What one ability distinguished Marciano...

If Im understanding the answer correctly, is it fair to say that Felix Trinidad possessed this quality?

 

Commitment.

The pain this man put himself through daily cannot be understated. Rocky Marciano's athletic career WAS pain. Absolutely ungodly training. Horrific, bloody fights.

Marciano endured. The discipline this displays is the very pinnacle of what human champions can achieve.

People gloss over this, but it is really the most impressive compliment I can give the man. What other great men would not do, what they would not put themselves through, where they did not go, he did.

Marciano had great genes, but without the attitude he had, he wouldn't have achieved anything special in boxing; His game lacked most elite features. He overcame all of that with grit and determination and sheer, lung exploding, voluminous haymaker throwing.

Freaking hero. Legendary.

 

All is true, but he also had greatest reflexes and focus of them I've ever seen. That ko of Walcott was not a random punch, it was perfect faint, then beating of opponent to punch, executed while moving.

He is often portrayed as clumsy, but he wasn't. He was a lot more athletic than he is given credit for.

 

Clalzaghe was downed more times than Rock and each time he rose immediately to fight back and try win the round.
I dont think that ability distinguished Joe much like it didn't distinguish Marciano.

It was an impressive feat by Rock but should by filed under - Mental strenght and an unreakable will to win.

 

I think it was his ability to look worse than he was. From outside the ring a good fighter would see openings that were just not apparent once inside the ring with Marciano. With no pattern or repetitive sequence to counter or much space to lead off against marciano there was not a lot that a better boxer could do. He also discouraged long range fighting by drawing a boxer in to reach him. Horrible to fight.

 

I've enjoyed this thread. Very thought provoking and original and a great insight into an outstanding and (in recent years) undervalued (by many) heavyweight champion.

Thanks JG.

 

I can't seem to find these categories in my file cabinet.

 

Ali told Cosell in an interview that it is easy to talk about fighting Marciano but it's a different thing to get in the ring with him.

Ali went on to say that he THOUGHT he could have beaten him, but maybe not. He wasn't sure.

 

Real nice post.


The other thing you can shed some light on is what a tremendous job Goldman did with the guy. I think it's maybe the best polishing job of a heavyweight ever. Seamnon and Blackburn didn't have to buff that diamond that much with the brown bomber.

But what a vision a guy like Goldman had to have to see this early on. And then have a guy willing to listen and obey that tutelage. How many heavies since could have benefitted their career's with That skill instead of a big right hand?

Without Goldman, I am not sure Rocky makes it much beyond maybe top 10 ranking during the early 50's. Lots of trainers would have handled things wrong with Rocky. With the lack of top flight trainers on the scene today, can you even imagine anyone attempting to build a heavyweight like that into those results?

 

Charlie Goldman one of the alltime great teachers. Not a bad fighter himself.

He did a heckuva job with Marciano. One of the things he was always conscious of was not to tinker with Rocky`s power. Any adjustment he made he ask Rocky "does it feel natural?"

 

Great post.

You can run, but you can't hide in a boxing ring.

Rocky was no frills, no complexities, no style, no flash.

He just beat you down because he was stronger and meaner than you were. Period. Men as great as Charles, Walcott, and Moore tried and failed to stop it.

I can't say enough about how much of an asset that mentality is. That mindset of "I will NOT LOSE."

 

So true. And he could slip a jab without moving his feet; he'd stay low, rock his upper body backwards and move his head to either side, then, still without moving his feet, shift his hips and throw a left or right uppercut to the body. Then he'd keep coming forward. Marciano was like Patton, he was always moving forward, always thinking of new ways to win, and he always found a way to win.

 

What one ability distinguished Marciano? There are so many unique things about Rocky Marciano, vice other heavyweight champions, but the one thing that stands out for me, that separates him from other heavyweight champs, is that he could walk through his opponent's best punches and keep coming on stronger, round by round. It must have been an incredibly frustrating thing, to fight Marciano, because you'd unload your best shots and he was not fazed, in the least. Marciano was utterly fearless and completely relentless. He had the iron will and killer instinct of a commando--think SEAL Team 6. He threw heavy, devastating punches that Archie Moore described as being hit by a blackjack, from all angles. He went to the body like Dempsey. Walcott thought he'd whip Marciano in less than six rounds. Rex Layne, Harry Matthews and Roland LaStarza, who were skilled, excellent, experienced boxers, were all destroyed by Marciano and were never the same fighters again. Marciano didn't just hurt people in the ring, he broke blood vessels, broke off bone chips in fighters' forearms when they tried to block his punches, broke ribs and put Carmine Vingo in a coma. Marciano was indomitable. Everybody thought they could beat him, until they stepped into the ring and discovered otherwise.