From Quora re: Marciano's power

From Quora re: Marciano's power

"He had a special made heavy bag. An average heavy bag is 60–100 pounds. Marciano’s was 300 pounds! His theory was if he could punch hard enough to move a 300 pound bag, he could hit hard enough to hurt any fighter."

“I had a website on Marciano from the late 1990’s till Geocities closed. Then someone put all the old Geocities sites on line again and my site is back up, though I can’t edit it any longer. http://www.oocities.org/colosseu...

During the time I maintained it, several years, I was e-mailed and had discussions with Peter Marciano, Rocky Marciano Jr., Archie Moore’s daughter J’ Marie, Charlie Goldman’s nephew Andy, and Ben Bentley’s daughter Iris, as well as a phone interview I did with Mr. Bentley. (He was Rocky’s PR man and also a well known boxing personality of the 1950’s) I still discuss Rocky and Charlie with Andy Goldman now and then.

Rocky’s training was harsh by any athletic standards. He was probably the best conditioned fighter to ever live. Ben Bentley said Rocky ran 5 miles a day, every day including Christmas morning, and upwards of 15 miles a day when preparing for a fight. He trained so hard that his trainer, Charlie Goldman, would have to make him stop. His conditioning was so good that he literally couldn’t get tired in a fight, which meant his punches were always hard. Archie Moore said he kept waiting for Marciano to punch himself out, but he never did.

Rocky’s brother asked him what it was like to be in such shape, and Rocky said, “It’s a wonderful feeling to know that you’re never going to get tired in a fight.”

He had a special made heavy bag. An average heavy bag is 60–100 pounds. Marciano’s was 300 pounds! His theory was if he could punch hard enough to move a 300 pound bag, he could hit hard enough to hurt any fighter.

He sometimes went to the YMCA and would stand in the pool at shoulder depth and throw punches till he was exhausted.

Jersey Joe Walcott said, “Marciano threw every punch like you throw a baseball, as hard as he could.”

Also, his short arms were a major asset where power was concerned. The further a hurled object travels, be it a baseball or a fist, the more energy it loses. A pitcher throws from a mound 60′6″ from home plate. But if he moved up to 50′, his velocity would increase significantly. Rocky had short arms, so his punches traveled a shorter distance to impact.

This is from my site.

Marciano’s incredible power began in his feet as they pushed off the mat. The energy was fed by his thick, muscular legs, the swivel of his hips, and the twist he’d put into his upper body as he snapped forward his arm and fist.

Where the power came from might be best illustrated in a letter I received from a doctor who works with internal medical problems and trauma. He told me this: "Now what determines the power of a punch? I mean the formula… The effect of a punch is calculated by the energy applied at the site of the hit. So the kinetic energy of Marciano's punch, that is the degree of damage the punch would generate, is equal to 1/2 mass x velocity x velocity (1/2mv2). Rocky's was equal to the mass of the arm plus the weight he shoved forward with body weight. Next, he hit in close. As your arm moves forward the time from beginning to end increases as you increase the distance of the thrown punch. Since velocity = feet per sec, that means the longer the range the less velocity. Now the energy generated is, remember, mass times vel x vel. Well if your punches are so much shorter, traveling only a few inches, your velocity is incredible! And the transmitted energy at impact is enormous! That calculation of energy is the destructive force (damage) to the body. Basically he broke his opponents up inside. Had George Foreman been a swarmer, he would have been a better fighter. He was a slugger. But as strong as he was he hit from too far away. Frazier was not as powerful as Marciano. He had a similar style, but didn't hit as hard (didn't use shifting weight, etc)."

By nature, Rocky’s body was perfect for generating the power he did and his almost fanatical training allowed him to deliver that power from round 1 to round 15.

Dan Culp, Owner of boxrank.org and aspiring pro judge:

He had innate power that is not something that can really be taught or trained for to any great extent, but he had a tendency to apply that power late in fights, despite throwing a ridiculous number of punches for his weight class. He was like a heavyweight Leo Santa Cruz, but with an eraser that Santa Cruz lacks.

One thing that his trainer, Charley Goldman, noticeably improved in his fighter was Marciano’s balance and footwork, which would naturally help him deliver his power more efficiently than when he was a more crude version of himself early in his career. Aside from the sheer dedication he showed in getting himself in such fantastic shape so consistently, Goldman's remedy for this problem was probably the most notable aspect of Rocky’s training that was different from the average boxer of his time.

Seeing that his fighter’s footwork was so all over the place and that it hampered his effectiveness to some extent, Goldman was known to tie a string around Rocky’s ankles during heavy bag sessions. The fighter would be given enough slack to move his feet as he should, but no more. The idea being that if he got too undisciplined with his footwork, the string would cause him to trip and fall. Obviously that would be pretty good incentive to keep your feet under control.

This benefit naturally isn't only relevant to power, but it does mean that his feet were more often in position to throw balanced shots that maximized his natural force. It also increase the efficiency of his combination punching, which cannot be overlooked as a key factor in his knockout record. He overwhelmed his opponents with his stamina and volume as often as he did with his raw power.

The usual, heavy bag, cardio, and abs. He was just naturally gifted with power and the relentless punching ability that got him to defeat Archie Moore, Jersey Joe, and Ezzard Charles by Knockout. His best punch was a right hand called the Suzie Q."

 

Probably right about that...."legends" always get "expanded".

 

"When the esteemed Charley Goldman, who would become Marciano's trainer, first saw Rocky, he told Angelo Dundee, his assistant, "I gotta a guy who's short, stoop-shouldered, balding, got two left feet and, God, how he can punch."
With his instinct for the attack and the power of his right hand, Marciano knocked out his first 16 opponents, nine in the first round. By now he was under the tutelage of Goldman, who trained fighters for New York manager and promoter Al Weill. Goldman instructed Marciano to fight out of a crouch.
"Charley taught the technique that if you are short, you make yourself smaller," Dundee said. "Charley let him bend his knees to a deep knee squat. He was able to punch from that position, come straight up from the bag and hit a heck of a shot ... It was just bang-bang-bang-bang-BANG and get him outta there."

more here:
https://www.espn.com/sportscentury/features/00016159.html

 

That is the reason I posted the "info" up.....knowing my compadres would see the errors in Mr. Quora's thinking.

 

Always great to go back and read some of the Sport & Sports Illust. mags of the 1950's. Boxing champs were treated differently by the media back then.