Marciano batters Ezzard Charles, 6/17/54
The Classic Rocky Marciano Fights
The legacy of a fighter is largely decided by the key fights that made up his career. It doesn't matter how many second-rate unknowns he racked up easy wins against because all great fighters must work their way through a field of such opponents, just as all great pitchers must be successful against the .200 hitters as well as the .300 hitters. And it is how the pitcher handled the .300 hitter with bases loaded in the 9th inning that define his career and ability. So it is with the boxer. How did he respond when an opponent had a frustrating style, or when he himself was hurt, or when the outcome of the fight depended on one round and one punch.
Rocky Marciano fought the best of his time, he dodged nobody, nor did he avoid an opponent whose style was sure to give him trouble. He came back from two knockdowns and he doggedly kept up the attack even when badly cut. On The Main Event, the Marciano narrated show from the early sixties that shows on Classic Sports Network, he will say when reviewing his own fights, "That punch hurt me." Yet, there is no sign of it on the film. None of the silly grinning that fighters often do when hurt, no clinching, no retreating. Instead, he contiues his attack as if the blow had no effect. It is doubtful his opponent realized that the punch had hurt him, either.
These were some of Rocky's defining fights.
Roland LaStarza March 24th, 1950
After 25 wins, Marciano met another undefeated fighter, who actually had more wins than Rocky. This was the clever, talented boxer Roland LaStarza,whose record was 37-0. The fight went the 10 round distance and ended in a close split decision. In round 4 Marciano knocked LaStarza down for the first time in his career. Rocky lost round 8 due to a low blow. It was LaStarza's slick boxing skills verses Marciano's relentless, agressive style. LaStarza claimed he won the fight and he would keep up his demands for a rematch. It would be a rematch he should have avoided.
Rex Layne July 12th, 1951
Rocky went into this fight a 9 to 5 underdog. Layne was big and strong and it was believed that he could knock out the smaller Marciano. The first two rounds went to Layne, with him landing repeated, hard blows to Rocky. The third and fourth were more even, with both men landing well, but in the fifth Marciano started landing solid, jarring shots to Layne. Then came the fateful sixth. Marciano caught Rex Layne with a right hand that dropped him as if shot. Afterwards, Layne's handlers said that his front teeth had been sheared off at the gums by Rocky's blow.
Joe Louis October 26th, 1951
This was a fight that Rocky didn't want. Joe was on the comeback trail and was racking up a string of victories that would give him a shot at regaining his title. Marciano and Louis were on a collision course as both were aiming at the same objective. When presented with the prospect of the Louis fight, Rocky had stated he didn't want to fight Louis because he had always been his idol, yet he was really given no choice. Louis was being hounded by the IRS for back taxes (disgraceful as that was, given Louis' contributions to the war effort during WWII). And if Rocky failed to fight him, it would delay his own chances for a title shot. Before the fight in his dressing room, Rocky said, "This is the last guy on Earth I want to fight." The fight was actually a good fight, as even an aged Louis was still one of the best fighters of the time. But it was soon apparent that he couldn't hurt the unrelenting Marciano and yet Rocky's punches were obviously hurting him. To his trainer between rounds 7 and 8, Joe said, "He's hurtin’ me, Chappie, he’s hurtin’ me."
In the 8th round, the end came as Marciano landed several terrible blows that dropped Joe through the ropes and onto the ring apron.
It was Joe's last fight, the end of a great career. Later, Joe said, "When he defeated me, I think it hurt him more than it did me."
Jersey Joe Walcott September 23rd, 1952
The Title Fight.Jersey Joe Walcott was less than flattering to the challenger,distaining his abilities or chances. "If I can't beat this bum, take my name off the record books." Walcott declared, "I guess he can punch, but he's got two left feet. He can't box a little bit. I've never seen anybody eaisier to hit." Despite Jersey Joe's low assessment of him, Marciano came in favored to win over the older Walcott. Rocky weighed 184 lbs to Walcott's 196 lbs.
But Jersey Joe was a great fighter and surprised everyone,including Rocky, by dropping the challenger in round one with a left hook. It was the first time Marciano had ever been down in 43 fights. The Rock was up at the count of three, despite his corner yelling for him to take the 8 count. "I don’t know how Rocky got up, when he got nailed that left hook…perfect shot," Angelo Dundee said.
From there on it was a brawl, with Walcott scoring repeatedly with solid shots and Marciano swarming all over him, swinging from every angle. By the 12th round, everyone, including Rocky, knew that he couldn't win on points and only a knockout would do. In the 13th, Jersey Joe stepped back from a Marciano attack. As his back touched the ropes, Rocky delivered one of the hardest punches ever landed in any fight. Walcott dropped to the canvas with one arm drapped over the lower rope. It took several minutes to revive him.
For the May 15th,1953 rematch, Marciano began training in January, determined not to lose back the title. Rocky came in at 184 1/2 and Jersey Joe at 197 3/4. The fight ended in a first round KO of Jersey Joe. Of Marciano, Walcott said, " He was a man of courage inside the ring. Outside, he was kind and gentle."
Roland LaStarza September 24th, 1953
The rematch! LaStarza had never let up on his claim that he had won their first fight, and to make matters worse, he was quoted as saying that Marciano must be punch drunk from all the blows he had been taking. This infuriated Rocky, and he told those close to him that he would make LaStarza regret his words.
Roland's record had gone to 54-3 and until this fight he had never been knocked out. Marciano was at 44-0.
The fight started out with LaStarza frustrating Marciano with his clever style and his well executed combinations. He moved away from The Rock's attacks and slid along the ropes, proving to be what many, including Marciano, called "The best defensive fighter of the heavyweight division." When Rocky would get him momentarily pinned, he resorted to what Ali would later dub, "The rope-a-dope". Finally, a frustrated and worried Marciano was told by his trainer Charley Goldman, "Bang his arms until he brings them down."
From then on, Rocky savagely beat LaStarza's arms and upper body, until huge hematomas began appearing on the forearms. By the 10th round, Roland could barely lift his gloves above his shoulders. In the 11th, Marciano battered him terribly, knocking him down and through the ropes before the refree stopped the slaughter. LaStarza had chipped bones in his elbows and ruptured blood vessals that turned to hardened clots in his forearms and had to have surgery to repair the damage. It was this display of power that had Joe Frazier remark,when he watched Ali rope-a-dope Foreman, "he couldn't have pulled that with Rocky Marciano!"
Ezzard Charles June 17th, 1954
This was a war. Ezzard Charles, former champion, was one of the greatest fighters of all time. Ring magazine rates him the greatest light heavywight fighter of any era. He had beaten Joey Maxim three times, Archie Moore three times, Joe Louis once, Walcott twice. He was two years older than Marciano and had fought in almost a dozen heavyweight title bouts before meeting Rocky, who remarked "I hadn't even seen that many title fights." And Charles had power, having tragically killed one of his opponents six years earlier.
Prior to the fight, Marciano had recieved a death threat, but if it affected him, it never showed. He came in at 187 1/2 to Charles 185 1/2. The Rock was now 46-0 and Ezzard was 87-12-1.
The fight turned out to be one of the most savage of all times, with both men displaying the ability to absorb unbelievable amounts of damage. Rocky was cut over his eye and bled from his nose, but he had Ezzard's face so battered and swollen that he was virtually unrecognizable. Marciano said, "I was bleeding from my eye and nose, but this was one time I could honestly say, 'You shoulda seen the other guy!"
In the last couple of rounds, it looked like Marciano was about to knock Charles out, but always Ezzard managed to survive until the bell. It ended in a 15 round unanimous decision for Marciano, but it also showed the tremendous courage of Ezzard Charles. Referee Ruby Goldstein said he never once had to seperate the two fighters.
Ezzar Charles September 17th, 1954
This rematch was one of the most exciting and brutal of all fights. Everyone was eager to see if Charles could do more than just survive Marciano. What resulted was another war, with both fighters giving and taking tremendous punishment. Charles was floored in the second round, but survived the round.
In the 6th round,Ezzard Charles missed a left hook and hit Marciano's nose with his elbow, splitting it cleanly in two! The blood flowed freely and Rocky was a mess. The ringside crowd had never seen anything like the cut, and neither had Rocky's corner. Round 7 was a desperate one for Marciano, as he feared the fight might be stopped. After the 7th, his trainer, Charlie Goldman, told him, "Get him now or you'll bleed to death!". In the 8th Marciano threw away all caution and assailed Ezzard Charles with an unstoppable attack, smashing terrible blows to his head and body and dropping him to the canvas twice, the second time for the count. Marciano's brother later said that the cut was so gruesome that he couldn't bring himself to look at Rocky in the dressing room. Rocky later said the two Charles fights were the most painful he ever fought and he was glad there wasn't a third. Ezzard Charles was probably just as glad.
Archie Moore September 21, 1955
Marciano's last fight was against the great light heavyweight champion Archie Moore. In this instance, the light heavyweight champion actually outweighed the heavyweight champion, by about 2 pounds. Moore, "The Old Mongoose", would finish his career with more knockouts to his credit than any other fighter in any division,145 KOs in 234 bouts.
He had campaigned hard to get a heavyweight title shot out of Rocky, who was already contemplating retirement, and had done everything short of calling Marciano a coward. As Rocky said before narrating the fight film on Main Event, "Moore had been begging for this fight and now he was gonna get it." It was a great fight, with Moore dropping Marciano in the second round for only the second time he would ever touch the canvas. The Rock was up by four, though Moore would claim he was down longer, and right after the light-heavy king. Despite Archie's considerable boxing skills and mastery of the art, Marciano turned it into a brawl. And nobody brawled better than Rocky. He swarmed all over Moore, taking his best shots and ignoring them as he dealt his own crushing blows. Moore was knocked down in the 6th round and twice in the 8th round, once virtually clubbed down as he dropped to a crouch. Moore was still down when the bell ended the round. Between rounds, Dr. Vincent Nardiello asked Archie if he wanted to continue.
Moore replied, "I too am a champion, and I'll go down fighting."
In the 9th round Marciano knocked him out. When asked which of Marciano's punches it was that hurt him, Archie told reporters, "Man, they All hurt." He would also say that, "After a fight with Marciano, you felt like you had been beaten all over the upper body with a blackjack or hit with rocks."
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