Explain the adoration of Rocky Marciano to me

Classic crowd friendly style ,small heavy weight, big puncher, who never stopped coming forwards,probably the greatest overachiever of all.
What's not to like?

 

Same reason people like Henry Armstrong. Determined, aggressive little puncher. Also undefeated, which helps. He also carries the vibe of the Burt Sugar era; he's got the right aesthetic for the old timey 50s division, like Moore, Charles, and Walcott did. (He was lucky enough to fight all 3, which further helps.) Or LaMotta and Robinson.

If you're asking why emotionally he appeals to some people beyond the obvious, he's also Italian-American, and lived in an era when that was still a marginalized group. So some Italian-Americans have additional regard for him, just as some African Americans consider Ali or Johnson part of their group's historical experience, some Jewish people have regard for great Jewish fighters from the early/mid 20th century, Irish people might like Sullivan or Dempsey, etc. I suspect -- but have no evidence, since I'm not Italian-American -- that Rocky's Italian-American fans sometimes getting called racists for liking the guy only intensifies their determination to defend him.

 

Perfect summing up. I agree with this totally.

 

Considering his height, weight and reach, he is a heavy knockouter in the heavyweight division, and he is also undefeated; is incredible.
I do not adoration Marciano.

 

Crowd pleasing pigmentation.

Otherwise, a good little story. The Original Rudy.

 

He was exciting to watch. Always pushed the action in every fight or at least the ones I’ve seen. He was also very humble and gracious in his interviews.

 

Inspirational fighter who did not tick many boxes…but still legitimately established greatness and domination anyway… then Retired before things turned sour.

 

Yes to an extent I think it might be fair to say so. At least this is part of it.

However, Marciano was legitimately worthy in that his status stands up.

I think he upheld and definitely represented the persona of what the role of a 1950s world heavyweight champion was expected to be. He never slipped up in that respect.

In reality he was by no means perfect. But in those days there seemed to be a responsibility to uphold..and uphold it he did.

These were pretty phoney times where despite the harsh reality of life, wholesomeness and decency was really expected to be represented by anyone who made it.

America was still a growing country that was boasting of a prime post war era.

it turned out Rocky came from a good home and this was rightly milked for all it was worth…as it was for anyone with this background. There wasn’t any real dirt behind the image.

 

Great heavyweights have a lot of fans. I don’t know if Marciano has more then some others.

I always appreciated Marcianos skills. Marciano was a lot more talented then what most people say. His resume of wins with that short of reach is phenomenal.

 

Besides his "fan friendly" form of fighting (that's some real alliteration for you!) he was certainly an idol amongst
a lot of groups, obviously among Americans of Italian descent. The late 40's and the 50's were the Golden Age
for AOID's (Americans of Italian Descent). With Frank Sinatra dominating the pop scene along with the Tony Bennets
and Dean Martins of the music world, Rocky was looked up to by the AOID's. My family of course was mainly from
Italy and some born in the US. Rocky was a god to them. And the fact that he seemed to be a decent guy, he was also
a role model for us.

Now we know he was human; traveled around with a suitcase full of money and sex toys, but still was a real red blooded
American to the public. Had a TV show but luckily didn't make any pop records.

 

Back then there was only one heavyweight champ, everyone knew who they were and whoever was the champ was the man. Lots of fantastic modern fighters but the state of the "world title(s)" is a sh*tshow.