2023-11-02T04:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theusaboxingnews.com\/?page_id=3510"},"modified":"2023-11-02T12:05:09","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T16:05:09","slug":"rocky-marciano-his-life-and-times-in-photos-and-video","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/theusaboxingnews.com\/?page_id=3510","title":{"rendered":"Rocky Marciano – The Undefeated Terror of the heavyweights"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rockyuntitled\"<\/a><\/span>THE UNDEFEATED TERROR OF THE HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

HIS LIFE AND TIMES IN PHOTOS AND VIDEOS<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Rocky Marciano<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Birth of a Great Champion<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

– Story by John and Alex Rinaldi –<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Rocky Marciano (R) with Joe DiMaggio (L) alongside President Dwight Eisenhower (Center). click Photo to see video of the event)<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

After Jersey Joe Walcott won the heavyweight title from Ezzard Charles, he was anxious to defend his title again and signed on to face the feared, undefeated number-one contender and ring terror Rocky Marciano three months later on September 23, 1952, at the same Municipal Stadium.\u00a0 Marciano had knocked out nearly everyone he had faced in the ring, plus exhibited a tireless and relentless stamina and a knockout blow in either fist.\u00a0 Walcott figured that he was more experienced and could outbox Marciano similar to the way he did against Joe Louis in 1947. <\/strong><\/span>Jersey Joe was even cocky when talking about his upcoming opponent Marciano.\u00a0 \u201cWrite this down,\u201d he growled to reporters. \u201cHe [Marciano] can’t fight.\u00a0 If I don’t lick him, take my name out of the record books.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>For a fighter who never bragged, Walcott’s comments were quite odd and out of character for him.\u00a0 Rocky Marciano had bludgeoned every top heavyweight out there going into the Walcott fight, including devastating knockout wins over Joe Louis and Rex Layne, two boxers who had beaten Jersey Joe in the past.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

On September 23, 1952, a <\/b>raucous<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> crowd of 40,379 fans turned out at Philadelphia’s Municipal Stadium, producing gate receipts of $504,545 for Walcott’s defense against Rocky Marciano.\u00a0 The fight was also shown on closed circuit TV in 50 theaters in 31 cities throughout the United States.\u00a0 The closed-circuit television receipts totaled $125,000.\u00a0 Joe’s second title defense earned him $188,070, while the challenger Marciano took home $94,035.\u00a0 The previous year, Joe DiMaggio was the highest earning baseball player collecting a $100,000 salary from the New York Yankees.\u00a0 Walcott nearly doubled that figure in just one fight!<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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A drawing of Rocky Marciano fighting Joe Louis.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

To everyone’s astonishment, Walcott came out slugging against his dangerous opponent and lashed out with a left hook that landed squarely on Marciano’s jaw that sent \u201cThe Brockton Blockbuster\u201d to the canvas! The challenger got up quickly and appeared unhurt, even though this was nearly the same punch that had Ezzard Charles down for the ten-count when Walcott KO’d him in the seventh round in their July 18, 1951 bout at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Heavyweight Champion Rocky Marciano (R) pounding away at challenger Archie Moore (L) in their epic 1955 battle.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

After the referee wiped the resin off the Rocky’s gloves, the two then exchanged heavy leather fists for the remainder of the opening round.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Rocky Marciano in training. (Click Photo to see video of Top 5 Notable wins)<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

After the aggressive first round, Walcott began to box and punch, instead of just firing away with bombs.\u00a0 Unbeknownst to the champion Walcott, Marciano possessed the superhuman, relentless style of forcing his opponents to fight at a whirlwind pace that they were normally not accustomed to. <\/strong>Luckily for Jersey Joe, he was also in\u00a0top-notch shape, so much so that he was able to put on one of the most exciting displays of scientific fisticuffs ever seen within the roped square.<\/strong><\/span>\"\"<\/a> <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

By the middle frames it appeared that Rocky was about to turn the tide due to his savage body blows, but then the challenger began to rub at his eyes and swing wildly.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

What had happened was that Walcott’s gloves or shoulder had a liniment on them that somehow blinded Marciano.\u00a0 Because of this new development, the champion took advantage of his foe’s unfortunate predicament and began to up points with swift, jolting combinations.\u00a0 Since Rocky was able to take the shots, he just kept coming forward.\u00a0 Although the challenger kept on advancing, he was still being outpunched by Jersey Joe and was noticeably losing the fight.\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

By Round 12, the Rocky’s vision had managed to clear up and he was as dangerous as ever as he pounded away at the champion with both powerful fists slamming into Walcott’s skull and ribs.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Rocky Marciano in training.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Nonetheless, going into Round 13, Walcott had built up a commanding lead and was ahead in rounds by scores of 8-4, 7-5 and 7-4-1. \u00a0Because of this, even if he lost every succeeding round, all that Walcott had to do was simply stay on his feet and he would still keep his heavyweight title by way of a draw.\u00a0 Unfortunately for Jersey Joe, Marciano was not the type of fighter who wanted his opponents to hear the clang of the final bell.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Heavyweight Champion Rocky Marciano kidding around with a lucky young fan during training at Grossinger’s Resort.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

When the 13<\/b>th<\/sup> round started, the challenger Marciano, fighting out of his effective crouch and bobbing and weaving, advanced towards his rival and hammered away with blistering blows that soon backed the champion up against the ropes.\u00a0 Just when Walcott was about to throw his right hand, Rocky fired his right fist first that exploded on Jersey Joe\u2019s jaw with the force of a meteor that nearly caved his face in! As if shot by a cannon, the champion began to slowly collapse, whereby Rocky hit him with one more final telling blow \u2013 a thudding left hook to the skull before he went down for good.\u00a0 With his left arm hanging on the ring ropes like a broken coat hanger, Walcott looked like a battered rag doll. He then crumbled twisted to the canvas where he was counted out by referee Charlie Daggert at 0:43 of Round 13. <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Walcot lay so listless and lifeless on the canvas that the referee could have counted to a thousand.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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Rocky Marciano visits Andy Griffith and Patricia Neal on the set of the movie A Face in the Crowd<\/em>.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

It was such a great battle that it was voted the Fight of the Year <\/em>for 1952 and the 13th<\/sup> Round was awarded Round of the Year<\/em>. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Though<\/strong><\/span> Jersey Joe was now the ex-champion, he did have in his contract a return bout clause that not only got him an immediate shot to reclaim his lost laurels, but he would also earn more than the new champion, something that Marciano was certainly not too happy about.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Marciano (L) and Walcott (R) fighting on the inside of the 1952 first fight.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

On May 15, 1953, 16,034 fans turned out at Chicago Stadium to see if Walcott could win back his title.\u00a0 The live gate was $253,462.37 and the home television and radio revenue amounted to an additional $300,000.\u00a0 The promoters were the International Boxing Club, who were a pitiful outfit that made the fight available free to fans in their homes via TV and radio.\u00a0 Because fans did not have to leave their homes to view the contest, the live gate was financially crippled, which accounted for the poor turnout of 16,034.\u00a0 The obvious question was why would fans hop in their cars or take the train to Chicago, when they could see the fight on TV, or listen to the fight on the radio, both for free?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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The Rocky Marciano statue, which sits outside Brockton High School, depicts the former heavyweight champion, a Brockton native who died in 1969.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

After all the monies were tallied, Walcott received his career high purse of $250,000, while the champion’s share was $166,038.60.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Rocky Marciano (R) brutally pounds contender Lee Savold (L) en route to stopping Savold in six rounds at the Philadelphia Convention Hall on February 13, 1952.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Not surprising, before the second Walcot fight, Marciano was the 16-5 betting favorite and an Associated Press poll saw 34 of 36 sportswriters picking Rocky to win.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Rocky Marciano meets Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor on the set of the movie Giant<\/em>.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

After their epic first fight and devastating conclusion, it was apparent to all watching that Walcott came out in the rematch boxing cautiously, and even appeared somewhat gun shy.\u00a0 Apparently, Jersey Joe still must have had the lingering pains and whispering memory of the power of Rocky’s punches bouncing in his brain prior to the sound of the bell for the opening round. Marciano, on the other hand, was bobbing and weaving and aggressively throwing battering ram shots.\u00a0 The first round started off all for Marciano as Walcott safely jabbed and danced away.\u00a0 Suddenly, after the challenger threw a jab, Marciano quickly countered with a left hook and a right uppercut that lifted Jersey Joe off six inches off the canvas and deposited him on the seat of his pants where he was counted out for the full ten count at 2:25 of the opening round.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Jersey Joe Walcott receives KO blow from Rocky Marciano in their memorable first battle. (CLICKPHOTO TO SEE VIDEO OF THE FIGHT.)<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

After referee Frank Sikora tolled the fatal ten-count, Walcott did actually get up, but it was simply too little too late.\u00a0 Jersey Joe, like every other former champion before him, failed to regain his championship.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Rocky Marciano with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

The Marciano-Walcott rematch was also the first championship fight to be filmed on the new 3D technique and would soon afterwards be shown in movie theaters in 3D, with viewers watching the bout with cardboard red and blue tinted 3D glasses on.\u00a0 Unfortunately for the theater audiences, they were treated to more training footage than actual fight action, thanks to the dynamite charge in Rocky Marciano’s right fist.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Jersey Joe Walcott pulls away from Rocky Marciano in their epic first battle, (CLICK PHOTO TO SEE VIDEO OF THE FIGHT WHEN WALCOTT APPEARED ON MARCIANO’S TELEVISION SHOW).<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n