Following details are culled from an article by Pete Couros who hung with Marciano during his camp before the second Charles fight. This was printed in the Omaha Herald on June 13 but took place at least one month before. 7AM - 6 miles run completed in over an hour. (That is pretty damn slow for folks who don't know.) Hot tea, 5 eggs, dry cereal, lamb chops, toasted rolls With that tortuous work out of the way, Time to nap until 3PM! The next takes place over one hour: 5 minutes shadowboxing. 3 rounds sparring, 1 round with a different partner. Heavybag work Eat Some Steak! Ping-Pong with Charley! TV time! 9:30... Time for more sleep. That is simply inhuman. No mere mortal could ever finish a day of such a regimen let alone a complete training camp.
Battling Nelson's trainer was aware of the need to sometimes go easy to avoid staleness, so I'm sure Rocky and his trainer were.
Coutros says that Marciano went hard in sparring. Granted, this is partly tongue in cheek ( tho that was his real training day) Marciano certainly trained like a champion... I just don't think he was the insane outlier among champions and their work ethics.
Actually to much goes into how hard Rocky trained. The fact is Rocky was just plain good and a natural. You can’t start boxing in your mid 20s and be considered among the best all time unless your a one of a kind talent.
Question to both sides here: What would an impressive training program look like, using 1950s methods? It would be good to get a stable benchmark to argue around.
Theres literal video footage of him doing other exercises (ex. Medicine ball work) and contradicting some of the things you stated (ex. The rubdown Goldman gives him). The heavybag work is with a 300lbs heavybag and can go for longer than an hour. He'd go to a pool, shoulder deep in water, and throw punches for long periods of time. Sprinting up hills and kicking medicine balls to develop leg strength. And of course the buildup of more roadwork he'd do. I highly doubt he took an hour to do 6 miles, and I highly doubt your source says all he did And lest we forget the monk-like attitude that he attacked training with.
What difference does it make if the heavybag weighed 300 pounds? Unless he lifted it, it doesn't make much difference. The heavier bag just won't move as much so the fighter doesn't have to move much. Other than that, it doesn't matter.
Wait, are monks great fighters? Ill take fornicators like Johnson, Dempsey and Ali. BTW, why do all Marcianistss read from the same limited script all relying on the same moronic, hackneyed descriptors? Monklike... Really. Sounds like he did more sleeping, eating and Tele watching than studying verse.