Tag Archives: Rocky Marciano

Nature Vs Nurture: Looking At Ali And Marciano

Boxing Articles,

By Bobby Franklin

Boxing has been called physical chess. Gene Tunney once described the sport as “The art of thinking expressed in action”. In fact, in spite of its primitive nature, boxing was the most cerebral of competitions. While the basics of the sport went back to Cain and Abel, the science developed over the centuries. Prizefighting became an art form, albeit a brutal one. When matches were made, fans didn’t just discuss the size and strength of the men involved, they also argued over whose style would prevail. In the simplest of terms there were those who favored sluggers and those who favored “boxers”, but it was more nuanced than that.

It is easy to put fighters into an either or category. Muhammad Ali would be called a boxer by many while Rocky Marciano would be placed in the slugger file. However, it’s not all that simple. While Ali had great speed and reflexes, when those physical attributes declined later in his career he ended up on the receiving end of some serious punishment. An example would be his fight with Earnie Shavers, a bout in which he took some horrific punches; hardly the performance of a “boxer”.

Rocky Marciano would be put into the slugger slot by many fans. This does not do credit to the very great technical skills he had. Did Rocky ever take the type of brain rattling shots in a fight that Ali did when he fought Shavers? I think the answer is clearly no. On a technical level, Marciano had better defensive skills than Ali.

Now I know many will be shaking their heads at that statement, but bear with me. In Ali’s earlier career he possessed amazing physical skills. They could be called phenomenal. He had an uncanny sense for anticipating punches, something he called his “internal radar”. Along with this sense he had the amazing speed to react to what his radar signaled him. As he aged he started to lose that ability to react. Once he slowed down he started getting hit more. In truth, he had never acquired the technical skills to mount a great defense as he slowed down. He started winning fights on guts and willpower. He got hit with a tremendous amount of punches in the second half of his career. This was what caused him to end up in such terrible condition toward the end of his fighting days. This worsened after his retirement. He actually ended up in worse shape than any other heavyweight champion.

Why did this happen? It was because Ali became a victim of his own natural talents. He never learned the fine points of the art of boxing. He didn’t need to when he was young. He did so many things wrong, but never paid a price for these mistakes because he was so fast. Once the speed left him he had no skill set to fall back on other than his ability to absorb punishment and his improvisational moves.

Now let’s look at the slugger, a man whose natural abilities were not the greatest fit for boxing, but when schooled properly he was able to take what he had and become an unstoppable force in the ring. He also used the schooling he received to become a difficult target for damaging punches.

Rocky Marciano was not the usual model for becoming successful as a heavyweight fighter. He wasn’t as tall as the average competitor, he had short arms, weighed under 190 pounds, and came to boxing later than most (his first wish was to be a professional baseball player).

When the great trainer Charley Goldman was initially asked to school the young prospect from Brockton, he didn’t have much hope for turning him into a top boxer, but once he got to know Rocky he could see there was something special in this man.

Marciano though clumsy, possessed amazing strength, stamina, willpower, self- discipline, and an extraordinarily hard punch. Goldman was able to work with him to develop a style that played on Marciano’s plusses and compensated for his weaknesses.

Over time the Rock became one of the greatest heavyweight champions of all time. Goldman schooled him well, but the style Marciano used would not have worked for a man that didn’t possess his unusual physical attributes. He became a cagey yet brutal force in the ring. It wasn’t just his powerful punch but also his ability to throw one blow after another with all the force of his body behind it while moving forward. Yes, he had skill, but he also had the endurance to be as strong in the later rounds as he was in the early rounds; in fact, he actually got stronger as his fights progressed; just ask Archie Moore.

Some fighters are called “naturals.” They are the ones that show tremendous talent from the moment they first step into the ring. This talent is the type that is not taught; it is rather a combination of great physical ability and good instincts. Ali possessed both of these traits. Marciano, while very powerful, was not blessed with great moves right out of the box. His had to be developed.

What Charley Goldman did with Rocky was to come up with moves that would take his strengths and build on them while compensating for his shortcomings. It took time and a lot of dedication, and hard work to mold the diamond in the rough from Brockton into the great champion he became. Ali, on the other hand, had so many natural moves that Angelo Dundee pretty much let him ad lib his development. This is not to say he did not give Ali instruction, but this advice came more as suggestions rather than schooling. This method worked as long as Ali had possession of his amazing physical gifts, but he paid a huge price for having not learned to supplement that gift with a schooling in the Art of Boxing.

In Ali’s career you can see an arc in his skills. That arc follows the changes in his athleticism and the decline that ensued as his physical abilities waned. With Marciano, the trajectory you see shows continual progress. He was always learning, always listening, and aways improving.

With both men, their physical strengths played a major role in their greatness. But with one, Ali, he almost exclusively depended on his natural gift, while the other, Marciano, nurtured the strong points he had. So when comparing the two I would say nurture was the better path than nature.Rocky Marciano retired in 1955 at the age of 32 after his 49th fight, and until his death in 1969 he was clear headed and showed no signs of damage from his career. Of course, because of his unfortunate death at the age of 45 there is no telling how he would have fared as he got older. But we do know when he walked away from the sport he was fine.

Ali retired in 1981 after his 61st fight. He was 39 years old and had already been showing signs of brain damage for a number of years. He not only stayed in the game too long, he took terrible punishment in those later years. Much of this is attributable to the fact he never learned good defensive skills. Those would be the kind of skills men like Archie Moore and Harold Johnson possessed that allowed them to fight for many years without ending up badly damaged. If Ali had at least some of the skills these men possessed he very well would have been able to avoid the awful shots he took from Earnie Shavers and others.

Just imagine how great Muhammad Ali would have been had he allowed himself to be schooled in the finer points of the art. If he had, he may have walked away with his faculties intact as Marciano did, rather than becoming the poster boy for boxing head injuries.

 

Why Did Marciano Retire?

Boxing Articles,

It Has Been Sixty-Four Years Since Rocky’s Last Fight

His Battle Against Archie Moore May Have Influenced His Decision To Hang Up The Gloves

By Bobby Franklin

This past September 21st marked the 64th anniversary of Rocky Marciano’s last fight, his winning defense of the title against Light Heavyweight Champion Archie Moore. The following April at the age of 32 Marciano announced his retirement from the ring stating: “I am retiring because of my wife and baby. No man can say what he will do in the future, but barring poverty, the ring has seen the last of me. I am comfortably fixed, and I am not afraid of the future.”

At the time of his retirement Rocky had a perfect record of 49 and 0 and would be the only heavyweight champion to retire with an undefeated record, a feat that still stands to this day.

Most boxing fans expected the champion to go for the 50th win and were surprised when he didn’t. So, is it true he retired to spend more time with his family, or was there more to it?

The Marciano vs Moore fight drew a crowd 61,574 to Yankee stadium with a gate grossing $948,117.95. Rocky’s share was $482,374.00. That is the equivalent of $4,289,456.00 in today’s dollars. Even deducting for his manager Al Weill taking a huge cut, that was still a very healthy sum of money. Combine it with the Rock’s previous earnings and it would appear he was very comfortable financially. 

It has been said that Marciano no longer wanted to fight because he believed Al Weill was taking too much of his money. While that is most likely true, it seems that some other financial arrangement could have been worked out. 

As far as spending time with his family, after retirement Rocky continued to travel, mostly without his wife, and enjoyed being on his own. I don’t buy the retirement was for family reasons.

Moore vs Marciano

I think the key to figuring out why Marciano stopped at 49 is to look at the Moore fight. While Rocky stopped the Old Mongoose in the 9th round, it was a grueling fight in which the champion took some terrible shots. Could it be that he felt he was starting to decline and did what hardly any fighter does, get out while on top? 

I asked noted boxing historian Mike Silver, the author of The Arc of Boxing what he thought. Mike replied: 

“Next to his title winning effort against Walcott this was Marciano’s toughest contest.  Moore landed some humongous punches to Rocky’s chin. During the course of the fight Marciano absorbed some of the hardest punches he had ever taken. He had to throw more punches per round than in any other fight in order to overwhelm Moore’s superior skill and experience. In a great fight it was Rocky’s chin, conditioning, relentless punching and almost superhuman durability that won it for him, but I wonder if the punishment he took in that fight helped convince him to retire while he still had his health?”

Archie Moore vs Rocky Marciano

After hearing what Mike had to say I watched a tape of the fight and it was indeed a very tough fight for Rocky. After a somewhat tame first round Moore came out and dropped Marciano at the beginning of the second with a right hand flush on the chin. Rocky was up at the count of four but was dazed. He took a lot of punishment for the rest of the round. Moore was using shoulder feints and landing very well with his left jab. It looked like Marciano was in serious danger of losing the title. By the end of the round the champion was bleeding from the nose and was cut and puffy under his left eye. 

In round three Marciano came out very aggressively throwing a lot of punches. Moore, ever the master boxer, was avoiding most of them by blocking, slipping, and rolling with the shots. 

In the third round Moore fought mostly off the ropes. Mike Silver points out that this was no Rope-a-Dope strategy. Instead, Archie was slipping and countering Rocky’s shots. Marciano threw a much larger number of punches but Moore had the more effective shots. Rocky won the round with his aggression but he paid a high price for it. 

The fifth round was Moore’s best. He was very accurate with his jab and landed a number of solid rights while taking short steps to the side. Marciano appeared to be slowing down and was missing a lot. It now appeared the tide was turning in Moore’s favor. 

Marciano must have been sensing the same thing as he came out on fire in the sixth round. He dropped Moore for a count of four at the beginning of the round and then pursued him relentlessly. Rocky was still missing with many of his punches, but the pressure and huge number of punches he was throwing was wearing Archie down. Rocky was like a freight train as he dropped Moore once again, this time for a nine count.

Between rounds the doctor checked on Moore and it appeared the fight was close to being stopped. But the old warrior was not through yet.

Moore actually looked refreshed as he came out for the seventh round and won the round with a strong jab. Perhaps Rocky had punched himself out in the previous round and the tide was again shifting. 

In the eighth round Moore’s legs were tiring. He spent most of the round fighting off of the ropes and was still very effective in making the champion miss. Watching Moore in this fight is like seeing a master class on how to roll with punches and pick spots for counters. Moore was definitely starting to fade by the end of the round. It was Rocky’s relentless pressure that was taking the toll. A Marciano right at the end of the round dropped Moore and he was up at the count of six as the bell rang. Moore’s right eye was now closing and he looked like a beaten man. Could he summon up another rally?

Marciano vs Moore

In the fatal ninth round Moore once again came out strong, but the end was near. Rocky attacked with a fury. Moore still got in a few good shots, but nothing was going to stop Rocky now. He pummeled Moore to the canvas where Archie took the ten count at 1:19 of the round. 

Moore did everything right in this fight. He boxed and punched beautifully. He seemed the superior fighter in so many ways, but Marciano would not be stopped. His incredible conditioning, heart, and brutal punching were all too much for Archie. Marciano defined what the heart of a champion is in this fight.

Mike Silver asks if it was the punishment Rocky took in this fight that convinced him to retire? I believe that was a major reason for his hanging up the gloves, and I do not mean this as a knock on Marciano. Quite the contrary, I believe it shows how smart he was. 

Marciano was a tremendously physical fighter. While his boxing abilities are often underrated, he was also almost superhuman when in the ring. The Moore fight is an example of how he would actually get stronger as a fight progressed. It seemed as though the rougher things got the more strength he would gain. Rocky trained very hard for each fight. The training grind and the brutality of the fights he was in would eventually take a toll. At this point in his career he was also experiencing back pain. 

It is not unusual for an athlete that continually pushes himself to the brink to eventually start to break down physically. It is very possible the Moore fight was Rocky’s last great fight. If he had continued, his body may have begun to fail him. I think he may have sensed that, perhaps subconsciously. Moore hurt him. Moore extended him. Moore did everything possible to beat him, but Rocky was relentless. He broke Archie down that night. 

Rocky Hangs Up The Gloves

Marciano had been fighting professionally since 1947. He was now 32 years old, not terribly old for a fighter. But when you consider how many tough fights he had and how many times he had tortured his body in training camp you have to wonder if at some point he would start to break down. 

In the Moore fight he pushed himself unbelievably. I don’t think Archie could have stopped him if he had a bazooka in his arsenal. Rocky fought many very tough fights. His two goes against Ezzard Charles and he first fight with Walcott were both brutal affairs. It’s very possible he still had a couple more great fights in him, but at some point he would have broken down; all great athletes do. 

Rocky Marciano had an amazing career, made a lot of money, and now was walking away with his brains still in tact. He will always be remembered as one of the greatest Heavyweight Champions of all time. Knowing when to retire is a lesson that too few fighters have learned. Rocky was wise enough to get out in time, and that adds to his greatness.

Was There Almost A Rocky 2.0?

Boxing Articles,

Marciano Considered Coming Back To Fight

Ingemar Johansson in 1959

Was He Serious?

By Bobby Franklin

On September 22, 1955 Rocky Marciano stepped into the ring to defend his title in Yankee Stadium against the great Archie Moore. It was a bruising fight with Moore dropping the Champion in the second round, but Rocky eventually wore down his cagey opponent and stopped him in the 9th round. While the fight was one sided in the scoring up until the stoppage, it was by no means an easy fight for the Rock. Moore was a great boxer and a powerful puncher, and he landed punches on Marciano that would have flattened other mortals. But Marciano was no mortal when he was in the heat of battle. He seemed to get stronger when he got hit, and his drive and determination were too much for the 49 men he met and defeated in the ring.

This would be Marciano’s last fight, seven months later he would retire citing his desire to spend more time with his wife and daughter. He did leave a slight window open for a return to the ring when he said “No man can say what he will do in the future, but barring poverty, the ring has seen the last of me.”

It is reported that Rocky told those close to him that the real reason for his retirement was his displeasure with his manager Al Weill and the way his money was being handled. Rocky believed he was being taking advantage of and wanted out.

I was speaking with Mike Silver, the author of The Arc of Boxing, and we both agreed that while both of these reasons are legitimate we felt that Marciano may have finally tired of the grind of training and the pain he had to go through in each of his fights. Again, while the Moore bout may have seemed one sided in the scoring, Rocky took some terrible blows in the fight and had to be feeling the effects for days afterwards. The Champ was not a stupid man and may have figured it was best to get out while he still had his faculties, a decision, sadly, too few fighters make, and one that he should be admired for.

Rocky went on to enjoy retired life, and with only a bit of a tease when he pretended to consider a comeback when made an offer by promoter Jim Norris about a year after the his retirement, he looked to be permanently out of the ring. 

Rocky Marciano Training For a Comeback In 1959

Recently, I got to view some photos of Marciano that were taken in 1959. They show a healthy but bit pudgy former champ hitting a heavy bag under the watchful eye of his trainer Charley Goldman. Was this some type of a publicity stunt? I called the expert, my friend Dan Cuoco of IBRO to ask what he knew about this. He told me that Rocky had indeed contemplated a comeback in 1959. It was to be a one bout deal for in excess of a million dollars, and he would challenge Ingemar Johansson for the title. So, what happened?

There hasn’t been a lot written about this subject, but it does appear the former champion trained for about a month in Florida and that these sessions did receive coverage. Dan sent me a copy of an item that appeared in the Boston Traveler on January 16, 1960. In the short piece penned by Bill Liston, he states that he has heard that Marciano is training for a comeback but hopes it doesn’t happen. Though he believes Rocky would have no problem dispatching the new Champion he thinks Rocky should leave well enough alone. He also theorizes that Marciano was doing this to enhance his marketability for public appearances and refereeing. 

Charley Goldman Tapes Rocky’s Hands

Others have said he was serious about fighting Johansson and only gave up on it when his back, a life long problem he had, started giving him trouble. Mike Silver told me Rocky had met the Swede and felt he would have no problem taking him. I can see how tempting the thought must have been to Marciano. Here he would stand to make over a million dollars, hit the magic 50 and 0 mark on his record, and be on top of the world again. However, Ingo lost the title back to Floyd Patterson and that would lead to a third match between the two, and another year gone by before a bout with Marciano could be negotiated, another good reason not to keep at it.

I think the real reason is a combination of the two theories. There had to be no doubt in Rocky’s mind that he could beat Johansson and he had to have thought seriously, even if just briefly, about taking him on. He also saw how this enhanced his image as so many great athletes are forgotten not long after they leave the spotlight. By doing this, Rocky was able to keep his legend alive and his name in the news. he would go on to host a popular television show and continue to be in demand for public appearances.  In a second item sent to me by Mr. Cuoco, an AP story dated January 15, 1961, once again Marciano teased the public a bit about a possible comeback. When asked about how he would do against Liston or Patterson Rocky states “ I’m not the boasting type, I don’t want to say I could whip them. But then I don’t want to lie about it either.” He seemed to be enjoying tantalizing his fans with the thought they could see him in the ring again.

Rocky would eventually return to the ring in a futuristic and bit eerie way. The Rock and Muhammad Ali sparred a number of rounds together and the footage of that sparring was pieced together to make a computer created match that was shown in theatres across the country. The sparring was filmed in 1969, just a few months before Rocky’s untimely death in a plane crash. It was shown in 1970. It is strange that Marciano’s comeback, such as it was, would happen after his death. The computer had the Rock winning by knock out in the 13th round.

This article first appeared in the Boston Post Gazette on March 20, 2015 in slightly different form.

Ezzard Charles, A Gentle Terror

Book Reviews, Boxing Articles, , , ,

Ezzard Charles; A Boxing Life
By William Dettloff
Published by McFarland, 232 pages $35.00
www.mcfarlandpub.com

Reviewed by Bobby Franklin

imagesEzzard Charles was not someone you would look at and think of as vicious fighting machine. He looked more like a member of Duke Ellington’s jazz band. He was also very mild mannered with a gentle air about him. As a kid in Lawrenceville, Georgia and later in Cincinnati, Ohio he was friendly but quiet. He did always love boxing and dreamed of one day becoming a world champion.

In 1949, after an amateur career and almost ten years of fighting pro he attained his dream by beating Jersey Joe Walcott for the title Joe Louis had vacated. Unfortunately for Charles he had two things against him. He was stepping into the shadow of the beloved Louis, and he did not possess the exciting and dramatic style of the Brown Bomber. The public just did not take to him. It’s not like Charles hadn’t earned respect. He had fought and beaten a number of the Black Murder’s Row fighters. He had two wins over the very great Charley Burley as well as a decision win and a knockout over Archie Moore.

It has often been said that Charles is the most underrated of all heavyweight champions.

While Charles may have looked more like a piano teacher out of the ring, when the bell rang he was a brutal competitor. As I was reading William Dettloff’s excellent biography of Charles I couldn’t help thinking that Ezzard had to have a lot of anger in him that he could only express in the prize ring. He could also be erratic in his performances, sometimes not looking motivated enough to win convincingly. Charles would be a ripe candidate  for some psychoanalysis, and in fact, before his rematch with Rocky Marciano the press, in an effort to drum up interest in the fight had a psychiatrist visit the camps of both fighters. The doctor described Charles as “A dreamer type…who loses the spontaneity in his dreams” because of his many “inhibitions”. Interesting insight even if it was just hype to sell tickets.

Mr. Dettloff has done exhaustive research on the life and fighting career of Ezzard Charles. He takes us to the tragic night in 1948 when Charles fought Sam Baroudi. Baroudi would be carried from the ring and die the next day. Ezzard was devastated by this tragedy, but just three months later would step back into that same ring and knock out the very formidable Elmer “Violent” Ray. In fact, he would fight four more times in 1948 including a win over Jimmy Bivins.

Louis vs Charles
Louis vs Charles

Charles would continue winning and fighting often, finally landing a fight with Jersey Joe Walcott for the vacant heavyweight crown. Beating Walcott may have made him champion, but he still had to live in the shadow of Joe Louis. He defended the title numerous times and even went on to defeat his idol Louis in a brutal fifteen round affair that should have removed all doubt to his legitimacy as champion. It did not. The problem was, as Dettloff points out, Ezzard Charles was not Joe Louis.

This lack of public support may have had something to do with his not always being to motivate himself. Another reason was his fighting so often and against such tough competition. Ezzard rarely got an easy opponent. In fact, in reading this biography we are treated to a history of the light heavyweight and heavyweight divsions in the 1940s and 50s. Mr. Dettloff gives brief but very interesting biographies of many of Charles’s opponents; Archie Moore, Walcott, Bivins, Harold Johnson, Bob Satterfield, and many others. This all makes for a very interesting book.

Dettloff also introduces us to many of the characters who occupied the world of boxing during that era. One of the most quotable was Charles’s manager (he had many) Jake Mintz. Mintz could twist the English language in amazing ways. For example, when recounting surgery he had to repair a hernia he said “They thought I had some golf stones there so they took an autograph of my heart and said, ‘One of your ulsters is worn out’. William Shakespeare would be envious.

There are also other interesting facts related here. It turns out a young Charles while serving in the military fought a three round exhibition with Joe Louis. Also, while training for his bout against Bob Satterfield the Charles people brought in a crude young heavyweight by the name of Sonny Liston to be a sparring partner. Liston was not up to the task at that point in his career.

After Charles lost the title to Walcott, and a rematch with Jersey Joe, it looked like his hopes of ever regaining the title were over. He began campaigning for another shot at the title but lost back to back matches against Nino Valdez and Harold Johnson. Charles was getting tired and old, but he did come back to life with wins over Satterfield and Coley Wallace. It was enough to earn him a shot at the new and exciting young champion Rocky Marciano.

Dettloff writes about this fight in detail. He discusses Charles’s training and strategy for the fight, a strategy that at first glance may have sounded foolish but made sense. Ezzard went into the Marciano bout motivated to win but came up short. He did earned the distinction of being the only man to take the Rock the full 15 rounds and came closer than any fighter to taking the title from him, though the decision was clearly in Marciano’s favor.

Charles would get a rematch based on this performance, and even though he severely cut Rocky’s nose, he just did not have anything left. Though he would continue to fight on for another four years it was all downhill from there. He would end up broke, take up professional wrestling, and struggle to make ends meet. His final years were spent suffering from Lou Gehrigs Disease. A very tragic end for such a great fighter.

William Dettloff has written a fine biography of a great champion, and one that Ezzard Charles deserves. Boxing fans should take the time to read this very interesting book and learn about this man who deserves to be remembered. It has often been said that Charles is the most underrated of all heavyweight champions. Mr. Dettloff has down a terrific job in changing that history.