4/27/2023 0 Comments Roki number one![]() ![]() That night, he notched a win over Harry Bilazarian (3–6–0). Al Weill and Chick Wergeles served as his managers and Charley Goldman as his trainer and teacher.Īlthough he had one professional fight (against Lee Epperson) on his record, Marciano began fighting permanently as a professional boxer on July 12, 1948. After failing to find a spot on another team, he returned to Brockton and began boxing training with longtime friend Allie Colombo. Marciano lasted three weeks before being cut. In late March 1947, Marciano and several friends traveled to Fayetteville, North Carolina, to try out for the Fayetteville Cubs, a farm team for the Chicago Cubs baseball team. There, he knocked out George McInnis, but hurt his hands during the bout and was forced to withdraw from the tournament. He continued to fight as an amateur throughout the spring and competed in the AAU Olympic tryouts in the Boston Garden. He was controversially beaten by Coley Wallace. In an unusual move, Marciano returned to the amateur ranks and fought in the Golden Gloves All-East Championship Tournament in March 1948. That night, he knocked out local fighter Lee Epperson in three rounds. His amateur career was briefly interrupted on March 17, 1947, when Marciano stepped into the ring as a professional competitor at the Valley Arena Gardens of Holyoke, Massachusetts, being billed as "Rocky Mackianno of Westover Field". While awaiting discharge, Marciano represented the Army and won the 1946 Amateur Armed Forces boxing tournament. After the war ended, he completed his service in March 1946 at Fort Lewis, Washington. Stationed in Swansea, Wales, he helped ferry supplies across the English Channel to Normandy. In March 1943, Marciano was drafted into the United States Army for a term of two years. He was a resident of Hanson, Massachusetts the house he lived in still stands on Main Street. He also worked as a ditchdigger, railroad layer and shoemaker. Marciano then worked as a chute man on delivery trucks for the Brockton Ice and Coal Company. He dropped out of school after finishing tenth grade. ![]() However, he was cut from the school baseball team because he had joined a church league, violating a school rule forbidding players from joining other teams. He attended Brockton High School, where he played both baseball and football. In his youth, he worked out on homemade weightlifting equipment (later in his life, Marciano was also a client of Charles Atlas) and used a stuffed mailbag that hung from a tree in his back yard as a heavy bag. When he was about 18 months old, Marciano contracted pneumonia, from which he almost died. Rocky had two brothers, Louis (aka Sonny) and Peter, and three sisters, Alice, Concetta and Elizabeth. His father was from Ripa Teatina, Abruzzo, while his mother was from San Bartolomeo in Galdo, Campania. Both of his parents were immigrants from Italy. Early lifeīorn Rocco Francis Marchegiano, he was raised on the south side of Brockton, Massachusetts to Pierino Marchegiano and Pasqualina Picciuto. Marciano is ranked #14 in The Ring magazine's list of the 100 greatest punchers of all time. His career knockout-to-win percentage of 87.8% remains one of the highest in heavyweight boxing history. Marciano remains the only fighter to have stopped every opponent he ever faced for the world heavyweight title, and shares, with Joe Louis, the highest knockout-to-win percentage in world heavyweight title fights at 85.71%. Known for his relentless fighting style, formidable punching power, stamina, and exceptionally durable chin, Marciano is considered one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. His six title defenses were against Jersey Joe Walcott (from whom he had taken the title), Roland La Starza, Ezzard Charles (twice), Don Cockell and Archie Moore. ![]() He is the only heavyweight champion to have finished his career undefeated. Rocco Francis Marchegiano (Septem– AugItalian pronunciation: ), better known as Rocky Marciano ( / m ɑːr s i ˈ ɑː n oʊ/, Italian: ), was an American professional boxer who competed from 1947 to 1955, and held the world heavyweight title from 1952 to 1956.
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