His back gave was giving him serious trouble during his last fights, which is one of the resons why he retired. Also, Marciano is known for having insane work outs. That's why he went 15 rounds and looked better than he did in the 1st round.
Marciano was not an ordinary man. He was literaly one of the best athletes on the planet while he was champion. It is of course possible that some aspects of his training regime are exagerated but acording to John Garfield he was every bit as obsesive and thorough is his training as is claimed. Incidentaly there are ultra marathon runners who have run 200 miles in a single sesion.
I absolutely agree. I love it when people claim Marciano was "unathletic" or "untalented". He was a great athlete in supreme condition. There is no way a guy as small as him should have had the power he possessed, or a guy as big as he was should have been able to have such incredible stamina. At some point, no matter how hard you work, these things are just God-given. However, I do call bull**** on 10+ miles a day.
Well lets look at what has actualy been claimed. The training regimes described represent a single day therfore a snapshot in time. It is at no point specificaly said that these fighters did this over a period of say a week. For the most part they dont say how long these fighters took to complete the ten miles. It is likley that they trained for stamina early in their training camp and swithched to sparring as the fight aproached alowing their body to recover but retaining the stamina. Furthermore it should come as no shock that fighters who had to fight for 20 or 45 rounds placed a verry high premium on stamina training.
I found this on the internet...dont know who explained it but they did it well Best Answer - Chosen by Asker I found some info out for you toughguy. Rocky (someone once said) was addicted to exercise like some people are addicted to drugs. He had a 'special' bag made - 300lbs ! (He figured after 300 lb. bag training he could move 200 + lb. heavyweights around.) He liked to run uphill in training (full speed) and then run backwards back down. Did this over and over. (I've noticed in fight films of Rocky, he dips very low, he did this because he was short and made himself even shorter thus making him a harder target. But notice those tree-trunk legs also when he's comming back up from the low dip. those legs were strong and I think he used that to help him generate power comming back up.) Sometimes Rocky went shoulder deep in a swimming pool and threw hundreds of underwater punches. Jogged 6-7 miles every morning.( His uncle,Charlie Piccento, said he even did this on Christmas mornings as well.) Ben Bently, Rocky's press agent, said after signing for a fight he would increase to 9-10 miles. And then the last week before a fight he would increase 12-15 miles. And all this in hilly country! Was also like a Monk - He secluded himself from wife and family sometimes up tp 3 months before a fight, watched his diet, weight and muscle tone. A week before a fight he would see no mail, take no calls, meet no new acquaintances, not even shake hands (I assume so as not to catch the flu-?) or go for a car ride, and no new foods. Archie moore - "...he just had more stamina than anyone else in those days. He was like a bull with gloves." Roland LaStraza - "I would throw a hard punch, then he would throw a hard punch. The diffrence was that Rocky would throw 10 more. He just never stopped throwing punches." Rocky was a fit and tough dude. He would have made a Spartan blush in shame.
Madness? -or merely discipline? -this absolute subordination of the self. In any case, for Marciano, it worked." Source(s): Author -JOYCE CAROL OATES Book - ON BOXING
Marciano was known to partly walk, similar to fighters from the decades before his time. He would pick up a stone and throw it into the water at times, just little things to make it a little bit more difficult when he was walking ludicrous distances. Things like that.
as something of a fitness buff, i believe walking is the great lost exercise. putting in a good 10 miles of walking at decent pace does wonders for your overall health and mental well-being. just look at the folks in hilltowns in italy or in countryside france and spain. then look to the walmarts of america. i usually bike or run, but in the summer i love to go on a long, half day jaunt.
Perhaps we should have a thread on the training regimes of fighters through the ages as a sticky. It is something that gets lost and revisited periodicaly.