Contemporary evaluations of Rocky Marciano

And I listed a first hand account of his schedule 3 weeks before Ezz 1 and he was doing 5 miles each morning.

 

Why all the debate over whether he did 5, 10 or 16 miles roadwork in training?

Marciano had elite endurance in the ring. That much shouldn’t even be up for debate. How he achieved it doesn’t really matter, the fact is he did.

The toing and froing over the minutiae of everything about Marciano (from both sides of the debate) is ridiculous. A pointless pissing contest.

 

He was one of a kind, great fighter, excellent stamina, will to win and heart, great puncher, and smart with killer instinct - top 3 for me - 15 rd fighter- fought the best of his era - look at who his opponents beat to become # 1

Ali said Marciano was better than Frazier and I had trouble with Frazier- Joe Frazier said only 2 fighter could have beaten me in my prime - Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano

 

On a lighter (and weirder) note:

"It's Ice Cream Diet for Rocky Marciano," Long Beach Independent, Aug. 27, 1953:

"Rocky Marciano, the world heavyweight champion who is in training for his Sept. 24 title bout with Roland LaStarza, sparred four rounds Wednesday and then was told to eat more ice cream.
Vincent A. Nardiello, New York State Boxing Commission doctor, believes Marciano needs to put on a few more pounds to keep from getting stale."

@reznick — If you get tired of blueberries, it turns out ice cream is ok too.

 

This is the longest I've seen so far.

"Heavy Workout for Rocky Marciano," Globe-Gazette, Feb. 22, 1955:
"Rocky Marciano turned in seven miles of road work and then sparred four rounds Monday at his training camp. It was his sharpest workout since he defended his heavyweight title against Ezzard Charles last autumn."

 

We who knew him in those days realized that his self-imposed physical punishment during training was just short of medieval torture.

From the decision day in 1947 until his retirement after his 49 straight wins, I doubt if Rock was ever out of condition.

His drive for maximum physical endurance and efficiency were a testimonial to his self-respect.

The Saturday in September 1951 that Brockton was going to play Quincy at Quincy, Rocky jogged to the game.

The frigid spell in the winter 1950-51 with temperatures of minus 15 degrees up to 10 degrees lasted for days. During this period, Rocky never missed his 8 miles of roadwork each day outdoors. He said, “The cold air toughens my skin, and I won’t cut so easy.”

The months of abstaining completely from Italian food, which he relished passionately, in order to eat training table foods.

The weeks before a big fight when he was literally cordoned off from his family, friends and the outside world.

A life of glory and fame? Yes, it was. But only at a price. A price very few people were willing to pay.

 

Now on that note I would urge caution.

My shortest run last week was 3.93 miles, and my longest was 16.57 miles.

Marciano's training runs would not necessarily have been of uniform length throughout the week.

He might have done different kinds of training run, to serve different purposes, such as speed sessions and endurance.

He might also have been aiming for a certain total mileage for the week, which he would have made up piecemeal around his other training activities.

What I am saying, is that these sources don't necessarily contradict each other.

 

Frazier said leaving himself and Ali out of the equation the best two all time heavyweights were Johnson and Louis, privately he didn't think that much of white heavyweights.

 

In one book that he was interview for, he said that his idols growing up were Walcott, Charles and Marciano.

 

This quote is one about Joe Louis and Marciano

“Joe Louis is the greatest heavyweight champion of all time. Rocky Marciano is second only to Louis. Where do I rate Ali? Somewhere below me. I beat him, and if I could beat him, no doubt Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano could have beaten him.”
— Joe Frazier

 

Rocky is the greatest conditioned boxer and one of the greatest conditioned athletes of any sport in history. End of story. He could run 20 miles in his sleep.

 

@janitor -- Not sure if you've seen my updated list (quoted above) but I've put together around 15 contemporaneous sources and a retrospective account from a sparring partner who worked out and did roadwork with him. All of these stories, from different reporters covering different fights, over more than 4 years of his career paint a generally clear picture of Marciano's roadwork regimens, one that is not at all similar to the myth his publicist allegedly shared with someone in some mysterious conversation probably many years after Marciano's career.

As an aside, the only reference to him even hitting double digits occurred when he was not in training camp, and assuming the 10-mile figure is accurate, it most likely consisted of far more walking or extremely leisurely jogging than intense roadwork.

This is now probably the most comprehensive collection of first-hand sources on Marciano's training regimens in existence (at least with respect to his roadwork). I hope that his fans appreciate it, and future biographers or boxing historians find it useful.

 

I said "privately",his taped conversation with Ali said something else.Frazier, like many black fighters of a certain age had Louis as his hero.Archie Moore said ,whenever he was asked, he told them what they wanted to hear, Rocky was the greatest.
Ali always trotted out the stock quotes, "he hit me so hard he jarred my kinfolks in Africa"etc.Foreman does it too.I'ts politeness.
There is much to admire in Marciano but to put him forward as a hero of Frazier's is a bit much.imo.

 

So the documented, varied and cited accounts have less bearing on the discussion than does the ballyhoo of a single press secretary or some bullsh*t handed down lies....

 

It is indeed a valuable contribution, but at the same time you are trying to prove that he didn't do something.

That is a bit like trying to prove that I never cheated at golf.