That he was. And he spoke good sense. A confident man as he should've been but respectful of his peers, past and present.
Not to hijack your thread brother, but this seems a good place to also link this vid - Rocky's mum on YOU BET YOUR LIFE hosted by Groucho Marx 1960. I'm pretty sure that you will enjoy it. This content is protected
Nice man!! I enjoyed it! I actually watched the first Charles fight all the way through last night. Rocky’s endurance and the way he carried his power all through those long fights was phenomenal
Terrific interview ... Rocky was a very smart guy ... he is famous for his love of the $ and his cheapness but he refused a huge payday to come back ... his determination inside and outside the ring was exceptional.
If he’d have accepted that offer, I believe it would have been a matchup against Floyd in 1958. Interesting fight but Rocky was right to stay retired because coming off a three year layoff and having been through the wars he did… nah he was wise. NOT saying Rock couldn’t have won that!! But no need to push it.
Why would the Rock waste his income as retired undefeated champ in the long run and risk it all in getting a lot of money now and losing the shot to make the profits if he lost? Marciano made his money post boxing on his named and being undefeated. He was not going to risk that.
My feeling is that Rocky knew he was getting older ... his training, his style take its toll and he remained concerned about the healing of his nose post Charles ... one reason he fought Cockell, a light touch, was to see how the repaired nose would hold up .. Rocky was also tagged good by Moore in their fight and while of course he got up and fought a terrific fight he knew he was hit .. its all added up ... there is little doubt prime for prime that Rocky is ranked superior to Floyd but a 36 year old swarmer coming out of three years of inactivity to fight a 24 year old in his prime, still pre-Ingo, was in my opinion a risk Rocky was not willing to take, period ... if he felt for near sure he'd have won I believe he would have made the fight but he had doubts, rational, and had the restraint not to pull the trigger ... to me that showed a lot of discipline and honesty ...
Hypothetically, you could just select one out of most of Rocky’s title fights as the ONLY fight you’d ever seen him in and easily appreciate that his was never going to be an extensive career. ALL the wear/tear going into fights (training, conditioning at its most extreme) and the energy expenditure and punishment absorbed during the actual fights. The man was maxing himself out each and every time he prepped for and stepped into the ring. After retiring from and enjoying a good period out of the game - the grind and disciplines that Rocky previously dedicated himself must’ve seemed like they were light years ago. I’m happy for Rocky’s sake he didn’t comeback - and for us, he left a career tightly bound around his prime essence. His KO of old Joe Louis likely signalled a strong preemptive warning to Rocky not to let same happen to himself.
And since you bring up Joe Louis, if you watch Marciano's retirement speech, he does bring up the Brown Bomber. "I like to profit from other's mistakes and if Joe Louis could not make a comeback, I would not try it". I do think seeing Louis out of the ring at 37 what Rocky himself did, made him think if I go on at 35, 36, 37 would the same thing happen to me??? Will some younger guy knock me out in such fashion , out of the ring and helpless??
You are absolutely correct. The Rock did say that re Louis which slipped my mind. To be the direct cause of the sad defeat of such a great fighter as Joe Louis (and someone who Rocky greatly admired) had to send a stronger , more personalised message to Rock than if he’d just been a 3rd party witness to an ex great’s downfall. Great post Demps!
