Ben Bentley's Thoughts on Rocky
Marciano and Walcott by R.J. Morrissey
Ben Bentley holding up Rocky's hand after he knocked out Walcott in the first round of their return bout. To Rocky's right are Al Columbo and Charley Goldman.
(Thanks to Iris Becker, Ben's daughter, for this picture)
On October 21st, 1997, I had the privilige of speaking by phone with Mr. Ben Bentley, who was Rocky Marciano's press agent from his days as an up and coming boxer until after his retirement. Mr. Bentley nows lives in Chicago and I live in Florida, so a meeting suggested by him was out of the question at this time. I found him quite helpful and willing to discuss The Rock and the times he spent with him.
Bob: I would like to ask a few questions about Rocky Marciano.
Mr. Bentley: Ask anything you want about Rocky.
Bob:Were you at most of Rocky's fights?
Mr.Bentley: I was at all of his fights except maybe the first twenty or so.
Bob: Were you present when he fought Rex Layne?
Mr. Bentley: Yes, I was with Rocky that night.
Bob:The Odds Makers had favored Layne to win. Was he a lot bigger than Rocky?
Mr. Bentley: He was about a half foot taller, it seemed , and maybe 15 pounds heavier than Rocky. He was a good fighter, a good puncher. I don't recall any concern over him,though.
Bob: What of the fight with Joe Louis? I have seen it written that Marciano didn't want to fight Louis.
Mr. Bentley: He didn't want to fight Joe, that's right.
Bob:Any concern that Joe Louis would beat him?
Mr. Bentley: No, that wasn't the reason at all. Rocky really looked up to Joe and did not want to fight him. He felt that Joe should have already stopped fighting, he was getting too old. Before the fight, in the dressing room, Rocky said,"This is the last guy on earth I want to fight."
Bob: What of Archie Moore? I have read that Moore wanted that fight more than Rocky.
Mr. Bentley: That's right. Archie Moore pushed for that fight. He was the one who wanted it.
Bob: Had Rocky already planned on retiring before the Moore fight was put together?
Mr. Bentley: Yes, he was already wanting to retire from boxing.
Bob: I have read that he was having back problems, which prompted him to retire.
Mr. Bentley: That's not true. There was nothing wrong with Rocky's back. He was in perfect health. His retirement was for personal reasons.
Bob:What about a comeback? Lou Duva recently told how he was going to handle Rocky to fight Johansson, but the deal fell through.
Mr.Bentley: I don't think I was involved in that. Rocky would have maybe comeback if the money was right. But only, I think, for the money. He had nothing else to prove.
Bob:It would have meant going back into training.Everyone says he trained harder than any other heavyweight champion.
Mr. Bentley: He trained very hard, lots of road work,sparring, very serious about his conditioning. I remember how he didn't want any press around past noon, so that he could relax. But in the morning, when he was working out, he didn't mind as long as they didn't intrude.
Bob: Did he have any grudges, or fighters he didn't like?
Mr. Bentley: No grudges. He really respected all his opponents and had no hard feelings. Rocky was a nice guy. A real nice guy.
Bob: He seemed to have a feel for the championship as a Thing, sort of like the Presidencey.
Mr.Bentley: You've hit on it exactly. Rocky had great respect for the championship. He was PROUD to be heavyweight champion and would never have done anything to disgrace it.
Bob: Like Tyson has done?
Mr. Bentley: Rocky would never have done anything like Tyson has. He had too much respect for the sport and the championship.
Bob: I don't want to keep you too long this call, but is there a final thought you could give on Rocky?
Mr. Bentley:He was a great guy, every bit what a champion should be.
Some time after my talk with Ben, I was contacted by his daughter, Iris. She was looking for some pictures of her dad with Rocky for his 80th birthday. Unfortunately I didn’t have any pictures, but we have exchanged e-mails a number of times.
Here's the first e-mail from Iris:
Hi! My name is Iris Becker. My father is Ben Bentley. I see from your
site that you talked to him some time back. Dad is turning 80 in a few
weeks. I am putting together somewhat of a scrapbook of his life.
Unfortunatley, he did not save too many photos of his fight days. I am
trying to find any photos of him with Marciano. My mom and dad actually
spent their honeymoon on Rockys training camp in Holland, Michigan. The
Marciano/Wolcott fight was originally scheduled to take place April 10,
1953. Rocky injured himself somehow and so the fight was postponed to May
15th. My parents were scheduled to be married on May 3, 1953 ( Dad assumed
he would be done with the fight) My parents married in Chicago as
scheduled, and then left to return to Holland.
She’s been very helpful with getting information from her dad, who she says really enjoys talking about Rocky and the time they spent together. Ben was a writer as well as press agent and also knew and interviewed Babe Ruth in his final days. Iris offered to present some questions to her father for me and here they are:
I sat down with my dad to try and answer your questions. Unfortunately his
memory is not very good, so I was not able to get a lot of details.
Bob: When did your father first meet Rocky Marciano and what were the circumstances
of his relationship with him? How long was he associated with him?
Iris: He told me that he met Marciano through his manager, Al Weil. He worked on numerous
fights with him over the years, but can't recall exactly which ones.
Bob: I know it's always mentioned about how hard Rocky trained, but do you
know any details? For instance, how far did he run each day? And how long
before key fights did he train?
Iris: He remembers Marciano would run about 12 miles a day and train for about 2
months before a fight. While at training camp, Marciano would always make
sure that my dad kept the press away from him while he ate. He said he
didn't mind talking to the press, but his mealtimes were private.
Bob: Did Rocky consider fighting Floyd Patterson prior to his retirement, or
was Patterson too much a new comer at the time to consider?
Iris: Dad doesn't recall Marciano thinking about fighting Patterson.
Bob: What were his feelings about Sonny Liston?
Iris: Dad remembers Marciano not liking Liston.
Bob: How about his opinion of Ali? Did he consider Ali a great fighter?
Iris: Believe it or not, dad remembers that Marciano was not that impressed with Ali, and really didn't consider him one of the best.
Bob: The Showtime movie just shown upset the Marciano family because of its implication that the mob was influencing who Rocky fought. Did the mob try to gain control of Rocky in any way?
Iris: My dad says he doesn't believe that Marciano had any mob connections, at least he never was aware of any.
Bob: Rocky admired Joe Louis, I know, but did they ever become friends? Did he really visit Joe in the hospital not long before the plane crash, as the Showtime movie showed?
Iris: Marciano did admire Joe Louis, but they were never really close friends. He doesn't remember if Marciano really did visit him in the hospital.
My thanks to Iris for her help.
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