My ex wife met Cockell he was a salesman/rep , he seemed surprised that she recognized him,she explained I was a boxing fan ,as was another of her colleagues, who asked him about Rocky,he said Marciano finished him as a fighter. My ex said Cockell was, very modest, and a nice guy. He was certainly very brave. Thanks for posting this footage.
Rocky's offnight..or maybe a sign that the end was near for him..he was slowly declining in his destructive capabilities. I think that the Marciano of the 2nd Charles fight would have hospitalized Cockell.
The fight was designed as a test for Rocky's nose, badly gashed open by a Charles elbow.Marciano said of Cockell" my best punches didn't seem to affect him,"he certainly landed plenty.
Cockell had some HEART 'n GRIT. To take those FLUSH Rocky shots still makes me cringe. This was a TRUE Brit bulldog, erasing the canard about U.K. horizontal heavies.
Marciano rarely had an easy fight. Even a fighter like Keene Simmons hung in there against him, but Rocky's style was equally effective against top class opponents as it was against second raters.
Sam Silverman ,who promoted some of Rocky's fights, said journeyman gave him just as tough fights as the world class guys.
Probably has a bit to do with men not wilting as easily as they do now under pressure as well. Different times, different attitudes and mentalities in the ring.
cockel didnt look much and yes turpin did beat him in his last light heavyweight fight, but he was beter than he looks here. they say rocky dropped to the level of his opponents but he sparked wallcot and mathews early. marciano was also hard to look good against.
Cockel is often ridiculed in some quarters,even by some for his effort against Rocky,how can that be so? Cockel was a good fighter he was never intimidated in there he just fought his fight.Was there ever a braver effort?
I've always thought this too - IMO the only braver effort in heavyweight history was Jess Willard making it through 3 rounds against Jack Dempsey - how Cockell was able to take some of that brutality is beyond me - I genuinely beleive that the bulk of the people who ridicule him do so because they can't help laughing because he has **** in his name
Rocky got a lotta' heat for this fight with Don "The ****" Cockell because it was the first time the world ever saw Rocky struggle on TV with a tubby mother from overseas...... The consensus was, Rocky was gonna hammer this bloke inside of 4 rds... Well, that didn't happen... The fight went into the 9th or 10th stanza, and it was a good scrape for what that's worth.... I have the fight on tape in a box hidden........ MR.BILL